Rockery turns out to be a buried Daimler
A 70-YEAR-OLD Daimler car has been uncovered in a old rockery in St Peter’s, much to the confusion of the property’s new owners.
Tracy and Chris Ward bought their home on the south side of Rue du Felconte in November and have just started to tackle the overgrown garden.
Mrs Ward’s parents, Brian and Babs Russell, were helping to dig out a weed-covered rockery, and they were the ones to first find the car.
‘I said what we wanted to do and my father began to dig with gusto and hit something with his shovel,’ Mrs Ward said.
‘We thought he had hit a stone.’
At first they thought it might be a tractor – the end of the garden used to be a field. But as they dug further down they found the rusted frame of the car, as well as twisted metal window frames, rotting leather upholstery and broken glass.
It was the uncovering of the metal plates which confirmed that it was a Daimler.
Local experts have been studying pictures and it is believed to be the remains of a Daimler Consort – a vehicle which was produced between 1939 to 1953.
A tentative date of about 1949 has been placed on the vehicle and it is believed that it originally came from the Wolverhampton or Birmingham area.
The number plate has been found – GUK 880.
‘The kids have been loving it,’ Mrs Ward said.
‘Joe, 9, wants to be a palaeontologist and he said this was like digging up a dinosaur.’
Joe and his younger brother Jake, six, have both been helping out as they are on their Easter holidays.
‘It’s been quite exciting,’ said Joe.
‘It used to be a rockery and now it’s a car.’
The house was built in the 1950s or 1960s, but this part of the garden was purchased later from a farmer. The previous owners had been in possession of the property since it was new, but it is not possible to ask them about the vehicle. Mrs Ward said she had contacted her estate agent to see if they can get in touch with the former owners’ daughter.
From the remains, it looks like the car used to be black and have dark red leather upholstery.
Mrs Ward said she believed someone might have taken on the vehicle as a project, but it had been too much for them, so they had buried it instead. However, she was keen to find out the truth.
Since posting online about the vehicle, Mrs Ward has received a lot of offers of help to get the car out and the story has led to media interest locally and from the UK.
Anyone able to help can contact Mrs Ward on Facebook.
