THE DAIMLER & LANCHESTER OWNERS IN NEW ZEALAND SPARE PARTS CLUB
Back in 1971, Daimler enthusiasts Gordon Somerville and Laurie Wason organized a meeting to see what interest there was in Christchurch for the formation of a club for the marque. Twelve others attended the meeting, and the Daimler & Lanchester Owners Club in New Zealand was formed.
Both men were a driving force in what became a very successful club. At its height, the club numbered some 900 members, with a separate parts entity that is the envy of many local motoring clubs. It also caters for BSA cars — the company featured in Daimler history just prior to the sale to Jaguar.
The closure of the local Daimler and Lanchester agents, Croydon Motors, was the logical genesis for the formation and expansion of the club’s spare-parts division, and it went from strength to strength. Today, it operates as a separate entity, with its own management team.
In the late ’70s, a friend of mine was selling up his Christchurch car-sales business and moving to Australia. His usual transport was a very tidy Daimler V8 250, which ended up in my garage. The Jaguar-daimler slimlinebodied car was a delight to drive, especially with the V8 weight over the front wheels, which made it lighter than the usual Jaguar inline-six XK engine. The little 2.5-litre V8 provided quite sparkling performance for
the day. It wasn’t long before I became a club member and frequent visitor to Gordon for parts when refreshing the engine and gearbox. Nothing was a problem to obtain, and the club had everything I needed. Regular visits to the Belfast parts store in north Christchurch nearly always revealed some new items, such as rubber parts being made from window rubbers, which couldn’t be obtained from England.
Unfortunately, many of the moulds that Gordon had acquired for rubber parts were stored in a building that was lost in the earthquake. However, a number of items are now being remanufactured in the UK.
Gordon had an amazing memory for club members’ cars but my car puzzled him.
“I don’t recall that car or the registration number,” he said — and he was obviously keen to know more about it.
All was revealed when I produced its Scottish service records and the logbook kept by the Scottish tweed company that had owned it.
Around this time, I also got to know the club’s popular engineer, John Finlay, at his Phillipstown, Christchurch, workshop. John was trying out locally made Denco pistons in my engine. They are still in it. John Sutherland is now at the helm of the workshop, which is still a popular destination for club members.
Suppliers are now remanufacturing just about
“We do our best to get genuine parts, original parts, and replacement parts. So, to get the pricing right, we try to get original, and replacement is down there in price”
everything for many makes, and after the BSA Group of Daimler joined the Jaguar fold in 1960, many body and mechanical parts became common to Jaguar-daimler models.
Gordon and Laurie left an impressive legacy. Today, the spare-parts club caters for the early cars as well as the Jaguar-daimler models, and there doesn’t seem to be much that can’t be obtained.
Current parts club president Peter Jenkins has a wealth of experience for the position, with a background in the motor industry. For many years, he worked for Triumph agents Beck Motors in Gore and Invercargill. Along with other members, he has put many hours into restoring the club’s Daimler ute showpiece, and his pride in the finished product is particularly obvious.
The club holds a comprehensive reference library to help in restorations, along with a large stock of second-hand parts in its warehouse, including pieces of trim material for many pre–jaguar-daimler era models. The club is also keen to hear from anyone with parts that they would like to dispose of. Enquiries for parts come from as far afield as Australia.
“We get enquiries for all sorts of parts, particularly when people have lost bits in the course of rebuilding something. They ask us what we have and our usual reply is, ‘What do you want?’” Peter says. “There are about 40,000 line items of new stock, so it’s huge.”
As mentioned in the ute story (page 56), the new cylinder heads are a prominent development. Cast by Giltech Engineering of Dunedin, they appear to be doing the job, with more sets about to be machined before a price is set and they are offered to members. Giltech Engineering manufactures many of the replacement parts for cars constructed by Rod Tempero in Oamaru.
Also to be tested in the ute are replacement electric fans, which will be supplied by the club as kits. A main supplier for replacement parts is the David Manners Group in the UK. Door seals are a regular request, and currently three types of seals are carried; the type depends on how much someone wants to spend.
A big factor to consider along with price is the quality of some items available, which Peter says the club struggles with. “We do our best to get genuine parts, original parts, and replacement parts. So, to get the pricing right, we try to get original, and replacement is down there in price. [With a] lot of engine stuff, we go for genuine, and suspension parts are definitely original,” he explains.
The variety is comprehensive, and a number of parts are now made locally. Parts are also now being stocked for the later-model Jaguars up to 2010.
“There are about 40,000 line items of new stock, so it’s huge”