Daimler

GB, 1896 to date

(1) Daimler Motor Syndicate Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1896 – 1904

(2) Daimler Motor Co (1904) Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1904 – 1910

(3) Daimler Co Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1910 to date

The Daimler Motor Syndicate was formed in England in 1893 by F.R. Simms to exploit Gottlieb Daimler motor patents, but it was not until 1896 that the Coventry factory became active as part of H.J. Lawson’s empire. Though Daimler himself was a director until 1898, the English and German Daimler concerns pursued their separate ways. In the first two years cars were mostly imported, and early English Daimlers were 2-cylinder machines, largely on Panhard lines, with automatic inlet valves, tiller steering, tube ignition, 4-speed and reverse gearboxes, chain drive and solid tyres. Prices ranged from £368 for a pheaeton up to £418 for a ‘Daimler private omnibus’. 1899 saw the first 4-cylinder car, a 3-litre machine rated at 12hp; this Daimler had wheel steering, and the Hon. John Scott-Montagu became the first British driver to compete in a continental race on a vehicle of British construction when he drove one Daimler in the Paris-Ostend that year. King Edward VII, while still Prince of Wales, took delivery of his first Daimler in 1900, thus forging a connection between the Daimler company and the reigning house which lasted until the 1950s. Design policy was very uncertain for the next few seasons, but in 1902 there was a chain-driven 1.8-litre twin Daimler, as well as fours of 2.4 and 4½-litres’ capacity with tubular, Panhard-like radiators. These Daimler cars retained stand-by tube ignition. The fluted radiator and 3-piece bonnet, both to become Daimler hallmarks, were introduced in 1904, the year in which the Daimler company went over to large and powerful chain-driven fours with mechanically-operated side valves and coil ignition, which ran in such events as the herkomer Trophy Trials. The 9¼ litre ‘Daimler 35’ was typical, but there were even bigger versions of over 10½-litres, and Daimler advertising made much of sprint wins on the Continent and in the USA as well as at home. Some of these Daimler cars were made under licence in Italy as the De Luca.

1909 saw a complete volte face with the adoption of Charles Yale Knight’s double-sleeve valve engine and underslung worm drive, and the Daimler cars of the next 23 years were smooth, and silent, but not capable of high performance. They also changed little in appearance, since Daimler, unlike most luxury-car makers, built their own bodywork. Poppet valves were dropped altogether after 1909. By 1914 the Daimler company’s range extended from a 4-cylinder 3.3-litre ‘Daimler 20’ with rear-axle gearbox at £430 for a chassis up to a very large 7.4-litre 6-cylinder ‘Daimler 45’. Electric lighting and starting were standard on the bigger cars. The purchase of Daimler by BSA in 1910 made no difference to the cars, though the BSA itself became merely a cheap Daimler.

After World war 1, 4-cylinder cars were dropped (apart from a short-lived ‘Daimler 20’ in 1922) and the same solid conservative machines were offered in a range of fearsome complexity. There was a 1½-litre six in 1923 and front wheel brakes arrived with the 35hp model in 1924, becoming universal late in 1925, when light steel sleeves were adopted and outputs went up. The immense and stately 12-cylinder 7.1-litre Daimler Double Six was introduced in 1927; 12-cylinder Daimler cars were used by the Royal Family and persisted in a variety of capacities from 3.7 litres until 1938, the last ones using poppet valves. In 1927 the company offered 23 separate Daimler car models (exclusive of body styles), using five engines from 1.9-litres to 7.1-litres, and twelve wheelbase lengths from the 9ft 9in of the owner-driver ’Daimler 16-55’ up to the 13ft 7in of the Royal model of the Double-Six, which cost £1950 for a chassis alone. In 1930 Daimler pioneered the fluid-flywheel transmission with column selector which was used on all Daimler models from 1932 to 1956. The Lanchester company was acquired in 1931 and the make downgraded into another species of inexpensive Daimler cars for sale. In 1933 the influence of Launce Pomeroy Sr was reflected in a 1.8-litre 6-cylinder ‘Daimler 15’ with overhead valves for the owner-driver at £450, and this was followed by a series of ohv sixes and straight-8s, some of them with fixed cylinder heads. Independent front suspension appeared on 1938 versions of the ‘Daimler 15’. In 1939 there were three sixes and two eights, the top of the range being the 4½-litre 32hp limousine.

After World War 2 the 2½-litre Daimler DB.18 (descended from the ‘15’) was revived and there were two limousine models with hypoid final drive, a 4-litre six and a 5½-litre eight. A certain lack of direction punctuated the early 1950s, which saw the short-stroke 2½-litre ‘Daimler Conquest’ saloon and its 100mph variant, the ‘Daimler Conquest Century’, and also a sports two-seater. The company was reorganized in 1956, in which year automatic transmission was available as an alternative to the fluid-flywheel gearbox. The 3.8-litre 6-cylinder ‘Daimler Majestic’ of 1958 had automatic transmission and disc brakes as standard equipment and a year later came the Turner-designed V8 2½-litre Daimler SP250 sports car, a 120mph machine which broke away form traditional Daimler appearance and sold for £1.395. A synchromesh gearbox was standard. A pair of 4.6-litre V8s with traditional bodywork joined it in 1960, in which year the company was bought by Jaguar. A 2½-litre saloon using the small V8 Daimler engine in a Mk II jaguar body was introduced for 1963, and gradually Jaguar influences took over. The 8-cylinder Majestic Major saloon was replaced in 1967 by the Daimler Sovereign, a Jaguar 420 down to its dohc 6-cylinder engine, and a year later there was a new Jaguar-based limousine using the 4235cc power unit and a Vanden Plas body. The last V8 Daimlers were made in 1996, and inevitably the 1973 season brought a Daimler version of the 5.3-litre V12 XJ6 Jaguar, designated the Double Six; a long-chassis version had trim by Vanden Plas.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; HON, MCS

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