Description
I'm offering for sale a very late example of the Lanchester LD10 Barker bodied saloon. This car has never been offered before on the general market. I have owned it for the past 9 years, the previous owner owned it from 1995, the previous owner to him being the chauffeur of the original lady owner in 1951.
I had always fancied one of these but didn't find any that met the quality I was looking for and then I found this car. I knew the owner for several years before the question of him selling it came up and I was pleased to become its new custodian.
The previous owner had been bought the car by his family as a retirement present because they had known of it for many years and , with a long term background in quality woodwork, he set about taking the whole car to bits, saving and repairing everything that was worth saving and expertly restoring anything required.
As an example of his dedication to the task, a failing on these cars is the dashboard which delaminates over time. This has been replaced by a completely new dashboard made out of a single piece of iroko and is a perfect replica of the original, except it is completely sound.
A new headlining and new carpets were fitted but the leather seats and door cards are all original. There is a box full of details and receipts for mechanical reconditioning plus of course, repainting. The car is on 5 good Avon tyres, the original number is non transferable but the car is fitted with "Ace" plates rather than the pressed type.
Throughout the car there is much evidence of the care taken with this restoration. A new cotton covered wiring loom was fitted and I have fitted a new regulator. The original design exhaust is still on the car. There can be a small blow from the silencer joint at the front pipe but I have given it a touch with the MIG every few years as it seemed a shame to spoil the originality. The only item not fitted is the petrol reserve tap although the knob for it is still on the dashboard. The clock is working and the petrol gauge is accurate.
In due course, although the chrome has all been rechromed, the hub caps could do with rechroming again. However, the previous owner had not done this because he was told that doing so would probably make the original "Lanchester" markings on them nearly disappear and so I have had two new hub caps on one side and the best of the originals on the other side. The bumpers have some pimples on them but nothing serious.
I fitted a new head gasket about six years ago and have another as a spare. Some of the original type of toolkit items are with the car including the correct foot pump, starting handle and some of the small tools.
One of the very few items I have not been able to locate is the bakelite spark plug cover that was fitted to these.
In August 2015 the car won "Best in class" at the Biggar Show.
Since then, it has been kept ready for the road but has gone few miles with me, as part of my Lanchester and Daimler collection but I am having to reduce this somewhat due to the passing of years and running out of space. The photos were all taken today , 16/ 3/ 24, and show the car 'uncleaned' from the winter layup. I shall be getting on with it shortly
You will see a picture of the car on the LD10 website, a great resource for owners, at the Dumfries annual town celebrations.
The condition overall is very very good and while there are small areas that could be slightly improved , I believe it would be hard to find one that is better for the money. Some spares are with the car, including a cylinder head, a distributor, ignition spares, new brake linings for the front and rear, correct felt oil filters and there will be more when I can get into the garage on a day that isn't bitter and look them out.
This car is from close to the end of LD10 production. The independent front suspension makes a big difference over the pre war beam axles and it is of a compact size that means it is easily garaged plus nothing is particularly heavy to work on. There are plenty of points to oil and grease, the preselector box works well.
One point I must mention is that, with the Zenith carburettor, the car must be warmed up adequately before using. The fluid flywheel and gearbox have plenty of "go" with them unlike some I have experienced.
Finally, I have followed with interest various videos and stories of people restoring a car of this model. They have gone through great trials and done a huge amount of puzzling over and how and why things fit and what to replace a broken or tired item with.
While some may enjoy that voyage of discovery, there is no need to. The restorer of this car has written down copious notes on what the correct parts and details are, down to a complete list with dimensions of all the Oilite bushes used on the car, the differences throughout production and generally a fastidious amount of detail.
As the better shops used to say "A small deposit secures."You may have noticed I also have a 1934 10 for sale. The need to reduce is genuine but I have been successful in finding new homes for a few others in the past few weeks. Because of that, I would be pleased to consider an exchange of both cars for something interesting and open from the late 20s/ early 30s of decent quality , possibly with some cash.
Conceived in 1938, the LD10 was to have been introduced in 1939/ 40 had not wartime preparations and the war itself not intervened. It was quite a bold move by BSA to introduce a model which bore little similarity to what had gone before. When It came to actual production, BSA had little choice but to go with the 'utility' body made by Briggs, a subsidiary of Ford.
Riley had already become a casualty of a Briggs contract, as would Jowett in due course, but Lanchester soldiered on with Briggs until 1949. My father told me a story which is true. Two old ladies, the Miss Cummings, had a 1937 Lanchester 11 sports saloon which had done little mileage and they were awaiting delivery of their new LD10 which had been on order for some time. My father would be very eager to get his mitts on the 11 as it had been kept 'as new'. The sisters got word that their new car had arrived at the dealers in Stranraer, who were also Austin agents so my father drove them to Stranraer to collect the new car. In the showroom was their new Lanchester and an Austin 10 GS1, both new. The sisters were heading for the Austin but the salesman had to tell them that unfortunately, the other car was theirs. That sort of sums up what was wrong with the Briggs offering and, having already bought Barkers, BSA eventually decided to make their own coachbuilt aluminium body on a wooden frame and so the car that I am offering was created. I won't find another as good as it but we all have sacrifices to make.
Now, strangely enough, about 1988 or so, there was a white Briggs bodied LD10 advertised in Garstsng and I went to see it with my father, just in case you think I'm one of those people who 'picked this up' by chance. Far from it. I was brought up knowing about these. The car was white but seemed to have very little go but the owner had a brother and the brother's car was in the same garage , and guess what it was - an Austin GS1 in beautiful condition. As my father said on the way back, if the Austin had been for sale, it would have been coming home with us but it wasn't.
So there we are, the incredibly profit less , very expensive LD10. In my 20s I'd have thought I'd struck gold finding a car like this one I'm offering at the equivalent price in the 80s but they weren't to be got. However, now you can have a nice one and at what is now a fairly reasonable outlay. If I were a seller who owned just the one car, I would be probably counting a much higher value on it but owning a collection does give perspective and I hope the asking price appears representative of the quality of the car. I see cars for sale which are £5000+ overpriced where owners have no conception of the change that has taken place in the market. If you think it seems too cheap and you wanted something more expensive, good news, this is it. If it seems too dear, no problem. Buy a basket case, try restoring it to the same standard then count up the cost both in money and time.
Kindly note : Please do not make any offers through C and C without having made contact by phone or email first. I am not sitting at a computer all day , there is just too much to do and I may miss seeing your communication, especially if you expect a near immediate reply.
