For Sale – Vanden Plas DS7 Saloon £30,000 restoration! ...

As shown,a 1958 Vanden Plas Princess DS7 Saloon which has had a full and comprehensive interior and exterior renovation, which took several years and cost in excess of £30,000. The base vehicle was a low mileage,four owner car which had sat unused for several years after the owner became ill and subsequently died.Although the car was mechanically sound and needed very little, the present owner started a rebuild which entailed a no-expense spared restoration over several years, with an emphasis on total originality. The interior was gutted and the upholstery was replaced with leather in the original pale grey. Axminster carpets in the original colours were made to match the rotten ones;the burr walnut dashboard and door cappings were remade by a craftsman to exactly match the originals. An ex-Vanden Plas trimmer was employed to remake and refit the the original pale grey felt headlining.The door cards and armrests are new.The body was stripped to bare metal to reveal rust in the sills and bottoms of the wings.The front wings were removed to be professionally repaired with new metal; the new sills were hand-rolled by a craftsman to exactly duplicate the originals. Once body repairs were completed the car was resprayed in the original colours with good old fashioned cellulose paint! The chrome trim was either replaced with new old stock items or replated at great cost. All mechanical parts were then serviced and overhauled as required using new gaskets and lubricants. The car is registered on a V5c with it's original registration number.Mileage showing is just over 50,000 and is guaranteed genuine.Has only been used for summertime shows and rallies.Could be pressed into service as a wedding hire car,or a fantastic and much admired show car which is much rarer than any old common Rolls Royce or Bentley! MOT'd & Taxed of course! Starts on the button and ready to drive away! These are very rare cars with perhaps only about 10 known to be roadworthy worldwide, out of a total production of only 200 vehicles.This car could easily become a Concours winner with the right preparation. If you want me to criticise it, about the only thing I can fault is the rear bumper bar which has developed some blistering whilst in storage. Mechanical specification: The engine was developed from the Austin Healey 100S with a displacement of 4000ccs,compression ratio of 7.6 to 1; 150B.H.P. at 4100 r.p.m. Body design by John Bradley. New price in 1958 was £3376. About 200 were produced to challenge the much more expensive S1 Bentley and Rolls Royce. Car comes complete with workshop manuals, original brochures, old MOT certificates and tax discs, history file etc. I am listing this car for an elderly owner without internet facilities; if you email me I will give you his phone number or call him direct on the number listed. What's a car like this worth? You tell me! You've heard what's been spent on it, so try a sensible offer! A part exchange is possible if you have a Thruxton Velocette motor cycle in any condition? Location is Chailey, on the A272 between Haywards Heath and Lewes in East Sussex.