daisy

Daisy

I bought Daisy from London Car Auctions in Wandsworth in June 1993, for the grand sum of £200, plus commission. I needed a runaround in London and it was all I could afford at the time!

The car only had one owner before me, and he bought it new in September 1962. I presume this was an estate sale. Finished in a fetching shade of hand painted bathroom blue (the car was grey when new), I drove around the streets of London without a care in the world, but carried out a host of mechanical repairs to make the car 100% reliable.

During 1994 I stripped back the old blue paintwork and found a very solid car underneath, which required no welding. This was my first any only attempt at respraying a car, so armed with sanding disks & filler, I did the necessary work and the car was painted in rose taupe over oyster. 

In 1995 I got a new job with a company car, and I bought my first home in East London with limited parking; in addition I had just bought a superb Vanden Plas Princess 3 litre so Daisy fell by the wayside and was placed in a friend's lock-up in south London and there she stayed for 10 years, unwanted and forgotten!  

I moved to Manchester then down to Wiltshire, then in May 2006 when my friend was moving house, he rang me and asked me to remove "that old heap" in his garage so I had to go and collect her! 

My next door neighbour (a classic car owner and an ex-AA man) came with me to see the old girl. The car was covered in dust but after fitting a new battery she fired up first time and amazingly everything still worked, including the brakes. We drove the 70 miles back to Wiltshire without a problem.

The following day we took her for an MOT and she passed first time. 

During 2006 the car was given a thorough going over, and we now use the car regularly.Even my poor paintwork skills have passed the test of time and she still looks presentable from a distance! 

She still zips along at 60-70mph down the motorway and, as always, is utterly reliable. 

I would never sell her, she is part of my life.

 Calum Baxter [calum@morrisoxford.com]

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