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This article tells of how one couple adopted a 1973-1979 Daimler Double-Six 5.3 V12

_{This piece was written 21 years ago by a friend who is sadly no longer with us. As an “acquisition tale,” it’s a little different from the usual style of such things and certain details are perhaps not to be recommended. But it’s a cracker nonetheless.}

Geoff is my friend and neighbour. Even if he were not, I’d always be nice to the grumpy old codger because he has a beautiful, white E-type coupe in original, pristine condition. One day he may let me drive it. I hope he reads this.

On a warm winter’s day, in April, he and I set off from Nottingham Road, bound for the Cannon and Cannon Vintage Car Auction in Hilton. I had been there two days previously, when my eye had fallen upon a red 3.8 Mark 2 (Inspector Morse type) Jaguar. On closer inspection it was a bit of a “paint job”, but possibly worth a bid if it went cheap. It did not so I did not.

In passing I had noticed a golden Daimler Double Six with the bonnet up (usual mode). A quick glance revealed that the fan-ventilated battery-box was missing; so I looked no further. My mild interest stemmed from having driven my late father’s Double-Six in the ’80s. He had purchased it almost new, in part exchange for his old Sl Bentley.

Five years’ hard work finished off the Double Six; I suspect the Sl is still running. If someone has up-graded the front dampers and put on radial tyres, it may even be possible to drive it in a straight line and not have to avoid the cats’ eyes in order to do so. After 20 years’ use, the Sl sold well. After 5 years, the re-sprayed Double Six did not. British Leyland/Daimler/Jaguar designed some good cars; such a pity they could not build them so well.

At the Auction, the Double Six with bonnet down (unusual mode) had good, clean, upholstery and the original paint. As I looked into the boot, someone started the engine. I did not get covered in black exhaust. It runs; it is golden and good to drive, as fond memories remind me. The bonnet is up again and I discover the catch is faulty, which explains a lot!! I peer in, and mention to another peerer, that the battery-box is missing. A long explanation follows and I am shown a secondary electric cooling fan fitted for South African models.

We chat on: he must have been a Jaguar-Daimler Club member. He was polite, shaven, well dressed, probably rich, and far worse than all this, assumed I knew the engine well. I actually only knew the results of this monster; complicated, quiet power coupled with an insatiable thirst. The day was hot and time to attend to my own thirst.

Then I met the owner’s brother, the vendor himself, living in England and only using the car for a few weeks each year. The auto dealer who had had the Golden Monster in his showroom in Durban was also there. I talked to someone who had tried to buy it and sleuth (me) discovered how much he had offered, and had been refused.

I’m beginning to get excited, but must not show it. I think: “Don’t look at the car again or they’ll be on to you.” I eavesdrop on a conversation, “The gear box has been re-conditioned for R12,000 in Johannesburg.” The bidding starts. I melt to the back of the crowd, not easy when you are over six foot and weigh 18 stone.

I do not bid. In increments of R500, the price is rising steadily and so is my passion to possess this limousine. There is a pause in the bidding, I whack in a bid of R2,000 over the last offer. David Cannon bangs his clipboard shouting, “Sold to Mr. King at the back, but subject to the vendor’s confirmation”. I never saw the dealer or the vendor’s brother again …

A golden Daimler Double Six is back in the family … sign this … go to the office … the number plates are not included … sign again. Help, where is Geoff? Will he refuse me a lift home? Is he furious? Who cares; it will be nothing to what my first passion, my wife Chris, will say, when I tell her what I have done. Her last words, still ringing in my ears were, “Enjoy yourselves. Don’t buy anything”, but then the ‘phone rang and I was saved from answering her.

The next task is a plea to Cannon and Cannon to help preserve my marriage, if not my sanity (too late for that!) and let my Daimler stay until Monday – four days. They agree; they are fabulous people and they know Chris too! Geoff drives me home to the front door and promptly puts foot to his Mercedes Kompressor (coward) leaving me to face the storm.

