Descrizione
Sir Winston Churchill’s 1939 – Daimler DB18
Built in 1939 and featuring coachwork by Carlton Carriage Co., the Daimler was used by the Prime Minister (Winston Churchill) during his election campaigns in 1944 and 1949.
With a top speed of 76mph, the Drophead Coupé uses a four-speed Wilson pre-selector in tandem with a Daimler Fluid Flywheel rather than a conventional manual or automatic gearbox. Gears are selected by hand before a “change pedal” is used to enact the shift.
The silver over black paintwork contrasts with a three-position chocolate-coloured folding roof and green leather interior, formed of a bench seat in the front and a sideways seat in the rear.
During its life, the car has spent time in the USA and Germany, as well as the UK, and undergone a full restoration by German expert E. Thiesen of Hamburg.
In 1939, the Daimler Motor Company had chassis allocation to build just 23 drophead coupés. These were bodied by various external coach builders including Abbot, Charlesworth and Carlton Carriage Company as in the case of chassis ‘49531’. Of the allocated 23, it is understood from research in association with the Daimler and Lanchester Owners’ Club (DLOC) that only eight 1939 DB18’s were built before the Daimler plant in Coventry was tragically bombed in the Blitz of 1940 with severe consequence to the production of these cars.
Of the eight built by this time, four were confirmed destroyed in the bombing (Chassis’ 49529, 49535, 49538, 49539), and a fifth was sold for scrap following the damage it incurred (Chassis 49533).
Today, only this car, chassis 49531 is ‘known’. The remaining DB18 has lived a cherished life having been retained by the Daimler Motor Company from its completion in 1940 to 1950 to be used for Special Domestic Occasions such as the pre and post-war electioneering undertaken by Sir Winston Churchill in Britain in 1944 and 1949. Churchill was captured on film several times atop the hood of EKV 881 with speaker systems adorning the bonnet area allowing him to address the crowds who lined the streets to see him.
POA
