For the better part of four happy years I owned, repaired, maintained and more importantly drove a Daimler LQ 2-20. It was one of those cars that was understated, yet excellent, it looked nice, performed well and was very reliable. It had such a pleasant nature that the few ‘failures to proceed’ and breakages all took place on the driveway or very close to home!
In a moment of madness, whilst fancying a change, I made the decision to sell and almost immediately regretted it. Fortunately the car went to Steve Wright, an enthusiast who uses the car regularly and keeps me updated with progress reports. I organised the Daimler & Lanchester O/C stand at the South Cerney Show during the summer of 2017 and Steve brought the LQ 2-20 along. Standing head and shoulders above all of the other Daimlers and Lanchesters, it made a lovely addition to our line up, I have to admit to feeling a rather large pang of regret!
1935 Daimler LQ3-20 with Arthur Mulliner coachwork
I started to cast around for another large Daimler, big Lanchesters are simply too expensive nowadays. This handsome limousine came to light, it has Arthur Mulliner coachwork, and has that certain something about its appearance that few limousines display, it is very well proportioned and imposing. Photographs do not really do it justice, it is a big car, yet in photographs, at a glance, could pass for the much smaller Daimler Fifteen saloon.
Difficult to see in the picture, the car was painted blue and black, the registration number displayed is BLK 264
The Daimler has a green continuation log book dating from 1969, recording the registration number as BLK 264 and describing the colour as blue and black. From 1969 until his premature death in a road traffic accident in 1974, the Daimler was registered to A.J. Cutler, better known to Scrumpy and Western fans as Adge Cutler, song writer and lead singer of the west country pop group The Wurzels. A Daimler & Lanchester Owners’ Club members list from 1972 records Adge as a current member with two Daimlers in his possession; a larger DE36 and this 20hp limousine.
A later photograph that came with the limousine, shows a black LQ3-20 bearing the registration ASV 881, this is certainly the same car, it is fitted with the incorrect after market rear lamps, number plate lamp and rectangular reflectors which are still on the car today.
The Daimler is photographed alongside a 1978 Ford Capri, by this time the DVLA had recorded cars on the central data base, those that were not registered were issued age related numbers, I suspect this is why the Daimler carries ASV 881. The car was at this time registered to a hotel owner in Nailsea near Bristol, any information relating to the car during this period would be most welcome.
In or after 1978, the Daimler was painted all black and had a different registration number. Seen here with a Ford Capri, now a collectors car, probably more valuable than the Daimler!
By 1994 the LQ 3-20 had found its way to Swandlincote, photographs of the car taken during this period show the car in its more modern colour scheme of black and pale primrose. The colour does not photograph accurately and in some images appears almost white, it is however similar to the colour used on 1960s Jaguar E Types and MGBs.
Primrose not white! The whitewall tyres with black embellishers give the car an American look.
I am pretty sure that at this time the Daimler was in use as a wedding car, certainly from 1998 this was its main task. The car came into the fleet of Elegance Vintage and Classic Wedding Cars in Sutton Coldfield, and earned its keep alongside several handsome Rolls Royces and a lovely 1930s Austin Limousine. If you have photographs of the Daimler taken at your wedding I would be pleased to hear from you!
By 1998 the Daimler was part of the Elegance wedding fleet in Sutton Coldfield.
Mike Penn the proprietor of Elegance Weddings had the bonnet and Ace wheel covers painted in the lower body colour, the car had by now lost its whitewall tyres and was fitted with the more conservative blackwall type.
Bonnet and embellishers now painted primrose, at this time the Daimler was earning its keep as a wedding car.
The Daimler carried out its wedding day duties from 1998 until 2017 when Mike decided to pension it, and the rest of the fleet off. I am not a great fan of white paintwork on large pre war cars, but Mike assured me that despite its appearance in photographs, the Daimler was almost yellow, and nowhere near the white shade it appeared to be. I went to view the Daimler and was instantly taken with the colour scheme, it looks much nicer ‘in the flesh’ and reminds me of the yellow Rolls Royce from the film of the same name with Ingrid Bergman and Rex Harrison. My initial plan to return the car to its original blue and black evaporated, even as I viewed the car.
A test drive revealed poor steering and brakes, but a willing engine and very smooth gearbox with a nice positive action on the gear change quadrant. The positives outweighed the negatives, Mike and I shook hands and I was, once again, the owner of a nice large Daimler.
Handsome from all angles, a luggage rack is essential on a D back car.
Discretion being the better part of valour, I decided not to drive the Daimler home, but to recover the car on a trailer. I have a tow bar fitted to my people carrier, but the nearest hire company is across the city. I realised that I could not comfortably collect the Daimler, unload and get back to the hire depot within a single day hire period. I entrusted Sterling Transport to collect the car in a fully insured, covered car pod, on a return load basis. I had to wait for ten days before a delivery was made near the Daimlers location, but the wait was worthwhile. The cost, although a little more than two days trailer hire was worth every penny. No stress, no fuss, no worry about traffic or weather, and the car was delivered at the appointed time in the same condition it left Sutton Coldfield.
Although the Daimler looks almost perfect in the photographs, it has not been used for some time (probably due to the deteriorating steering and braking systems), it was also displaying a very ‘lumpy’ idle – although whilst running the engine performed well. Before venturing out onto the roads around Frenchay I gave the Daimler a good service to include lubricating the suspension and steering, and adjusting the brakes. A test run showed a marked improvement, but clearly both steering and brakes require more attention. Although slightly improved, the idle is still uneven and also requires more investigation.
One feature that I am thrilled with is the amount of room in the driver’s compartment, the LQ 2-20 had adequate legroom, this car is absolutely perfect for my physical size and driving style, the seat is also comfortable and supportive. The division is the winding type and disappears completely into the division behind and below the drivers seat, this is a great benefit if you wish to have family days out in the car, it makes it almost as intimate as a saloon. Limousines with sliding divisions fail to provide this excellent feature.
There is more leg room in the front of this limousine than any other I have driven!
The weather has not been conducive to lying on a concrete floor beneath a Daimler, so for the last few days I have been cleaning the interior and touching in numerous chips and marks on the paintwork, it cannot be seen on the photographs, but the diference is remarkable. These time consuming, tedious jods are always best tackled as soon as the car arrives, when the enthusiasm is high!
Many photographs of this car must survive in family photo’ albums, if you have a picture of the car whether at a wedding or otherwise, I would be delighted to hear from you.
