1939 Daimler Light Straight Eight E4 Charlesworth

[marchesmark]

It is lovely (not that I am biased in favour of Charlesworth bodies mind you...) but you really would need a ton of cash.

I suppose the Mulliner body is worth what ever someone is willing to pay for it - I don't imagine there is a queue of people looking to buy it. £5-10K maybe? Fitting alternate bodies on pre-war cars is pretty routine though. Quite a lot of Rolls-Royces running around now with new or alternate bodies. I know of at least one 20/25 wearing a Lagonda body, and very good it looks too.

Gratuitous pics of a Charlesworth body in slightly better condition:

[Brian-H]

I think that the use of the greens and the black on the damaged one give something extra to the contours. Whoever did that combination knew how to add something extra to the shape without making the colours gaudy.

Out of interest, how much would the one in the pics above expect to sell for ?

[Sydsmith]

Brian I have seen Marks Charlesworth in the flesh as it were, it is a thing of great beauty and in my view far superior to a RR or Bentley of similar vintage, it is in truly magnificent condition and a a tribute to its owner, I would say priceless. Syd

[Brian-H]

I'd never seen one before, yes they are fabulous cars indeed. I bet the owner of the fire damaged one was gutted (no pun intended) - makes you wonder why the insurance wasn't used for renovation

[marchesmark]

Syd, many thanks for your very kind words. I am a confirmed RR/B enthusiast, but I agree the Daimler is a far superior car to a 20/25 or 25/30, having owned several examples of both models, and having written articles on the comparison for the DM in the past (available on the website I knocked up at https://thedaimlerel24.wixsite.com/website). It is certainly priceless to me, and having owned it now for nearly 10 years I can't imagine ever selling it. Meanwhile about a dozen RR/B have come and gone...

Brian, for clarity I should point out mine is a 24hp, with the Daimler 3.3 litre straight six, not a straight eight. The body though is by Charlesworth.

Mark

[New Dexter]

Speaking to George Stapley one day, he of the VDP E4 in turquoise paint that was used in the film The Remains of the Day, he said he'd been at a car rally and one of the judges had commented on how nice his car was but how much more it would have been worth with a RR radiator surround. George knew what he meant and hadn't taken offence
Now given the technical capabilities of the Lanchester brothers against the stuff produced by RR why weren't their cars regarded more highly? Lanchster had four wheel brakes before Royce decided they might be a good idea.
On a technical note. We know that Daimler used the anti-dive front suspension for some years and that was on all sized chassis (as far as I know) but how difficult would it be to fit the Mulliner body to a chassis from a later era?
The Hooper bodied MM is one case in point. Brian Smith owned one. The DF 308 models appear to have the same wheelbase so removing an Empress body from a DF chassis and fitting it to a DQ450 chassis cannot have been that difficult, they are of the same era but what of the Mulliner stuff available? Would a E4 chassis be suitable or even the later DE items?
Over to my/our "older and wiser" colleagues on this forum....

[AntonyB]

Just to complete the story (well this Chapter perhaps), the car made £12655 plus commission.

Antony

[Db n j]

That seems like a lot of money as the starting point for a restoration. I look forward to hearing from the new owner. Hopefully a full restoration to come.

[Sydsmith]

I guess this is going to be a labour of love restoration, a wonderful basis but lot of skilled work but what a rewarding car to own when it is done.

It was a very good car when it burned and that base is still there, all be it needing a huge effort to get it back

It does not always follow that we buy cars to sell for a profit. Only Classic car owners and car dealers ever think they should not lose money when they sell a car.

My main car has lost £25,000 in six years depreciation, is it so wrong to spend £13k on such a beautiful car then another heap of cash on it, enjoy the pleasure of driving a unique car around for a few years and then sell at a loss. Syd

[Peter Grant]

I used to have a six light Charlesworth bodied E4.
While it didn’t have the flair of the four light what a chassis and engine.
the car was not reliable, needed restoration and that wasn;t something I could take on so I eventually sold it to another club member who is going to rebody it to look like EGN 1 the Joseph Mackle car, which will be amazing.
Wonderful performance, the best brakes I can remember on an older car and steering better than a modern. Real quality motoring of I think the finest quality.
If this car can be restored and made whole again it will be amazing and a real pleasure to drive for its owner.
Good luck for the adventure.
Peter Grant