It rages for a couple of days but there are calms and sunny periods. On day four we collect my passion and Chris almost smiles when she sees it. She concedes that she understands why I felt the passion, even if she cannot agree with my priorities. “You promised not to buy anything.” “Oh, No! I didn’t. You asked me not to buy anything, but I made no promises.” . . . . and so it went on, for hours.

When we arrive at the Country Club the golden monster attracts much interest. The bonnet opens un-aided and the crowds peer inside. Chris tries not to be impressed. At a Bonnets Up in Durban, I explain to all present the technicalities of the V12. Do they believe me? Are they just being polite, or are they as ignorant as I am?

Four months on, my passionate wife and I share this gilded chariot. Six months on, I refuse three times what I paid for it.

Does anyone in the club have a bonnet catch for sale? If so, please contact my wife. By e-mail.

-John King

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Some technical details:
Country of origin: GB United Kingdom

Make: Daimler (U.K.)

Model: Sovereign XJ Series II 1973-1979
Submodel: Double Six Series II 1973-1979
Class: full-size luxury / luxury car
Body style: sedan
Doors: 4
Traction: RWD (rear-wheel drive)
Dimensions & capacities
Length: 4945 mm / 194.7 in
Width: 1770 mm / 69.7 in
Height: 1375 mm / 54.1 in
Wheelbase: 2865 mm / 112.8 in
Front track: 1473 mm / 58 in
Rear track: 1488 mm / 58.6 in
Ground clearance: 178 mm / 7 in
Turning circle btw. kerbs 11.9 m / 39 ft
Drag coefficient Cd estimated by a-c: 0.46
Frontal area A estimated by a-c: 2.02 m2
Drag area CdA estimated by a-c: 0.929 m2
Trunk (cargo) capacity claimed: 481 lit/ dm3
Boot length: 902 mm / 35.5 in
Boot width: 1130 mm / 44.5 in
Kerb weight (without a driver): 1870 kg / 4123 lbs
Powertrain
Engine manufacturer: Jaguar V12 5.3-Litre
Engine type: spark-ignition 4-stroke
Fuel type: gasoline (petrol)
Fuel system: 4 carburettors Zenith-Stromberg 175 CDSE
Charge system: naturally aspirated
Valves per cylinder: 2
Cylinders alignment: V 12 SOHC
Displacement: 5343 cm3 / 326 cui
Bore: 90 mm / 3.54 in
Stroke: 70 mm / 2.76 in
Compression ratio: 9 : 1
Horsepower net: 186.5 kW / 254 PS / 250 hp (DIN) / 6000 rpm
Torque net: 408 Nm / 301 ft-lb / 3500 rpm
Fuel capacity: 91 litres / 24.1 U.S. gal / 20 imp. gal
Drivetrain
Gearbox: Borg Warner BW 12
Transmission type: automatic
Number of gears: 3
Standard tyres: 205/70 VR 15
Performance – Factory claim
Top speed: 225 km/h / 140 mph
0-60 mph (s): 7.5
0-100 km/h (s): 7.9

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A golden anniversary review

Jaguar Mark 2: The Golden Anniversary

The Mini turned 50 in 2009, but so did two other British icons, the Triumph Bonneville and the Jaguar Mark 2. We look back on the Jaguar.

Originally published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday November 18.2009

Fast, spacious, luxurious and affordable

While Minis captured the hearts of housewives, businessmen, race- and rally drivers and penniless students alike, it was Jaguar’s medium-sized family sports saloon, the Mark 2, that endured as an all-time classic.

Taking over in 1959 from the “2.4” and “3.4” saloons, later called Mark 1, Jaguar’s Mark 2 boasted improvements to suspension, handling, braking, rear axle and body styling. Unfortunately its increased weight saw it lose a little performance to similarly spec’ed Mark 1s.

Mark 2 was fitted with a choice of three versions of the classic XK engine. These were the short-block 2483cc unit, the earlier 3.4 litre and the bored- and uprated 3.8 litre motor. This developed 220 bhp (164 kW) and was capable of up to 125 mph (201 km/h) and zero to 60 mph in 8,5 seconds, making it the fastest production saloon in the world at the time.

