1951 Daimler DB18 Special Sports Drophead Coupé

• One of only 500-or-so manufactured
• Coach-built exclusivity
• Ground-upwards restoration costing in excess of £80,000
• Fewer than 1,000 miles since restoration

"Strikingly good looking, and with a talent for rapid and exceedingly smooth long-distance travel, the Daimler is a car which anyone can appreciate. Responding also to intelligent handling of the controls by giving the ultimate in smoothly quick progress, is is a simple-to-drive car which, nevertheless, has a very special appeal for the keen driver." - The Motor, 14th June 1950, testing the 2½-litre Special Sports Coupé.

Daimler is one of the few manufacturers that can rightfully claim to have been established from the birth of the motor industry, and the marque existed in association with Jaguar until 2010 when the brand was terminated. The company's traditions of sound engineering, design and good workmanship were maintained throughout, hardly surprising therefore that Daimler enjoyed a lengthy association with Royalty as suppliers of the finest motor cars.

Development of the pre-war Daimler Fifteen had culminated with the DB18 model announced for 1939. Independent suspension appeared for the first time on a Daimler and the DB18 featured an enlarged, 2,522cc version of the overhead-valve six first introduced in 1933. Daimler's customary fluid flywheel, pre-selector gearbox and worm drive rear axle comprised the transmission. A new drophead coupé appeared at the first post-war London Motor Show in 1948: the DB18 Special Sports. Stylish in a most un-Daimler-like manner, the Special Sports featured coachwork by Barker & Co, the latter, like Daimler and fellow coachbuilders Hooper, being one of the BSA Group's many companies. The radiator grille was now curved and the alloy-panelled coachwork more streamlined, and the Special Sports also benefited from hydro-mechanical braking and a power output raised to 85bhp courtesy of twin carburettors. In short: a model combining all the usual Daimler refinements with increased performance. When DB18 production ceased in 1953, only 500-or-so of these elegant and refined Special Sports models had been completed.

According to our vendor, this simply stunning example of Daimler's hand-built sports soft-top has covered fewer than 1,000 miles since a ground-upwards restoration costing in excess of £80,000. Undoubtedly one of the finest example of this marque, it comes with original handbooks, paperwork, photographs and DVDs.