My 1973 Daimler Double-Six Vanden Plas is a luxury car based on the contemporary Jaguar XJ Saloon. The model was launched on the 26th of December, 1972, and based on the new long wheelbase XJ body with recently introduced Jaguar V12 engine. It sat at the pinnacle of the XJ range and cost a whopping £5,439.06. These cars came at the tail end of Series 1 production and the last of them were produced in June of 1973. Only 351 examples were built, with 346 in right hand drive.
The Jaguar XJ series should have been a world beating car. It combined beautiful styling with a world class ride and excellent handling for a large saloon. The new V12 engine was probably the most advanced mass produced engine of its day, and even the venerable XK was still competitive in 1968.
However, lack of continued investment and the chaos that was British Leyland meant the car never lived up to its potential. Today, while few survivors are in great condition, it still shows what an amazing design this was for 1968 and was probably Jaguar’s crowning achievement. Given the beauty of the design, and the way they drive, they are an underappreciated classic, the V12 versions in particular.
(Photo Credit Kanwal Singh)
What is a Daimler?
Daimler were a storied British car manufacturer established in 1896, based in Coventry. While Rolls Royce are generally considered a car for royalty and the gentry, in the first half the 20th century, that position was held by Daimler.
Daimler were unrelated to the modern day Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz. However, the company started out buying the rights to use the German Daimler patents and build Daimler cars in the United Kingdom. This arrangement was with Gottleib Daimler, well before his later merger with Benz. Over time, they built their own vehicles and were not related to the original Daimler company in Germany.
In these early days, Daimler cars were known for their fluted radiator grilles and sleeve valve engines. During the Edwardian period, they were the car of choice for the British Royal family.
In 1910, the company was sold to BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company). They expanded into commercial vehicles as well as their traditional luxury cars. By 1914 Daimlers were used by royal families including those of Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Japan, Spain, and Greece. Expertise in large engines gained during the first world war paved the way for their first V12 car, known as the Double-Six.
In the post second world war period, Daimler were not as successful financially, and in 1960, Jaguar Cars purchased Daimler from BSA. This was primarily for their factory capacity. Daimler had a large factory in Coventry, and Jaguar had been prevented by the government from expanding in Coventry, being told to do so in high unemployment areas.
The purchase of Daimler gave William Lyons a brand that was far more acceptable to establishment types, Jaguar being seen as a flashy brand for footballers and publicans. While the first Jaguar produced Daimlers still had Daimler engines, the quickly moved to badge engineered models.
By 1973, Daimlers were based on contemporary Jaguar bodies and running gear, with the Daimler fluted grille, Daimler badges and improved interior appointments. Even the DS420 limousine was based on the old MK X platform.
(Photo Credit Kanwal Singh)
Daimler continued as a badge engineered brand until 2009, when the last Daimler was sold. Tata motors still own the rights to the brand, although it is unclear of its status in the United States, as an application to register the trademark there was rejected in 2009, the brand not being used in the USA since 1967. Given the turmoil surrounding Jaguar, it seems unlikely that Daimler will ever come back.
What is Vanden Plas?
Vanden Plas started out as Flemish coachbuilders in 1870 in Brussels, originally building horse drawn carriages. They later set up branches in Paris and the United Kingdom. In the early 20th century, all three branches focused on coachwork for high end automobiles.
The British branch were particular associated with WO Bentleys, building bodes for over 700 Bentley chassis. By 1923 the factory was based in Kingsbury, London. After the demise of the original Bentley company, they produced bodies for a wider range of chassis, including Alvis, Armstrong Siddeley, Bentley (Derby), Daimler, Lagonda, Rolls-Royce and Talbot.
The French branch continued until 1934 and the original Belgian Branch until 1949. The British branch had a different fate, acquired by Austin in 1946 to produce the Austin A120 Princess. As a subsidiary of Austin, Vanden Plas produced low production range topping versions of Austin vehicles.
(Photo Credit Kanwal Singh)
After most of the British car industry became part of British Leyland, Austins focus was more on mainstream vehicles, so Vanden Plas started building high end models for other brands in the BL family. For most of these vehicles they didn’t build the whole car, but rather cars were sent to the Kingsbury works with running gear installed for final paint and fitting of a coach built interior.
How is a Daimler Double-Six Vanden Plas different from a regular XJ12?
An XJ12 was already a very impressive car. It was first launched 1971 in short wheelbase form, before a long wheelbase version was added in 1972. The regular Daimler Double-Six was quite close to the short wheelbase XJ12. Lofty England, by then Chairman of Jaguar, had been a Daimler apprentice between 1927 to 1932, and had actually raced an original Double-Six in the period. He decided that the new Daimler version of the XJ12 should be known as the Double-Six.
