1998 Daimler Super Eight

Finished in Sapphire Blue with an Ivory leather interior, this 1998 Daimler Super Eight’s long-wheelbase status offers all the legroom even a professional basketball player could ever need.

‘C26 DMR’ – it was originally issued with ‘R329 PRW’ according to the Jaguar Heritage Trust – is also powered by the 370bhp supercharged V8 engine, making it as powerful as it is smooth; image Terry Thomas setting a new world record for the 100-metre sprint and you won’t go far wrong.

The seller has owned it since May 2024 and invested £2,500 in a full service, including having the timing chain upgraded and a new waterpump fitted less than 500 miles ago.

Still finished in its factory original colour of Sapphire Blue, paint code JHE, the Daimler benefits from having had its roof and boot repainted by Universal Classics in March 2023. AJ Tucker also repaired a rusty nearside front wing and rear towing eye in March 2025.

It still presents nicely, albeit with a few minor battle scars if you peer closely. We’ll detail them later but for now the overall impressive is a good shine and neatly aligned panels. The HPI report is clear of accidents too, which suggests that it’s battling age rather than anything more sinister.

The upper trim is the factory chrome option, as are the grille vanes, the two door mirrors, all five handles, and the upper corners of the bumpers. This is also still shiny and free of significant faults, and a silver pinstripe runs above chrome rubbing strips.

The the lower mesh air intake was fitted by the seller to help prevent stone chips damaging the air cooler.

The 17-inch ‘Solar’ alloy wheels are in good shape too. Free of serious scuffs and scrapes, they show only modest marks around their perimeter, marks that are insignificant enough to ignore until you inevitably add to them.

The front tyres are 235/50R17 Goodyear Vector 4Season, while the rears are Powertrac Racing Pro in the same size. The front tyres were made in 2022, while the rears date from 2020. All have good tread on them still and no obvious damage to their sidewalls.

The lamp lenses are all free of chips and cracks too, and the rear ones have retained their colour. The badges are all still good ‘n’ shiny, and the glazing is free of chips, cracks, and scratches.

As for flaws and blemishes, as we worked our way around the car we noted the following: stonechips to the front end plus a large scuff to nearside front bumper and a matt finish to a repair on the offside; the bonnet shows signs of having been repaired with a few scars, sanding marks, and defects in the paint; the offside front wing has a scratch plus some touched-up marks too, as does the driver’s door.

The offside front door has chips on its trailing edge, a scratched door mirror, and a dent in the middle plus another its leading edge near the front wing.

The offside rear door has a dent at the top plus chips on its trailing edge; the offside rear wing has a scratch near the rear light unit; and the nearside rear wing is scratched and has chips in the middle of the panel.

The nearside front door has a long scratch across the centre; the nearside front wing has been touched-up near the door; and the offside rear bumper has matt paint after a previous repair. The sunroof is also a bit wonky in its aperture, and its paint is peeling.

The ruched Ivory hide interior, trim code NED, is supplemented by Sable seatbelts and piping, which ties in with the Sable lambswool carpet.

Further cohesion comes from having the Daimler emblem embroidered in Sable on each headrest along with a two-tone dashboard, which combines Ivory and Sable leather along with burr walnut veneer, a material that’s been used liberally throughout the cabin, including on the steering wheel.

It’s been carefully curated to keep it fresh, and recent work includes having the fronts seats and steering wheel professionally restored in November 2022, having Universal Classics fit replacement veneer trim and a centre vent/clock assembly in March 2023, replacing the boot mats in October 2023, importing trim for the gearshift console and nearside door from the United States in June 2024, installing a replacement electric window master switch in September 2024, and a heater control fascia in November 2025.

The Oatmeal headlining has been changed too, which enthusiasts will know is one of those jobs that will inevitably need doing at some point, so it’ll come as a relief to find this one has already been replaced.

Of course, all this work serves to enhance and already luxurious interior – and given the whole point of the long-wheelbase version is to pamper those in the back seats, shall we start there?

In addition to more legroom than 99% of the population could ever use, the rear passengers can also enjoy electrically adjustable and heated individual rear seats, burr walnut picnic tables, a rear sunblind, a cigar lighter, and individual reading lights.

All can enjoy deep-pile lambswool mats fitted over very good carpets, plus a premium audio system that includes a CD-multichanger and Harman Kardon speakers. Burr walnut veneer too, which remains silky-smooth to the touch and free of chips and cracks.

