1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Sport

1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Sport Corsica Drophead Coupe

Featured is Daimler Double Six chassis 30661; the unique low chassis model. When the chassis returned from Thompson and Taylor, it was by no means straightforward to bolt all the bits and pieces to it. Many modifications were required to install the engine, including fitting a new sump, rerouting the exhaust and as a result changing the ignition. This was all caused by the fact that the ride height was considerably lower, which would have been even worse if Daimler had not fitted gigantic 23 inch wheels. After its display duties, the chassis was fitted with Thrupp and Maberly close-coupled drophead coupe body in the summer of 1929. Fitted with a conventional gearbox, the car was sold or loaned to Captain Wilson of preselector gearbox fame. It's uncertain if the car served as a test vehicle for the Wilson gearbox, but from the following year a Wilson gearbox was available as an option on Daimler models. Now equipped with a preselector gearbox, the unique Double Six was sold or given back to the factory in 1930 or early in 1931. For its next owner, the car was equipped with a fixed head body, most probably by Martin Walter, who was not unfamiliar with the Double Six chassis. It was registered 'GP4831' on July 1st 1931, the number the car carries to this date.

In an unfortunate attempt to avoid an errant Austin entering the highway, the car tipped over and ended on its side. He and his wife were lucky to escape unharmed, but some damage was done the coachwork. Mending the damage was not a problem, but mending the wife's confidence in the car proved more troublesome and as she refused to ride in the car, a new owner was sought and found. Instead of having the Coupe repaired to its former glory he had coachbuilder Corsica modify it to a four seater Drophead Coupe. Third time lucky it seemed as the low-chassis Daimler survived with this coachwork. At the end of the decade, the car disappeared from the radar for some time, but since the 1950s its history has been well documented. The Double Six was restored and went through two more hands before being bought by the Burnett family for an absolute bargain at an auction in 1963. For the next 40+ years they enjoyed the car immensely and it frequently appeared in magazines, most prominently in a 1977 Profiles article by legendary journalist William Boddy. For the last decade of the Burnett ownership, the car was stored and after four years of prying, it was eventually sold to RM Classic Cars in 2004. In no time they found a new owner for the car, who immediately ordered a complete restoration by RM Auto Restoration.

No doubt one of the company's most complex restorations to date, RM managed to complete the work in time to ship the car to the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where the new owner took delivery of the rather striking Daimler. A regular competitor at Pebble for several decades, he had never won the coveted Best of Show despite coming close on several occasions. As soon as people laid eyes on the low-chassis Double Six that Sunday morning, the general consensus was that this was his best chance to date. The judges agreed and the freshly restored car followed in the footsteps of the equally lavish Double Six Walter Coupe that had won 'Best in Show' seven years earlier. Covered by a stunned crowd all day, the shoreline photo-shoot was the first time the unusual proportions of the unique Drophead Coupe could be admired. The seemingly endless hood, for example, stretches 10 feet ahead of the windscreen and the wheels are so big that the front fenders are taller than the radiator. Exotic inside and out, the Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe remains as one of the finest cars that has ever graced the lawn at Pebble.

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