One of Daimler’s wonderful luxury platforms during the first half of the 1950s was known as the Regency. The standard Barker saloon body resembled the smaller Lanchester Fourteen, but for 1952 the Regency was available with sharp and singularly handsome coachwork made from aluminum and English ash wood by Hooper & Co. of London, also part of the BSA group. A stately and regal automobile, it was dubbed the Empress. Sales of this model and indeed all cars on the Regency platform proved to be quite slow, and only a handful of Empresses are thought to have been built.

Part of a Daimler and Lanchester collection that was moved from Great Britain to North America about 25 years ago, this 1953 Daimler Empress Mk II Sedan is one car out of that handful. Used regularly by its previous owner on both sides of the Atlantic, it is reported being used in a moderate manner, and was rebuilt while still in the UK and has a new head gasket and rebuilt carburetors.

It presents like the well-kept, enthusiast-owned automobile that it is, finished in maroon and light gray with maroon wheels, maroon hubcaps and blackwall tires. The rear wheels are concealed behind attractive maroon and grey fender skirts. The distinctive fluted shell clamshell radiator is flanked by Lucas tri-bar headlamps, a pair of Lucas driving lamps and a badge bar. The gray leather interior, piped in red, shows some wear but is still attractive and comfortable. The light wood found in the interior is gorgeous, and the front windows are power operated. The rare original jack, tools and manuals sit in the Empress’s spacious trunk underneath Hooper’s distinctive sloping tail. A straight, honest car with magnificent styling and a high degree of exclusivity, there is nothing quite like it.