The driver will enjoy touring Adaptive Suspension, headlamp powerwash, a heated windscreen, cruise control (recently repaired but not currently working), an elasticated sunglass holder in the roof, and power-folding mirrors (recently repaired and very much working) among much else, including electrically adjustable and heated front seats.

Despite being refreshed in 2022, the driver’s seat is showing its age again with a few cracks to the surface material. The front passenger seat is creased and lightly cracked but this is far less noticeable and could probably be left as it is for a while yet.

But the issues do appear to be almost entirely cosmetic as everything we tested worked as it should except the sunroof, which doesn’t open. However, the air-conditioning blows nice and cold, so you may find you can live without any additional fresh air!

Despite all the hard work that’s gone into rejuvenating it, the sunroof’s headlining has some stains on it, as does the door card behind the driver’s door handle. The fabric inside the driver’s door pocket also has a couple of holes in it, the centre front armrest is worn with cracks to the leather surface and dirty stitching, and the driver’s seatbelt buckle is heavily scuffed.

The offside rear door card is also a bit grubby and the fabric inside its door pocket is coming away.

The boot is a very good size, and while the carpet is free of holes it does have a few lights stains. The spare wheel is a full-size and matching alloy, and lifting that out reveals only very light surface corrosion.

The Daimler also comes with a factory tool kit and hazard warning triangle.

The Jaguar’s recent service history is as follows:

· 11.10.2025 and 75,738 miles – service by GH Auto Engineering including an engine flush, new sparkplugs, and the installation of the timing chain upgrade kit along with a new front crankshaft oil seal and waterpump and much more for a total cost of £2,490

· 13.09.2023 and 73,275 miles – service by Reading Independent Jags & Classics

· 18.10.2022 and 72,371 miles – service by Reading Independent Jags & Classics including repairing the ABS module and fresh brake fluid

· 11.11.2021 and 70,687 miles – service by S.E. Jags Ltd

There’s a receipt from SNG Group for engine oil, and oil sender unit, and two drivebelts from July 2024 too, while the same firm also supplied a lower balljoint and a drivebelt in February 2025.

As you can see, the supercharged V8 engine starts immediately and idles at a steady 600rpm with no warning lights illuminated on the dashboard. It revs smoothly too and produces all the right noises from all the right places, including a suitably imposing but restrained exhaust note.

The white-on-black instruments that monitor the engine are set deep inside a burr walnut dashboard, thereby conveying their information in the most stylish way possible.

The engine bay is decently clean, and while perfectionists might like to treat it to a professional valet, we can’t see many folk feeling the need to do anything under there other than check the fluids on a regular basis and, perhaps, replace a few rusty fasteners.

Moving underneath, we see from the paperwork that the front bumper undertray was replaced in October 2023, and Reading Independent Jags & Classics also carried out a Waxoyl treatment a month later in November 2023. A further handwritten invoice shows more work underneath with Kurust in March 2026 by Hill Services.

The underside bears witness to this work, and while there were advisories in 2024 for corrosion around the rear subframes, this was not raised in either 2025 or 2026.

A little corrosion remains, so it would be prudent to get it up on axle stands this winter and spend a few happy hours with the heater blowing, Christmas songs playing, and the wire brush whirring.

But that work is likely to be preventative rather than restorative because the Jaguar’s MoT certificate, which expires in September 2027, was issued with no advisories whatsoever, just like the year before.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear bar markers for a change of registration number and for being an imported vehicle.

And therein lies a bit of a mystery because its first registered keeper was Jaguar itself before it went abroad. We don’t know where that was, but the seller has suggested that it’s right-hand drive layout might mean it went somewhere like Dublin as a diplomatic vehicle? It’s certainly got the right specification and colour…

The history file includes the Daimler wallet and book pack, a typewritten summary of its specification, a Jaguar Heritage Trust Production Record Trace Certificate confirming its factory specification, a printout showing its service history, its current and expired MoT certificates, invoices dating back to 2003, a copy of the recall work that was carried out, and instruction manuals that even include one for the mudflaps.

Gotta love meticulous record keeping, eh?

Ironically, few models capture the Jaguar ethos of Grace, Space and Pace better than a Daimler Super Eight – and if you’re looking for a well-equipped limousine you can park pretty much anywhere, this would fit the bill very well.

In need of only a little TLC, if you spent the winter sorting out its few cosmetic imperfections the result would be the prettiest of all the luxury saloons in its price range – and with 370bhp on tap, one of the fastest, too.

And isn’t going to break the bank either; we suspect the hammer will fall somewhere between £7,000 and £10,000 – but as it’s being offered with no reserve it’s going to sell, no matter what.

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