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V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

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tjt77
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V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by tjt77 »

has anyone researched the number of manual overdrive V8 2 1/2 / V8 250 saloons produced ? I was under the impression that its was in the region of 1,100 cars, but others have suggested less then 400 . Given the manual option was not avail until feb '67 and V8 250 production started in Sept of that year, there were few 'deep bumper' versions produced.. Ive personally seen some 14 examples over the years all of which were RHD and driven 4 of them.... regret not purchasing an super nice 68k mile opalescent green example with wire wheels in Bude, Cornwall the late '70s, which was then exported to US east coast.. and then re-appeared for sale about 12 yrs back with less than 10,000 more miles added in Maryland ( albeit with a cheapo re-paint in dark blue ) ..I did bid on the car but someone else bought it..
I currently have 3 LHD examples..all auto box originally.. I believe the LHD production was limited to 726 cars of both types.. with zero sent to USA and just a few to Canada.
Also.. there was a LHD one in Australia that was converted to majestic major engine and manual box.. anyone know if that car still exists and who owns it ?

classiclife
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Re: V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by classiclife »

I often research periodicals covering 50's to late 80's - I know, I must get out more :D !!

Within these magazines I always check the "For Sale" adverts and of course in particular cars I own or have owned. In relation to the Daimler V8 saloons, I have been surprised by the number of adverts that have stated manual + O/D, of which there appears to have been far more than is presumed.

Equally, I will be interested in the production numbers of such.

Regards.

Richard.
1968 Daimler V8-250 Saloon
DLOC East Sussex Branch Secretary
DLOC 2.5L V8 & V8-250 Registrar - https://www.dloc.org.uk/v8-250
DLOC 2024 International Rally - https://www.dloc.org.uk/rally-2024

tjt77
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Re: V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by tjt77 »

does JDHT allow open access to researchers ? another model of car I have been involved with for several decades is the MGA.. of which several models were produced .. the original 1500 in both roadster and coupe,the 'Twin cam' in roadster and coupe.. 1600 Mk1, 1600Mk2 and 'deluxe' in both 1600Mk1 and Mk2 .. the latter were not sold at the time as 'deluxe', but commonly described as a 'competition model ..or 'cars with 4 wheel disc brake option' (same brakes as used on the Mk2 jaguar and Daimler V8 2 1/2 litre) these 'deluxe' cars utilized the twin cam chassis ( quite few differences from the standard item) and cam with a hefty price premium ( approx 30% more) were very rare and did not have good survival rate as most were used in competition from the get go ..and those who did own them wanted to know how many had been produced.. so some people went to the factory archives in mid 1970s and searched all the relevent ledgers to find actual numbers produced.. which turned out to be 291 cars.. (roadsters in Mk2 format.. with a few 1600 and coupe as well.. its believed that just under 400 twin cam chassis remained after twin cam production was halted due to excessive warranty claims..and these were the basis of the 'deluxe' cars)
Im sure the same could be done with the daimler 2 1/2 v8.. of which some 18,000 were produced ( V over 100,000 of the MGA) so it would not be a long term task to search.. the number of LHD cars produced is known ( I believe 727 in deep bumper format) so someone out there likely has the numbers of manual overdrive cars produced.. rumor had it at around 400 at one time.. I believe the total is closer to 1,100.. the manual cars are very different to drive to auto box cars.. considerably more lively and responsive.. and the overdrive gives same overall gearing as a 3.54 diff.. so relaxed cruising as well..

Sydsmith
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Re: V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by Sydsmith »

Tim, this subject came up on the old forum several times and it was never resolved as far as I recall.

I have not searched the old forum but from memory I seem to recall that deep bumper MOD cars were less than 100, 96 if my memory is correct.

V8 250 MOD were it seems made in larger numbers as the option was available for the whole of the 250 production period. Something tells me it was suggested somewhere near 1000 were made.

I have a V8 250 MOD which I have had for almost 10 years. When I bought it (near Bristol), the chap claimed it was one of less than 100 made, I think he had confused information about the deep bumper model.

I had my rose coloured glasses on when I bought it and paid a bit more than I should have. But the market was very depressed at the time and it has more than made up since.

I drove the car the 140 miles home in thick falling snow with a pitiful heater and a constant battle with misting up, when I got it home, in the file that came with it was a bill from Russ Carpenter for a total engine rebuild for £3,500 and a bill from a garage for £700 for fitting the engine and a new clutch etc.

An MOT for the time showed the engine had done less than 3000 miles.

The car does not have power steering but it is a dream to drive once on the move. It keeps up well with modern traffic, but if you drive it a bit sportily the fuel consumption is 17-18, but sedate driving and careful use of the overdrive gives me 25 plus. Syd

Christopher Storey
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Re: V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by Christopher Storey »

I have one of the last of the broad bumpered mark 2s, built in summer 1967 1A13111DN . I agree with Syd about the characteristics of the car, except that I do rather better on fuel consumption ranging between about 23 ( rare ) to 27 ( common) . A quite different car from the automatics . Curiously, most of the manual Mark 2 cars seem to have been sent to New Zealand, but the overall indications are that there were far fewer than 100 made , and a figure that is bandied about is that about 20 were built . The manual 250s , however, were far more numerous and as I recall at the time were quite popular as an alternative to a Triumph 2.5PI which was the "must have" sporting saloon of the time

Christopher Storey
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Re: V8 2/12 litre and 250 manuel overdrive numbers produced..

Post by Christopher Storey »

SydSmith - I have sent you a PM about your particular car which I thiink you have not picked up ?

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