AMAZED Shirley Brooks could scarcely believe her eyes when she saw a picture of Winston Churchill in a car that belonged to an old boyfriend.

Mrs Brooks, of Bennett Close, Welwyn Garden City, was flicking through one of the Mail On Sunday’s supplements when a picture of a Daimler DB18 caught her eye.

The car, which the former PM used on the election campaign trail in 1944 and 1949, is up for sale.

When she saw the numberplate, Mrs Brooks, 76, thought the number rang a bell.

And, on digging out an old photo of the car, which belonged to the late Jack Price, whom she dated from 1955 to 1957, she saw it was the same.

“I checked the photo and you can imagine my amazement when I saw it,” she said.

Mrs Brooks said neither she nor Mr Price had any idea of the car’s distinguished previous owner.

She said: “He thought it might have belonged to [post-war celebrities] Lord and Lady Docker, but we never knew it was used by Sir Winston Churchill.”

The car went under the hammer at Historics Auctions in Surrey last Saturday, after being displayed at nearby Brooklands Museum, but failed to reach the reserve.

The car, which Mr Price used for rally driving, has been painstakingly restored in Germany at a cost of �120,000.

A spokesman for the auctioneers said it could still sell however as bidders could up their offers.

The DB18 was capable of a top speed of 76mph and a 0-50 mph acceleration time of 17.9 seconds.

Estimates place the vehicle’s value at �250,000.