King of bling up for grabs

The vehicle that pioneered motoring 'bling' will go under the hammer at an auction next month.

Auto Express Car Reviews

Seats were trimmed in zebra hide

27th November 2006

This gold-dripping Daimler DK400 coupé was created for the 1955 Lon-don Motor Show by Lady Norah Docker, wife of the company's chairman Sir Bernard Docker, and cost £12,000 - eight times the price of a Daimler Conquest saloon. It was called the Golden Zebra because of its dual-design theme: everything that would normally be chrome was gold, while it was upholstered in real zebra hide.The one-off was crammed with black, white and gold-trimmed accessories.

The meticulously renovated Daimler is now due to be sold by Bonhams on 4 December at Olympia, London, and is expected to fetch £120,000.

However, experts say buyers should beware; the Golden Zebra has a 'red carpet' curse. Sir Bernard and Lady Docker took it to Monaco in April 1956 for the wedding of Prince Rainier and actress Grace Kelly, but only weeks later they were sacked from Daimler's board for squandering company cash.