The boss’ wheels

It was good to see that OVC 444 has survived in such fine condition (C&SC, April). As an apprentice at the time I remember thinking that if I could take one Daimler home, that would be it.

It is an elegant interpretation of Hooper’s Empress design. Then, it was black over silver with grey trim, but somewhere in its life it has lost the original interior wood, which was a particularly attractive silvery grain with a very pale greenish tint that lightened the car’s interior.

As Buckley says, the Dauphin was used by RE Smith and piloted by Ernie, the company’s chauffeur, who had a well-deserved reputation for prodigious beer consumption. Legend has it that return journeys to Smith’s Dorridge abode were punctuated by refreshment breaks.

I last saw OVC 444 in 1980 at Drabble & Allen in Manchester, where it was receiving extensive body repairs. D&A’S workshop had previously been the northern depot of Daimler. Now that the financial press refer to Mercedes-benz as Daimler, we are in danger of losing the identity of ‘proper’ Daimlers, Great Britain’s first production car. John Box

Burton in Kendal