Daimler Corsica Project - Part 1
The name Corsica was taken from the 1930's coachbuilder Corsica who produced some stunning coachwork on Daimler chassis.
Photographed outside the Jaguar factory at Browns Lane, the completed concept was built as a shell for display only.
The last public outing prior to work commencing, photographed at the NEC Classic Car Show, November 2005, showing off the lines with the roof up, rarely seen in this fashion.
The interior is unique to the vehicle, trimmed in one off colours and materials, using adapted XJS and XK8 seating
A cold wet January day and arrival in 2006...
...complete with a number of spares, some of which were originally earmarked for the car 10 years previously.
With the bonnet up, one has an idea of the magnitude of the project in order to produce a fully functional roadworthy vehicle
The 4.0L straight six engine and gearbox, still on the original factory engine frame
The engine was a very tight fit when the time came...
See how close to the bulkhead it was
In addition to all the major mechanical and electrical work required, there were innumerable minor modifications such as stepping the exhaust to accommodate the change in relationship of the gearbox mount to the floor pan
It was an anxious time when it came to start the engine. Tony O'Keeffe, curator of the JDHT came up in order to witness the event as David, torch in hand, is making some final checks.
Even though the car was effectively a painted trimmed bodyshell only, the roof mechanism was functioning. The engineers at special vehicles operations (SVO) spent a great deal of time designing the mechanism and it is an impressive feature of the car.
The interior of the boot as the Corsica arrived, showing the roof hydraulics in the centre, the sole purpose of the battery was to power up the hydraulic system, adapted from a contemporary Audi A4.
Now compare the boot area part way through the job with the fuel tank and main vehicle fuse box installed!
There was no information about the roof wiring so it was essential that this was kept intact and functioning throughout the work
Once the car was running and before it was ready for an MOT test it required a vehicle identification number (VIN) - can you work it out?!
The first trip on the road was to the MOT station...
...where all the details were entered onto the vehicle registration database for the first time. With the test complete, the Corsica was ready for the road - nearly!!
Wearing its registration number P300 COR, the Corsica had one final hurdle to pass - namely the single vehicle approval (SVA) test, required for one off vehicles such as this, it flew though what is effectively a very stringent MOT test
This was the Corsica in 1996 outside the Jaguar factory...
After some 400 hours of work, this is how it looks today - not much difference really!!!
The beauty of the lines is a tribute to those engineers at SVO who spent some 18 months creating the Corsica, complete with a unique colour scheme...
...and interior, all designed to show the car to its best effect.
