MOTOR CARS | 75As well as incorporating the novel retracting roof, AHC's converted
SP250 was be made into a four-seater and given an enlarged boot.
AHC applied for a patent in 19 2 (239 1 2), which was completed in
July 19 4. Company records show that some 3,0 0 man-hours were
spent on the engineering side and 1,94 man-hours in the drawing
office. King Taylor of Godalming, Surrey made the body, while all of the
engineering, including making body moulds, was undertaken at AHC's
factory. The car was finished in 19 3 at a cost in excess of 30,000.
Unusually, the AHC roof could be raised or lowered at speed, unlike other
systems that require the car to be stationary.
AHC's Daimler got good press coverage, copies of which the vendor still
has, as well as the working drawings. The system was intended for use
on large luxury cars such as the Jaguar Mark X, Vauxhall Velox, etc but
nothing became of it. Eventually, after lengthy negations with his father,
the vendor bought the Daimler from him in 1969. Classic & Sports Car
magazine invited its owner to show the car at the BBC Top Gear Classic
Car Show, where it appeared in May 1994.
After a defective car cover caused the paint to micro-blister, the car was
re-sprayed silver grey (originally it was orange with a white roof, bonnet
and boot). <nfortunately, when the coachworks finished the re-spray they
could not get the roof to work properly; it has to be shut to refuel so was
temporarily fixed in that position. 309 RFP attended the SP250 50th
Anniversary gathering at Gaydon on 20th June 2009, has returned to
the Classic Car Show (on 17th November 2012), and has also visited the
Goodwood Revival.After years of deliberating what to do about the roof, the owner was
persuaded by his brother (an engineer) to get it working. His brother and
another engineering friend set about the task and after months of effort
succeeded in returning the roof to working order. So the car could be
seen, it was put on display in 2013 in the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum in
Calne, Wiltshire where it has been up to now. Recently re-commissioned,
this unique prototype Daimler is MoT'd and ready for use. Accompanying
documentation includes an old-style logbook, V5C registration
document, sundry restoration invoices, and the inventor's original notes
outlining the concept.
£50,000 - 70,000
€59,000 - 82,000A video of the hardtop in operation can be viewed at bonhams.com/23595/123