While the smaller versions proved popular as family cars and as weekend motorsport machines, the 3.8’s performance and racing pedigree endeared it equally to bankers and to wealthy underworld leaders in need of nimble getaway cars. Needless to say, highway patrol police quickly adopted the 3.8 as weapon of choice on the UK’s unlimited-speed freeways of the time. Some found their way to pre-independence Rhodesia to defend the honour of law and order in that country as well.

Civilian Mark 2s were true to Jaguar’s mission at the time to provide fast, spacious and luxurious family cars at affordable prices; an element that fans might say is lacking today. Interiors were dominated by the obligatory spread of dials, across beautifully polished walnut instrument panels, and real leather upholstery. Unfortunately leather made way for vinyl in 1966 when bean counters insisted on lopping Pounds off showroom price tags to compete with upstart Rover 2000 TCs.

By 1967 the 2.4 and 3.4 litre cars were renamed “240” and “340” while the 3.8 was dropped to make way for the incoming XJ6. The new cars were identified by means of slimmer bumpers, while cylinder head and carburettor changes increased performance slightly. They were phased out in 1969.

Altogether, 83 976 Mark 2s were produced, including 2 050 shipped out to South Africa for assembly at the CDA plant in East London. An unknown number were exported, fully assembled, to Rhodesia. The “240” and “340” runout models accounted for a further 7 234, including seven “340/3.8” versions built to special order.

Jaguar Mark 2s featured in many movies, notably in chase scenes, while a particularly scruffy example starred in the 1980s cult film Withnail and I. On the small screen, Mark 2s were seen in episodes of The Professionals, The Avengers and The Baron. Most familiar to SA viewers though, was probably the clean-looking but mechanically suspect 1960 model 2.4 of the late John Thaw’s Inspector Morse character.

Morse was originally intended to drive a Lancia but no suitable example was available so a cheap, used, 2.4-litre Mark 2 was bought for the purpose. This was the basic steel-wheeled version with a vinyl roof added by the producers to cover cosmetic flaws. Its suspension and brakes were dodgy at best and was famously described by Thaw as “a beggar to drive.” The engine was no better, so the car was regularly pushed into scenes, with mechanical sounds overdubbed.

After the series ended, the car was given away in a raffle, then famously auctioned for £53 200, some £45 000 above its expected value, purely as result of its famous history. After a comprehensive rebuild, it sold again for “over £100 000”. When we last heard of it, the car graced the garage of property management tycoon Ian Berg, who made it available for shows and promotions across the UK.

Update: December 19, 2011

Owned by Australian publishing company, International Publishing Group, the distinctive car remained housed in the UK and featured in a cameo role in a prequel to the series. An ITV production entitled ‘Endeavour,’ its first episode was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first instalment.

Set in 1965, Shaun Evans played Morse as a junior detective who’d just dropped out of Oxford University and was investigating the disappearance of a schoolgirl. John Thaw’s daughter, Abigail, starred alongside Evans in the eight-season drama that piloted on 2 January 2012 and went on to become a fully-fledged series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_(TV_series)

END

Views: 6

A nimble, sporty driving machine

Pics supplied by restorer

Updated, with additional material, on 2026-01-26

The first thing to know about MG TFs is that there were two versions. The first, introduced in 1953, was fitted with BMC’s 1250 cc XPAG engine that produced 43 kilowatts and 88 Nm. For a mid-1954 update that motor was switched out for the 1466 cc XPEG unit developing 47 kW and 106 Nm. The wizards of Abingdon also wanded away 39 kilograms of excess mass. That Chapman chappie’s “Just add lightness” Lotus Seven arrived in 1957. Just mentioning…

Here’s a tale about one man’s 1954 TF 1500:
People make plans. Life gets in the way. So it was with Ian Grieve. He’d planned, following school, to study medicine in Cape Town. Fate saw to it that he read the Hippocratic Arts at Trinity College, Dublin, instead. While there, he owned an MG TC and the damage, as they say, was done.