(Photo Credit Kanwal Singh)
The new Double-Six wore the same fluted grille as the XJ6 based Daimler Sovereign. The only difference was the small V12 badge that replaced the styled D. There were also some small interior differences, for example the number of pleats on the seats.
The Vanden Plas was quite different. Based on the long wheelbase body shell, the cars were built with one coat of paint, and driven from Coventry to the Vanden Plas Kingsbury works in north London. The cars were built with all the options available at the time, except for the chrome wheels, which could be added by the buyer. This included:
- Air conditioning.
- Front fog lights.
- Laminated windscreen and Sundym glass all around.
- Radiomobile 108SR radio with stereo cartridge player, four door mounted speakers and electrically operated aerial.
- Remote control drivers door mirror.
- Electric windows.
- Heated rear window.
- rear reading lamps.
- red warning lights on all four doors.
- Seatbelts.
At Vanden Plas, the cars were properly painted in the special Vanden Plas colours. I understand the cars were finished to a much higher standard, for example the doors being re-hung if necessary. As well as the special colours, a black vinyl roof was fitted, with supporting chrome trim. In addition, side chrome trim strips were added, and a hand painted coachline added underneath. This was usually gold, otherwise a contrasting colour. Vanden Plas badging was added to the rear of the car. I’ve seen one source that states that the wheels were finished in a special gunmetal colour. I can’t confirm this, but I’ve seen a few early photos that seem to suggest that it is true.
(Photo Credit Kanwal Singh)
The biggest thing that set the Vanden Plas models apart was the special interior. The woodwork was a much higher grade. Dashboard outer panels incorporated boxwood inlay that curved upwards at each end to match the shape of the panel. Wooden fillets with boxwood inlays were also used on all four door trims. The door trims themselves, were also significantly different, including lined door pockets.
The four place seats were of a special Vanden Plas design, finished on Connolly leather, with leather seat backs and seat pockets, and leather headrests. The rear seat had different rear arm rest and different treatment to the console with the window switches and rear cigarette lighter. Wilton carpets were used, with additional carpeted sections and thick underlay. The rear parcel shelf was trimmed in the interior colour.
The Jaguar V12 Engine
TBD
About this Car
My car was manufactured 15/1/73 and dispatched 14/2/73. It is finished in Morello Cherry with a Tuscan Interior.
It was sold new by Ashton Preston Garages, Preston Lancashire. The first owner was a Mrs M. K. Brown, of Lancaster UK. The car was registered XDC60L.
I don’t know much about the car from when it was new to the first record I have, which is from 1990. It had the Victorian Registration CSD372. That plate number was likely issued in late 1985, which is presumably when it arrived in Australia. At that point was owned by Phillip Jewel.
Phillip Jewel would own the car until around the year 2000. During his ownership, he had the transmission rebuilt and the engine refreshed with new rings and bearings. The car was mostly serviced by a garage called Leighjag Enterprises.
After that, the car was jointly owned by Ben and David Bonsall, who seemed to share the car between Morabbin Vic and McLaren Vale, SA. They would own the car for about five years. During the early years of their ownership, it was registered in under CSD 372 in Victoria. However, it would go to South Australia for a while under WOJ873, and then back to Victoria under EM344.
In early 2005, an old friend of mine purchased the car and would own it for 15 years. It was in good mechanical condition, although the paintwork was in average shape by then. He would own the car around 10 years and used it sparingly, on a trade plate.
At that point the car was sold to Queensland in a deal with a Mk2. It went to a Jaguar collector there, and sat in storage for a few years. The car was to be restored, but another one with better paint was located, and a few parts were removed from this car, including the original overmats at that time.
It was then sold on and treated to a closed door respray, new vinyl roof, new grille and a few other improvements. That owner planned to finish the restoration, but the purchase of two Bentleys had the car on the market.
I happened to be talking my friend the previous owner about how I had test driven a 1973 XJ12 series 1, and while I liked the car, I really wanted a Vanden Plas. He told me that he had heard that his old car was for sale, and gave me the number of the current owner. I did a deal and the car was mine.
From there, I had to get the car back on the road. It hadn’t been registered since 2005, and had done less than 7,000 mile since 2005.
I had work done to get the car safe to transport. This included fitting electronic ignition, carburettors rebuilt, restore the radiator, new master cylinder and servo, new water pump, fitting some missing chrome and the front and rear windscreens, some electrical work and some suspension work. This was all done at Classic and Prestige Auto Services in Qld.
What’s next
My goal is to take a car that is running and driving safely to one I would be confident to jump in and drive to Melbourne and back in summer. That includes things like:
- Additional work to the suspension beyond what was needed for safety to restore the ride
- Rebuilt brake calipers
- Fix the air conditioning
- Refit a Radiomobile radio
- Fix any minor issues that are likely to come up as a drive the car more
Work done
TBD
