Please visit the Club's website https://www.dloc.org.uk/ to join. Visit https://www.dloc.org.uk/adhoc to DONATE towards the cost of the forum.
Please don't post someone's email address to avoid it being harvested by spambots and it's against GDPR regulations.
Always look at "ACTIVE TOPICS" to see all posts in date & time order as they are sometimes moved; or look at "Your Posts".
Please add Reg. nrs. when posting a photo or anything about a car as this will help searches. Don't add punctuation next to nr. as this negates search.
CHANGED YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS since registering?, click your username and check your address in User Control Panel, Profile, Account Settings.
If you want help to register, use "contact us" at page bottom for help.

Manual gearbox numbers

Post Reply
User avatar
John-B
Site Admin
Posts: 1755
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:10 pm
Location: Salisbury, UK
Contact:

Manual gearbox numbers

Post by John-B »

Message from Kelvin Smith. I have asked him which marque and model and will edit this when he replies.
Hello Administrator,

The following is an e-mail sent to you through the administration contact page on "".

The message was sent from a guest who specified the following contact
information:
Name: Kelvin Smith
IP Address: 92.16.172.182

Message sent to you follows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I used collect the manual gearbox numbers and came up with the following Early cars had JVN 001 to about Jvn 300 Later cars had KVN 001 to just over Kvn 500 I did come across a few later cars fitted with the Jvn prefix which would seem to suggest that the company used up the last stocks of JVN gearboxes on the first few later cars How do my findings fit in with your number of a total of 760 cars fitted with manual gearboxes Do you have definitive records from factory records ?
I have not ever seen an advert with anything like the correct numbers of manual cars produced All the best Kelvin Smith

Edit: Kelvin says "250 V8 Daimler—both the early wide bumper version and the later narrow bumper version All the best Kelvin Smith".

classiclife
Classic Wise Man
Classic Wise Man
Posts: 1601
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:55 am
Location: Ridgewood - East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by classiclife »

John,

As Kelvin has quoted 760, I presume he is speaking of the V8 saloon - it would be very coincidental for another model to have the same figure !!

The following will be of note:

Manual Gearbox production was 760 of which 700 are with overdrive. (This information has been the subject of historical research via the JDHT.)

There were a scattering of 2.5L V8 saloons (wide bumper) that were MOD and non-OD; but in the main the later model design had the lion's share of these units.

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

Christopher Storey
Helpful Person
Helpful Person
Posts: 404
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2016 6:40 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by Christopher Storey »

My car which is one of the last broad bumpered cars - built July 1967 - has an OD box JVN194

User avatar
Alpine Daimler
Posts: 189
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2016 2:17 pm
Location: A tad west of Hamburg on the Elbe River

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by Alpine Daimler »

And my "big bumper" model produced in January 1967 has JVN001
Attachments
fullsizeoutput_333.jpeg

User avatar
Bfg
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2023 11:36 am
Location: Kesgrave, Ipswich, Suffolk

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by Bfg »

if its of use to anyone, my 250 MOD was first registered in January '68 and has the following . . .
Pete
P1450588.JPG
p.s. if there is an ongoing question about how many were built and how many survived why don't we, DLOC forum, just have an ongoing list of known cars ? Btw don't believe what the advert says until you see a gear lever and a clutch pedal in their photos.

classiclife
Classic Wise Man
Classic Wise Man
Posts: 1601
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:55 am
Location: Ridgewood - East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by classiclife »

Although "we" know how many manual & OD transmissions were built, it will be impossible to determine how many are left.

It is possible to establish how many are within the DLOC, by checking the membership database. Outside of that, no chance.

Even the JEC do not go into finite details about such cars, including the large number of Daimler V8 saloons that are in that club rather than the DLOC.

Just be happy you have one.
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

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

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by Sydsmith »

I have lost track of the number of times this question has come up on this and the old forum, and the answer is always the same around 700, but there continues to be misleading adverts that suggest the number was much lower and claim to know how many are still in use which as Richard says, and he should know, cannot be confirmed. There are also cars as we know that have been converted using all sorts of manual gearboxes, and some of the none OD models have had OD added, so that all muddies the water.

My own car is an original MOD and it is a joy to drive, even in OD the engine revs are a tad high at anything over 50 MPH, but its still keeps up well with modern traffic and the engine was designed to rev.

How many are left? To start the ball rolling I guess that the survival rate is less than 15% so around 100 or so MOD cars perhaps?

classiclife
Classic Wise Man
Classic Wise Man
Posts: 1601
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:55 am
Location: Ridgewood - East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by classiclife »

I have had a look on the DLOC membership database in relation to this enquiry. Hopefully it will provide sufficient details and rationale, whereby the answer can be gleaned by searching the perfectly able DLOC Forum Search Parameter in the future.

The DLOC V8 saloon membership as of October 2023, stands at 276 - the figure is of course an ebbing tide from one month to the next.
Of those 276, I can see 25 MOD and a couple of non-OD models.
The big problem which makes for accurate records, is that some owners have an inability to complete a simple form !! As an example, putting the colour in the chassis box or some other useless bit of information. Quite often the chassis box is blank
As you can see already, any chance of accurate records is aspirational to say the least.

Looking at lapsed memberships since May 2020, the figure for this is 89 of which there are 9 records showing MOD, with zero non-OD vehicles recorded.
Of note, there has been approximately 30x lapsed memberships in 2023 of which 4x MOD are recorded. The 30x lapsed memberships will be a combination of vehicles sold / scrapped / simple not renewed or [sadly] no longer with us.

Notwithstanding the above, there are many V8 saloon owners who belong to other mainstream clubs, local clubs or no club. Where that is the case, the opportunity of collecting even a ball-park figure on Daimler V8 saloon manual transmission information is somewhat remote.

Finally, on checking the DVLA & Department of Transport records it appears that 1009 V8 saloons are currently on the radar of these two agencies. Records shown on the 31st October 2023, reveal 745 are taxed with 264 SORN.
Bearing in mind that 17,884 were produced overall, the demise over sixty-one years is quite significant. Basically an average of 276 cars a year, but with the majority of cars probably being scrapped in the last three decades or so.

Due to the high cost of proper restoration work and the madness of low values surrounding these beautiful cars, it often proved and in many cases still does for some folk not to warrant keeping the car. There is no doubt that Jaguar Mk2 owners have benefitted hugely from the demise of the Daimler V8 saloon, when it comes to compatible spare parts. Sadly, the breaking of a V8 saloon is far more profitable than trying to sell a car that can only be classed as a huge restoration project.

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

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

Re: Manual gearbox numbers

Post by Sydsmith »

Thank you Richard for that very comprehensive report, shows as you say how difficult it is to give any sort of accurate numbers. You have hit the nail on the head with the real issue with these cars. My V8 250 MOD cost me £7,000 14 years ago and along side the likes of the humble Ford escort MK1 and 2 has not appreciated in value by anything like as much, in fact in real terms my £7,000 would have been much better invested in Gold Sovereigns. But then I would not have had the pleasure of driving them. Age and the prohibitive cost of car insurance once you exceed 80 will shortly force me to sell the car and though it has given me great pleasure over the years, it does grate a bit to see how little these cars sell for. Thanks again Richard for the research work. Syd

Post Reply