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Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Altezza
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:53 pm
Location: Budapest

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Altezza »

Dear Everyone,

Thank you for your replies!
I decided to not buy this car and I try to find an other classic car from the 60's-70's era.

I wish to you all the best, and many happy miles!


Cheers,
Misi

Sydsmith
Extremely Wise Man
Extremely Wise Man
Posts: 1369
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:15 pm
Location: Aberystwyth Wales

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Sydsmith »

Hi Misi. Before you abandon the project why not try a silly offer.

Three years ago I was interested in a 1936 15 Mulliner Sports, listed on fleabay, it did not sell, no bids. I contacted the seller and went to see the car and offered him silly money for it cash. I bought it for a very good price. Turned out his wife had given him an ultimatum, her or the car, the car had to go.

It needed a lot of work, but my silly offer got me a nice motor for a fraction of its value.

If you really like the car, a visit and a silly offer might also work for you.

Good luck, Syd

Altezza
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:53 pm
Location: Budapest

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Altezza »

Hi,

It is not just about the price. Yes, I think this car not worth that money but the other thing is that I can buy a decent Rover P5/P6 or a Volvo Amazon coupe for almost the same amount,* and those cars are much better to use. I am sure that a Daimler Conquest is a fine car but somehow I think I will myself better in a car from the '60's, '70's.

*If I buy this Daimler, I have to fit new tires, because the current owner bought a new set, but those are C type tires for light vans. Heavy, not proper for drive or for MOT here. Also I have to pay around 2000 Pounds for the Hungarian registration (registration fees, plates, papers, MOT etc.), I have to fit flasher lights since the car have only traficators which is not proper for MOT here. Also need new headlights because we drive on the other side. Plus the engine refurb. So even without a body repair or a new paint job, the car will cost me at least 7-8000 Pounds. And that is not too far from the price of the cars above.

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John-B
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Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:10 pm
Location: Salisbury, UK
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Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by John-B »

Never mind, keep in touch. There may be a 1960s or 1970s Daimler available for you later.

Damian Mills
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Keighley England

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Damian Mills »

Today, I just saw the thread that Misi started. I recommended this forum and DLOC to him. The car in question is mine, the "1957 CONQUEST CENTURY Mk2 AUTO" offered for sale on the "Cars for Sale" forum. Some of the things on this thread should be clarified.

I paid £4,000 for the car (with a full MoT) in October 2018. Since I bought the car it had nearly £1,500 spent on it, plus a lot of time, labour and TLC from DLOC members and myself. It had a new Dynamator (alternator in dynamo box), negative earth conversion and LED high level brake light professionally done. Both front shock absorbers were replaced (new old stock). 5 new Hankook steel radials were fitted.

All of the oils were changed. Everything was checked over thoroughly, and everything was lubricated as per the original manuals. The steering column was refitted. The coolant was changed. The oil was changed.

On the way to Hungary the car ran very well on days 1 & 2. It drove very smoothly and the brakes (fluid was electronically tested and found good) worked very well. It used no oil on day 1. On day 2 the oil disappeared and the big end went near Frankfurt in Germany. Graham Emmett was with me, and can testify to all of the above.

Contrary to the information in the previous (non-registered) owner's advert, the engine rebuild was in fact done by Steve Bellotte Motor Technicians of Bournemouth in August 2011 at 41,211 miles. John Nash worked on the head. The total cost was £3,000.

I am selling the car for the following reasons. I have a lot of bad luck with it. I do not have enough DIY car maintenance skills to do a lot of the necessary work myself. It is very difficult for me to get the car sorted in rural Eastern Hungary, this is due to language difficulties and a lack of craftsmen in this part of Hungary.

The following should be noted. The cost of an engine rebuild in Hungary should be a fraction of that in England. The labour rates here are a fraction of those in England. A Hungarian-speaking enthusiast could easily get this car sorted in Budapest at reasonable prices. A DIYer could make good money on it here.

I never asked Misi for £5,000. I asked him for 1.4 million Hungarian forints (including some extras thrown in), which is considerably less than that and which (as I will explain below) I believe is very fair.

The prices of such cars are higher here than in England. If you don't believe me then look at the carandclassic.co.uk "Hungary" page and hasznaltauto.com In turn, the prices in neighbouring Austria, and in Germany, are much higher than in Hungary. The car is advertized on both of those sites.

