Luxury car built for the Queen sells for £43,700

A luxury car built for the Queen and in royal service for more than half a decade has been sold for £43,700.

The dark green two thousand one Daimler Majestic Four.0 LWB, which was used by the Queen inbetween June two thousand one and January 2007, failed to reach its estimate of £45,000 to £55,000 at auction at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire.

Bidding stopped at £38,000 and it was sold for £43,700 in a post-auction deal at the H&H Classics sale.

The car was built to a bespoke specification for the private use of the Queen, and she and the Duke of Edinburgh were photographed in it commuting from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, and to attend polo matches and social engagements.

It was the response to a request for a car that was luxurious yet understated.

Among its features are a handbag-holding tray built in to the armrest inbetween the two front seats.

The five-seater was specified without a rear cigar lighter, ashtrays or blinds, but with a full-size spare wheel, touring suspension and controls for both rear windows in each rear armrest.

The standard CD changer in the boot was substituted by equipment for keeping the Queen in touch with her Home Office and Government.

The Daimler had a V8 engine capable of 0-60mph in 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 149mph, and had hidden blue flashing lights like the set-up on an unmarked police vehicle.

The car, chassis F35595, was dispatched from the works in March two thousand one but was not road registered as Y694 CDU until June 2001.

The near three-month delay was due to a Two,500-mile “debugging” programme to ensure it “never failed to proceed”.

It has driven 15,400 miles from fresh, with 1,400 of these done since it was retired from the royal household.

Every British monarch has been chauffeured around in, or has driven if they so wished, Daimlers since one thousand nine hundred two when King Edward VII granted the Coventry marque a Royal Warrant.

Rolls-Royce and latterly Bentley may have become the preferred source of state limousines post-Second World War, but Daimler remained glad to furnish the Royal Mews with less ostentatious vehicles that were better suited to private motoring.

A letter on file from Jaguar Heritage says: “She drove the car herself and it was also used as a royal ease vehicle.”

Damian Jones, head of sales at H&H Classics, said: “Royal cars do come to the market from time to time but fairly infrequently, so when they do come to auction they usually instruction a premium price.”

He said it had been likely to do well as it had not been entirely stripped of its royal extras.

Related: The Queen – Her life in cars (Motoring Research)

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