Motor Sport magazine described the Daimler Majestic Major as having "sportscar performance" and indeed it did, remaining stable at over a reported 120mph.

The coachwork was built by a subsidiary company, however, called Carbodies at a different pace than other cars at Browns Lane on another production line that was ‘hand-moved’ in order to maintain quality.

This was the final flowering of a tradition that reaches back to the very dawn of motoring, of building superbly engineered cars of understated luxury and quality.

The Majestic had been originally powered by a rather sedate 3.8 litre, six-cylinder unit, but the Major was the first and only application for an ambitious and potent 4.5 litre, V8.

Output was over 220bhp, which gave this very substantial luxury saloon a startling 0-60mph time of 9.7 seconds, very considerably faster than its two-seater contemporary, the MGA.

Power was delivered through a three-speed Borg Warner automatic gearbox, and the designers also wisely incorp...