1939 Daimler Light Straight Eight E4 Charlesworth

[AntonyB]

For sale at Brightwells 31/7-5/8 auction, WSL 851 1939 Daimler Light Straight Eight E4 Charlesworth, https://www.brightwellslive.com/lot/details/529801 offered at No Reserve and sadly having suffered quite extensive fire damage in part, with other parts in very good condition, must have been a very nice car before going on fire. One of the 43 pictures copied below.

Antony

[marchesmark]

Must have been a wonderful car before the damage. I wonder if anyone has the pockets and patience required to restore it? Not me, sadly.

[grahamemmett]

Such a pretty car. I wonder what caused the fire

[Brian-H]

That's a stunning car even with that damage, if only I had the space and the time and the money

[Db n j]

This car was offered for sale by an auto-salvage company maybe 5 years ago. Think it was advertised at a big sum.

Wonder if the door is with the car ?

Think it’s a challenging but possible restoration, but would make a lovely car.

[marchesmark]

I got in touch with Dave Philpot about this car, as I don't think there is anybody who knows more about pre-war Daimlers than he does. He said the car caught fire in early 2014 (poss. late 2013). Photos of the car appeared in the Driving Member magazine dated March 2014.

It later appeared on a salvage auction site (possibly Copart?), and was bought by someone who thought the car had Vanden Plas 'Pillarless' coachwork.
Dave emailed the seller to inform him that the car carried coachwork by Charlesworth Bodies (1931) Ltd, and was worth about 1/3 of the value of a VdP-bodied car.

The car was advertised as having interior damage. It also appears that parts of the wooden frame were quite badly charred, and some panels had warped.

A rather lovely car, but one unlikely to prove a cost-effective restoration, sadly. Dave didn't recall what registration mark the car carried at the time of the fire, but thought it was the original.

I agree with Dave that it is unlikely to prove cost effective to restore it, however, for those brave enough to have a go, there is a 1936 Arthur Mulliner limousine body for a Daimler straight eight available on prewarcar.com:

https://www.prewarcar.com/305681-1936-a ... ht-daimler

Still not a cheap project, but viable I would think? As to the cause of the fire, my guess would be electrical/wiring or maybe cabin heater, as it hasn't touched either the engine or fuel tank, so probably not a fuel related fire?

[New Dexter]

I think someone has robbed the V26/V4 1/2 chassis and running gear to make one of those specials that the Dutch and Germans like to make. You could buy a complete car for the price they want for that body. Too expensive even if viable.

[marchesmark]

I agree, too expensive for what's on offer. But reframing the original body in ash, plus remaking panels that are too far gone wouldn't be cheap either. Maybe someone in the club will buy the car for spares - there's lots of good stuff still useable. Such a shame.

[New Dexter]

Thinking tangentially, or whatever it's called, what would the Mulliner body be worth at a realistic price? There have been times when classic cars (read anything made before 1970) seemed to be the place for investors. I can recall listening to the wireless one evening and there was the 6 o'clock news and a Vanwall was heard being sold for 2 1/2 million and that was in the late seventies. Then the bubble burst.
Certainly one cannot buy a body like that on offer for peanuts but who would want it? (I can think of someone but hopefully he's not reading this)
Realistically hunting for a V26/V4 1/2 chassis would be difficult and what else would it fit? Could another make's chassis suit? One of "That company from Crewe's" * product suit or perhaps one of the Cricklewood company's. Putting another body on a chassis is far easier than finding a chassis for a body.
Unless the chassis is of the same era what would be the result of say, a DE36 chassis being used? It wouldn't be one thing or another.

* with acknowledgements to the late VBC

[Brian-H]

But as it stands, it has a kind of Art Deco style, which I find very alluring. If I won the Euro millions (and thus had money to throw about) I'd get the whole thing restored as is. The engine is fabulous too.