A project to turn a 1963 Daimler 2.5L V8 into a rally car that could travel over 12,000km. I hope to learn, inspire, teach while raising money and awareness for charity.
The Rally
On the 31st January 1907 a small advertisement was placed in Paris’ Le Matin newspaper, it read:
“”What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?“
The original race took place with 5 cars and was eventually won by Prince Borghese of Italy.
Rallies for exclusively vintage and veteran cars has been held in 1997, 2007, 2010 with the next to be held in 2013 and is planned to cover 12,000km!
It will go through China, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, to finish in Paris. it will go through some of the world’s harshest terrains, the steppes of Mongolia, the Gobi desert and the Alps all of this in a 50 year old car!
The Car
The car that will be our mode of transport is a 1963 Daimler 2.5L V8, a car that was original advertised as having “Grace, Space and Pace”.
The first “badge engineered” car was developed when Jaguar bought Daimler in 1960. Jaguar inherited the small but well designed 2.5L Edward Turner V8 motor. A stroke of marketing wizardry put the little V8 in the Mk2 Jaguar body and the Daimler 2.5L was born. Only the fluted grill and number plate surround, Daimler badges and a few minor interior differences make it indistinguishable from a Jaguar Mk2.
For those technically minded the stats in 1966 were:
Top Speed :112 mph (180 km/h)
0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 13.6 seconds
Fuel consumption of 19.0 miles per imperial gallon (14.9 L/100 km)
The Charity
The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is based in the UK an a registered charity in England and Wales (no.1083008).
MAG is a humanitarian organisation clearing the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide. MAG is co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
I first came into contact with MAG when I was a combat engineer in the Army, as a charity group that helps clear the weapons of war, bombs, mines and lets people get on with their lives safely, they really are making the world a safer place. All profits from the monies raised will go to MAG.
