AN OLD limousine with a mysterious background has a new owner from today, and probably a new lease of life. The Daimler DS 420, a plush vehicle that may even have had a Royal connection, sat for four months in the car park at Phuket City police station.

It was parked there during divorce proceedings while the court settled the disputed claims of a parting couple.

The husband, a one-time property developer, first spied the elegant vehicle in Bangkok in 1997 when the property slump was at its worst.

The vehicle's previous owner had decided to flee the country as his property business collapsed. The car was an unexpected bargain.

So the Daimler came to Phuket . . .

While its history remains shrouded in mystery, the vehicle was apparently built in 1974 and shipped from Britain to Honkg Kong. The interior is fitted with a deep walnut dash panel and top-quality wool carpets.

The driving compartment is separated from the passenger's area by a glass screen that can be lowered or raised as required.

Tan leather covers the padded rear seats. Small plates note that the coachbuilding is by Vanden Plas, which was a constructor of limousines for the British royal family and aristocracy.

Like most features of the vehicle, the trunk is enormous.

At one stage, a lawyer for one of the owners wanted to buy the Daimler. But the deadline for him to find the money passed.

Today Phuket City retired businessman Ernst Hrabalek decided he liked the deep blue Daimler and opted to part with 415,000 baht for it.

With a bit of extra maintenance, repainting and rechroming, it should prove to be worth a lot more than that.

And as previous owners have found, the traffic tends to part for rare limousines of this kind, especially if the person at the window is wearing a tiara, smiling and waving.