Back home in Pietermaritzburg life went on but, one day during the ‘seventies, the MG bug bit again. He bought a bundle of parts, supposedly a complete 1947 TC, firmly intending to reassemble them. They remained on shelves in his garage.

A more approachable project, a 1954 TF 1500, came his way a few years later. This was noticeably complete, standing on its wheels and recognisable. It just didn’t run and the fine old English Ash framework had succumbed to dry rot. He disassembled the car, during the ‘eighties, with imminent intent to restore.

Living unfortunately intervened again and the project was shelved. Literally. Grieve retired in 2007 after 40 years in family practice. Then, following a long-awaited extended safari into Africa, he looked around for something to do.

Life made up for past interferences by stepping in, with a Grand Sign, during a visit to Weekend Witness/VSCC Cars in the Park the following year. A magnificently restored TF, belonging to Charles Rilett, caught his eye and Grieve knew that the time had come. Work resumed in earnest during 2009.

Rust was brushed, buffed and cut away, rotten panels patched or replaced and most of the wooden framework remade in Meranti and heavy plywood. Genuine Ash doesn’t grow on trees ‘round here you know. How does one remake a wooden part that’s rotted away to a fraction of what it should be? Take what remains, measure carefully, then reconstruct according to the drawing in the parts book. Thereafter, trim and shape until it fits into the space provided.

The chassis had to be stripped of rust, repaired and repainted, while body parts required thorough cleaning, panel beating where necessary, and repainting or replating. Metal parts damaged beyond repair, or rusted away, were remade; using basic tools and old-fashioned ingenuity.

Then came the upholstery. Very little had withstood the ravages of time. As Grieve said: “I didn’t consciously learn new skills. I solved problems as I went along.”

New skills learned, or problems overcome, included spray-painting, panel beating, upholstery, soldering, parts fabrication, brazing, carpentry and rust removal.

Luckily, the MG’s wings were in good shape but among the items Grieve figured out how to reproduce were the pair of bonnet strip supports – those little brackets that the long centre hinge-pin of the bonnet fits into – at either end.

These were available from the old country at ‘only’ £9.15 each, plus sundry other charges, but it’s far more interesting to fettle from mild steel sheet for a few Rand. It wasn’t all ‘making do’ however; he admitted to having gathered and hoarded ‘a few’ MG parts over thirty-odd years.

A guaranteed way to spend heaps of money is the “cheque-book” route: It results in a car costing so much that one’s afraid to take it off its show trailer. Grieve did not subscribe to that notion. In his view, the whole point of nostalgia was revisiting the fun and sensations of driving cars you enjoyed when you were young.

That’s why his TF ultimately harboured a few pirated parts, non-imperial fasteners and perhaps even a modern alternative, here and there. The aim was to produce a nimble, sporty driving machine that he could enjoy, despite life’s little interruptions, for years to come.

“Migs” was completed, and ready to run, in May 2013.

Footnote: Ian Grieve passed away in 2022, aged 87, following a bout with bone cancer.

The numbers
Engine: BMC XPEG, 1466 cc naturally aspirated, Pushrod OHV, petrol
Fuel feed: Twin SU4, semi-downdraft, constant vacuum, carburettors
Power: 47 kW @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 106 Nm @ 3000 rpm
Drive: RWD
Gears: Four-speed manual with synchromesh on second, third and fourth
Clutch: Single dry plate.
Chassis: Steel box section; over-slung at rear
Body style: Two-door Roadster
Acceleration, 0-100 km/h: 18.1 secs
Maximum speed: 137 km/h (85 mph)
Average fuel consumption: 12.5 l/100 km
Measurements, L x W x H, mm: 3734 x 1518 x 1334
Wheelbase, mm: 2388
Kerb weight: 876 kg
Ground clearance: 150 mm
Tank: 54 litres
Quantities produced: 3400 x 1500 cc, 6200 x 1250 cc

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Views: 31