Daimler

Some of the most significant vehicles produced by Daimler prior to their acquisition by Jaguar in 1960 were:

1896 First Daimler Vehicle

1926-1938 The Double Six

1933-1936 Daimler 15

1936-1953 Straight Eight (covering a variety of models)

1938-1945 Daimler Dingo — a BSA design

1939-1949 Daimler DB18

1940- ? Daimler Armoured Car

1946-1952 Daimler DE27/DH27 (straight 6)

1946-1953 Daimler DE36 (straight 8)

1952-1971 Ferret Scout Car

1949-1953 Daimler DB18 Consort and DB18 Sports Special

1952-1954 Daimler Regency/Empress II

1953-1956 Daimler Conquest

1954-1957 Daimler Regency II

1954-1957 Daimler Empress IIa and Empress III

1954-1958 Daimler Conquest Century

1954-1960 Daimler Regina/DK400

1958-1962 Daimler Majestic

1959-1968 Daimler Majestic Major

1959-1964 Daimler SP250 (Dart, A-spec.)

Jaguar and British Leyland

Daimler V8-250

Daimler DS420 Limousine

In 1960, the Daimler name was acquired by Jaguar. William Lyons was looking to expand manufacture, and wanted the manufacturing facilities, but then had to decide what to do with the existing Daimler vehicles.

The Daimler Majestic Major and the sporty Dart, already in production, were continued for a number of years, using the Daimler V8 engine. In 1961 Daimler introduced the DR450 , a limousine version of its Majestic Major with a longer chassis and bodyshell and higher roofline. It continued in production until the DS420 arrived in 1968, by which time it had sold almost as many as the "Major" saloon.

These were the last cars not designed by Jaguar to bear the Daimler badge.

It is said that Jaguar put a Daimler 4.5L V8 in a Mark X, and it went better than the Jaguar version. It is also said that when Jaguar ceased production of Daimler designed vehicles, Lyons had all the spares bulldozed into a pit.

The last car to have a Daimler engine was the Model 250 which was, apart from a fluted grille, badges and drivetrain essentially a more luxurious Jaguar Mark II.

Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation, the masters of badge-engineering marques in 1966 to form British Motor Holdings (BMH). Not surprisingly, except for the Daimler DS420 Limousine introduced in 1968 and withdrawn from production in 1992, subsequent vehicles were badge-engineered Jaguars, given a more luxurious finish. For example the Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas was a Jaguar XJ-12 with the Daimler badge and fluted grille and boot handle the only outward differences from the Jaguar, with more luxurious interior fittings and extra standard equipment marking it out on the inside.

1972 Daimler Sovereign 4.2

During that period, Daimler became the second-largest (after Leyland) double-decker bus manufacturer in Britain, with the "Fleetline" model. At the same time, Daimler made trucks and motorhomes.

BMH merged with the Leyland Motor Corporation to give the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968. Production of Daimler buses in Coventry ceased in 1973 when production of its last bus product (the Daimler Fleetline) was transferred to Leyland plant in Farington. The Daimler marque stayed within BLMC and its subsequent forms until 1982, at which point Jaguar (and Daimler) went their own way and the Austin Rover Group went the other.

Significant Daimler models for that period include:

1959-1968 Daimler Majestic Major

1959-1964 Daimler SP250 (B and C spec.)

1961-1967 Daimler DR450 Hemi V8 Limousine

1962-1969 Daimler 250 V8

1968-1992 Daimler DS420 Limousine

1988 Daimler Double Six

Jaguar (Under Ford Ownership)

In 1989 the Ford Motor Company took over Jaguar and with it the right to use the Daimler name. In 1992, Daimler stopped production of the DS420 Limousine, the only model that was not just a re-badged Jaguar. In 1996 Jaguar Cars produced a "Daimler Century" model to celebrate 100 years of motoring.

The name 'Daimler' continued to be used to determine top-line XJ Jaguars (in every country except the USA, where the top line XJ was (and still is) known as the 'XJ Vanden Plas', as the company feared that the American market would confuse Jaguar Daimler with DaimlerChrysler) until 2002, when, with the arrival of the new Mk. III XJ, the Daimler name (seen on the Mk. II XJ as the 'Daimler V8') ceased to be used to mark out the top models, with the 'Jaguar Super V8' the new flagship model. Now, Daimler is back with the new 'Super Eight' model, and there are rumours that Jaguar may be designing a successor to the DS420 Limousine.

Significant Daimler Models for that period include:

1996 Daimler Century limited edition

1996 Daimler Corsica concept car

2002 Daimler Super V8 for HM The Queen

Revival

2005 Daimler Super Eight

In July 2005, after a three-year hiatus, a new Daimler, the Super Eight, was presented, with a 4.2 L V8 supercharged engine which produces 291 kW (400 bhp) and a torque rating of 533 Nm (395 lb ft) at 3500 rpm. It is derived from the Jaguar X350.

2005- Daimler Super Eight