Queen Elizabeth’s Daimler to be radically restored by Justin Hills

An instinct to improve what he sees makes Justin Hills’s restorations of classic cars a sight to behold.

The 1948 Daimler landaulette used by the Queen during her 1954 visit, on display at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. Picture: Jason McCarthy

Republican or monarchist, it’s impossible to avoid the royal family as their lives unfold in public from the news pages to Netflix.

You may sympathise with their plight or relish their discomfort, but the central royal dilemma remains: how much to change, how much to retain.

Australia’s leading car restor­ation and custom specialist, Justin Hills, has done both — to one jewel in the crown, at least. His NSW-based company was chosen to restore a car used by the Queen ­during her 1954 tour Down Under.

Acquired by the ­National Museum of Australia in Canberra a decade ago, the huge limousine was painstakingly re-­created by Hills and other specialists, then unveiled a few months ago as the centrepiece of the car collection.

That 1948 Daimler DE 36hp landaulette was one of four shipped to Australia back when the British maker was still the proud supplier of royal vehicles. Only one other survives and Hills, inspired by the restoration task, tracked it down.

This is where the customisation side of his business comes in and its fate will be very different: it’s for the chop.

“It’s a really beautiful car from the waistline down — so I’m going to get rid of the roof,” says Hills. “I’m going to make it a fully functioning convertible.”

Car restorer Justin Hills

When finished, it will be just the latest in a string of unique custom cars by Hills, ranging from an art deco Buick to a prize-winning Jaguar, that have won him acclaim worldwide. This growing reputation put him in the running for the ­museum job, he says, but it was passion that got him over the line.

“It wasn’t just a job for me, it was more than that — a big deal.”

The Daimler’s 36hp designation refers to the modest horsepower developed by its 5.5-litre straight-eight engine and the original landaulette bodywork combines an upright cabin and partial folding roof, so the Queen could appear in public. The car was weighed down by luxurious fittings, from walnut trim to silk window blinds and thick carpets.

Hills says the museum wanted it to look like new and the sky’s the limit when it comes to restoration.

“You could spend hundreds and hundreds of thousands on ­restoring one of these. We had to do a sympathetic restoration — make it look really nice and original without going absolutely ­stupid. It looks beautiful now.”

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Restoration is the core of Hills’s business in Taree on the NSW mid-north coast. However, his original passion is car design and he instinctively wanted to improve what he saw.

“When I was working on it I was thinking, ‘This is a really cool car — from the windows down. From the windows up it’s ugly as hell!’ I thought: ‘There’s something I could do with this car.’ ”

After finding the other dilapidated Daimler, he bought it a few months ago from a deceased estate.

Now, fresh from tours with his latest custom cars in Europe and the US, Hills’s team of four is about to start work and the blueprint on this page shows how the finished car will compare with the original.

Hills says one goal is to fix the car’s unnatural stance.

“At the moment it’s tilting upwards, which makes it look as though you’ve got the brakes on all the time. There are some design things that aren’t quite right.”

The custom Daimler will be the same length as the original but have a lower body. To compensate for the loss of rigidity that comes from removing the cabin, Hills will reinforce its ladder-frame chassis and doors. The full-length convertible roof will be specially made, as will some of the brightwork, such as the bumpers.

Justin Hills’ blueprint for the Daimler

Despite such radical changes, in many ways the custom Daimler will replicate the car as it was built. The team will renovate the eight-cylinder engine and gearbox and refit them. The bodywork will be the same blue and black colour scheme, and the seats will be covered in period upholstery fabric. Originally the front seats were leather and the rears — where the Queen sat — were cloth.

Hills says in many ways it will be exactly as the Queen used it, only better. He expects the project to take at least 18 months, with the workshop flat out completing three or four restorations and one customisation a year.

It’s labour-intensive and seldom rewards every hour spent, but Hills has shot to global prominence for the quality of his work. Success came once he followed his design instincts, he says.

“When I first started I did a few ugly ones. I made them radical ­because I wanted people to notice them. Now my taste has changed and I want people to look at the cars but not notice what’s been done. If it looks natural, I’ve achieved my goal.”

The first car to catch attention, a decade ago, was an art deco reworking of a 1949 Buick.

“It was just aching to get out,” says Hills. “It changed my life ­instantly.”

Every magazine wanted it on the cover and it won Australia’s most beautiful custom car.

Hills took it to the US “to see how it went in the big league” and came back fired up for his next project, a 1960s Dodge he turned into a futuristic space racer called Atom. It sold to an American buyer after being named world’s most beautiful custom.

Hills admits he missed his ­vocation working in a car studio but his most recent project, a redrawn 1953 Jaguar XK120, has earned praise from the field’s professionals.

“What Justin has done is not only beautiful but emphasises the very epitome of Jaguar — lower and sleeker and with just the right amount of drama,” says recently retired design director Ian Callum.

The 1953 Jaguar XK120 customisation by Hills

Hills says presenting at Jaguar was the highlight of a tour that took the XK120 from a win in the Sydney Harbour Concours in March to the most prestigious events on the motoring calendar, from Quail at Pebble Beach to the Salon Prive at Blenheim Palace in Britain. It was shortlisted for the Historic Motoring Awards, only to be beaten by Aston Martin’s limited edition DB4 Zagato Continuation, which cost $11m each.

As well as the lines of the car, Hills says attention to detail at every level makes his projects stand out.

“My cars could have been produced in the day. Everything in there is period-correct, in keeping with that car when it was new.

“It’s not just visual — it’s all the senses. In the Jaguar, you open the doors and the leather, it’s Connolly leather, smells so good. The sound as well — when you start it up. If you can attack every sense people are drawn in.”

The 1949 Buick Hills restored

Hills says he doesn’t chase trophies but the Jaguar has put his work on the map and he wants to expand. However, in such a specialised business the risks are high.

“It’s really a tough market. Modifying a car to my taste means there may be one person in the world who likes it and that may be me.

“I feel confident there will be other people out there who love my cars, and so far they have. But it’s quite scary.”

His cars may be labours of love but as soon as they’re finished, they’re for sale.

“I don’t need them — my journey is the building of them.”

So when the Daimler is ready — if your pockets are deep enough — you could buy a car fit for a Queen.

“I’d like $1m — to the right ­person.”