1948 Daimler DB18 Special Sports Drophead Coupe

With a long and proud tradition of building some of the finest cars on the road in Britain, not to mention supplying the Royal Family, Daimler entered the post-war era with what was essentially a revamped pre-war line-up. The Daimler 15 became the DB18 in 1946, using a powerful 2.5-litre six-cylinder derived from the Scout car, while the transmission was a four-speed pre-selector gearbox with a patented fluid flywheel and final Hypoid bevel drive. Front suspension was independent via coil springs and hydraulic dampers, while at the rear semi-elliptic leaf springs combined with hydraulic dampers and an anti-sway bar. Braking was courtesy of Girling hydro-mechanical drums and the steering was a Marles worm and double roller system. Daimler offered the DB18 as a saloon, although a variety of coachbuilders produced an extensive range of different body styles. One in particular, the Drophead Coupe by Barker& Co., was even catalogued as a separate model between 1948 and 1952, with attractive, flowing lines enhanced by two-tone paintwork. Formed in aluminium, with steel wings, the Barker Special Sports - as it was known - came with a fully lined cloth hood and unusual seating arrangement, with the rear passenger placed sideways. More power was extracted from the engine by replacing the single carburettor with twin SUs and 7 to 1 compression ratio, giving 85 bhp at 4200 rpm and a maximum torque of 116 lb/ft at 2200 rpm. Top speed of the Barker Special Sports was somewhere in the region of 80-85 mph, a big improvement over the DB18 Saloon, but the high price of around 2,560 Pounds made the open-topped derivative a lot more exclusive, with just 500 built in total. Today, these elegant Daimlers are an attractive proposition for the enthusiast of high quality, coachbuilt British luxury cars and a great alternative to rivals from Bentley, Lagonda and Alvis.