DAIMLER SOVEREIGN 4.2

Year of manufacture 1978 Recorded mileage 400

Asking price £42,000 Vendor Peter Vardy Heritage, Edinburgh, Scotland; 0131 322 6712; petervardy.com/heritage

WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £3632 Max power 170bhp Max torque 231lb ft 0-60mph 8.9 secs Top speed 125mph Mpg 15

I’ve had old Daimlers on the brain recently. A great friend of mine dipped his toe into the world of classic cars – and, inadvertently, restoration – after being offered a Big Cat at a price he couldn’t refuse. It looked magnificent in the photos, but getting it back on the road has taken longer than he expected. What started as a light recommissioning quickly ballooned into a full-blown rebuild, as the usual issues resulting from a life on Britain’s roads were gradually uncovered the deeper he dug. “Just when you think you’re finished,” he said, “your mechanic sends you a picture of a hole you could jump through.”

Anyone who has spent time in and around ’70s British classics will tell you that the only way to avoid a rusty one is through the use of a time machine. So I can only imagine that bells and whistles and flashes of light and steam have been emanating from the basement of Peter Vardy Heritage’s headquarters in recent weeks: the Edinburgh-based dealership has managed to turn up what must be one of the best-preserved Daimler Sovereigns in the world.

The Squadron Blue car was built in 1978 but wasn’t road registered until 2005, having spent the first part of its life as a display piece for Jaguar before entering a collection, where again it didn’t see action. Remarkably, it’s covered 400 miles in 43 years, surely making it the lowest-mileage example of its type.

A late Series II sporting delicate chrome bumpers, before the rather harsh Series III restyle that did away with the charming quarterlights, it’s hard to imagine speccing one better. Gorgeous dark blue carpets complement a matching leather interior that appears flawless, while under the bonnet lies Jaguar’s sublime 4.2-litre XK straight-six allied to a silky-smooth Borg-warner auto ’box. Being post-’ 75 it has the long-wheelbase shell, improving an already spacious, luxurious cabin and giving rear passengers an extra 4in of legroom.

Often classics that have rarely been driven suffer for their lay-up. To find a car that shows a handful of miles but is also in outstanding condition is a real discovery. This is perhaps especially true of British Leyland-era Jaguars, which have a slightly more soluble reputation than earlier examples.

The longer I look, the more I fall in love. The only thing keeping me from a one-way ticket to Edinburgh is the price, which would keep my friend’s tame welder in gas and wire for some time. But all the money in the world can’t buy true originality – which makes this car’s £42,000 look like a bargain.