In total, just under 10,000 Conquests of all variants were made between 1953 and 1957. Of these, 4,818 were 100 HP century saloons, a proportion of these were the Mk 2. This car has a Borg Warner DG 3-speed automatic gearbox, which was running beautifully before the engine failure. It also has the later dark wood dashboard, with white on black dials and a binnacle instead of a glovebox , towards the end of the run.

It would cost more than £1,500 to travel from Budapest to England, to buy a car and to trailer the car back to Budapest (this does not include the purchase price of the car). I honestly could not recommend trying to drive such a car from England to Hungary!

I am trying to find a good home for this car, which we called Delilah. At the time of writing, I have a couple of people in Hungary who are interested. I will widen the advertising. If nobody buys her in the next couple of months then I will have to bite the bullet and try to get her sorted out in and around Tiszafured.

I have been completely honest in my dealings on this matter. Frankly, I found some of the insinuations on the thread to be distasteful.

I welcome any constructive comments, enquiries or suggestions.

Thank you.

Damian, aka Danny
(DLOC Member No. 1418-18)

Altezza
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:53 pm
Location: Budapest

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Altezza »

Dear Danny and Members of this club,

As I wrote you in my e-mail today, I think I did nothing wrong.

All I did was I ask about the Daimler Conquest since I am not familiar with it. As you mentioned I wrote here that I think you are honest, and I still think of that.
I did not wrote any untrue things about you or the car

Also, I tried to find an other buyer, since I am a member of a couple of classic car clubs in Hungary. As I told you the father of a friend of mine planning to go and see the car, because he is interesting in it.
I also offered to you that I happy to intruduce you other like minded Englishmens in Hungary.

So in a nutshell, I think I did nothing inappropriate thing.

Misi

Sydsmith
Extremely Wise Man
Extremely Wise Man
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Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:15 pm
Location: Aberystwyth Wales

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Sydsmith »

Danny, thanks for the detailed explanation of the situation which clears up a lot of things.

My only question is why have you held back for so long, your hesitation has caused a lot of speculation. Syd

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John-B
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Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by John-B »

Altezza wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 1:44 pm Dear Danny and Members of this club,

As I wrote you in my e-mail today, I think I did nothing wrong.

So in a nutshell, I think I did nothing inappropriate thing.

Misi
Don't worry. Misi. People often get a bit upset about something, but the feeling soon passes and the topic will soon get buried.

Damian Mills
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Keighley England

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Damian Mills »

Hi Syd, et al

I didn't reply before today because I hadn't been on the forum for ages. I only found this thread earlier today, then I replied straight away.

I have quite a bit of paperwork relating to the car from 1998 (when the alte John Jarvis bought the car) up until 2013.

From the point of view of a seller I probably shouldn't say this. The particular engine that came in my car has a chequered history. It is not the original one, and appears to have been put in before 1998. In twenty years and less than 14,000 miles the engine had major work 3 times, costing over £4,500 in total and culminating in an unsuccessful £3,000 "full rebuild" in Bournemouth in 2011. The cylinder head was a major issue on all 3 occasions. I am highly reluctant to pour money into this engine, which seems to me to be a money pit. From the point of view of correctness, I thought I should share this with DLOC friends and other interested parties.

If I can find another Century engine to suit my car, at a fair price, then I will buy it. I saw Marcel's engine on ebay today and contacted him straight away, but unfortunately it is set up for a pre-selector car.

I have contacted an ebay seller who is advertizing a running Century engine. If it is set up for the automatic gearbox then I will try buy the engine and bring it to Hungary. I would then get the body/chassis repairs as soon as a suitable local repair man wakes from his hibernation. Finally, I would get the engine back in as soon as the structural repairs are sorted. I will report back on here in due course.

I have had UK registered cars re-registered in Hungary before. Headlamps are not a major issue. I do not believe there is any problem about the tyres, which are certified to a higher level than standard car tyres. "B-Day" (yes, that is a pun) not withstanding, re-registration in Hungary would not cost anything near to £2,000.

Kind regards

Damian aka Danny
(DLOC Member No. 1418-18)

Damian Mills
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Keighley England

Re: Buying (or not) a Daimler Conquest Century

Post by Damian Mills »

Just a quick update.

Unfortunately, the running Century engine for sale on ebay from classicfordspares is set up for the Wilson Pre-Select gearbox.

The father of one of Misi's friends is interested in the car. Weather permitting, he will come to look at her on Thursday.

I really hope she will soon find a good home, with somebody who is better placed to sort out what she needs than me.

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