Five Classic Trials
Daimler’s lavishly-trimmed Sovereign was a hit with the Goodwood set in the Sixties – but today it’s one of the best buys if you’re looking for affordable Browns Lane luxury
Daimler Sovereign
If you had cruised to Goodwood for a day at the races – motor or equestrian – in one of these, back in the Sixities, you would have been doing extremely well for yourself. Daimler’s finest would have looked the part alongside all those Rover 3 Litres, Humber Super Snipes and Rolls-Royce Silver Shadows, while their lucky occupants, who would have paid a hefty £1 just for the privilege of parking, lapped up the action on the other side of the turnstiles. Just a glance at its church organ of a radiator grille would have emphasised to anyone tootling past in their workaday Ford Anglias or Austin 1100s that the Sovereign positively oozes gravitas and presence.
Tellingly, it remedies some of the S-type’s jarring styling; the curious kinks in the rear doors remain, but the tapering rear end is balanced out by a more prominent front that’s closely modelled on the MkX. It sounds like a dreadful mish-mash of different ingredients from the Jaguar/Daimler parts bin, but the end result is frankly beautiful.
Fire up the 4.2-litre straight-six, edge its shapely snout out on to the road and you soon discover that it soaks up sweeping, twisty lanes rather better than any of its period British rivals; in fact, we suspect it wouldn’t fare too badly if it accidentally ended up on Goodwood’s Lavant Straight. It responds in a way that Rolls-Royce and Rover custodians can only dream of, seeming to slump softly into a bend with noticeable body roll as you approach the apex, but in such a way as to keep you firmly in control and fully informed as to what all four corners are doing.
The Varamatic power-assisted steering – a popular option – is a revelation, too. All members of the extended Mk2 family offer constant communication through the bends, and while the Sovereign’s system sacrifices a little of the Mk2’s fingertip delicacy, it more than makes up for that with the effortless sensation it imparts as you shuffle the slender two-spoke wheel through your hands.
In short, the Sovereign – and its Jaguar 420 sibling – blend all of Browns Lane’s greatest hits into one perfectly-sized package. It shares its basic architecture with the Mk2, but its engine has more in common with the MkX, albeit with two SU carburettors, rather than the three its bigger brother has.
The way in which it reels in the horizon every time you sink the accelerator pedal into the deep footwell carpeting is positively addictive. There’s a moment or so’s hesitation as the three-speed BorgWarner automatic translates your demand to press on into discernibly extra oomph, but once the gearbox kicks down, the engine responds instantly, rustling up 245bhp to haul you towards the horizon. Not that it particularly wants you to know about it; there’s a polished hum from beyond the bulkhead to let you know the XK’s hard at work, but it certainly doesn’t shout about what it’s up to.
It all adds up to a saloon that blends the Mk2’s poise when you’re bearing down on a challenging twisty road, and a fair chunk of the MkX’s pace when you aren’t, all served up with the sort of surefooted stability that would make some period sports car think twice about taking one on.
It also fared better with buyers than its reputation suggests – the 420 and its Sovereign sibling were actually Browns Lane’s bestselling saloons during their two-year stint in the showrooms – particularly with US buyers – but today it costs far less than a 3.8-litre Mk2.
Buy one today and you’ll still be doing well for yourself– not just for all the same reasons as when it was new, but because of the simple fact that you’ll have landed yourself one of the classic car world’s most underrated gems.