All you need to know about Daimler
Born: 1896 Nationality: British
The company started in 1893 as an agency in Britain for engines developed by German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, but became a car maker after businessman Harry Lawson bought the patents and the sales rights. He was also the man who had the British law requiring somebody to walk with a flag in front of a car. Ironically, Lawson resigned from the board in 1897, and three years later was jailed for fraud.
A 6hp Daimler was also involved in the first recorded fatal motor accident in Britain, when two men were killed following the collapse of their rear wheels in 1899.
In 1902, King Edward VII acquired the first of a long line of royal Daimlers, which was fitted with a novel electric ignition. By 1905, the Daimler marque had a range of four different-engined cars on a pair of wheelbases. In the first World War, the company built thousands of engines for lorries, aircraft and tanks, as well as producing its own aircraft and tanks.
At the beginning of the 1920s, Daimlers were in much demand as "value for money" high-end cars. It also offered the first factory-installed Marconi car radio, said to cost a quarter of the price of the car itself. In 1926, Daimler produced Europe's first V12 engine, inventing a name that was still used over 80 years later, the Double Six. In 1929, a clutchless transmission, the "Fluid Flywheel", was introduced.
Through the '30s the company prospered. A 2.5-litre sports tourer rolled out in 1939 was the last civilian model until after the second World War. In the war the firm built scout cars and armoured vehicles, and also components for guns.
Postwar, the luxury car business was devastated by the introduction of a 66 per cent purchase tax, but that didn't stop Daimler chairman Sir Bernard Docker and his wife commissioning especially flamboyant models for their own use. In 1952, the company's monopoly on royal cars was lost when, following an embarrassing gearbox failure, the Duke of Edinburgh ordered a Rolls Royce instead.
Daimler got back into sports cars in 1954 with the Conquest Roadster, which also had a saloon version, the Century. In 1959, the fibreglass Daimler Dart sports car and the six-seater Majestic Major were both introduced, but both were commercial failures and the company's fortunes declined rapidly. In 1960, Jaguar bought the Daimler name. The Turner 2.5-litre V8 which had powered the Dart was put into a "Daimlerised" Mk 2 Jaguar, and rapidly went on to outsell that car. The 1961 Majestic Major limousine was the last all-Daimler car.
Through the 1960s, the Daimler name was carried as variants of large Jaguars, becoming the Sovereign and XJ6 respectively. The Double Six name reappeared in 1972 when a V12 configuration engine was reintroduced, and that car was credited with being better in handling and high speed cruising than the twice as expensive Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. In the 1980s, the Daimler brand was quite successful within Jaguar, and almost a quarter of the series 3 Jaguars were nameplated as Daimler or Vanden Plas (in the US). The Daimler variant of the Jaguar XJ40 arrived alongside that new car in 1986, and with a new 6-litre V12 engine, up to three-quarters of that series were Daimlers.
Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989, and through that decade continued the Daimler name with a version of the X300 and the LWB V12 Double Six in 1955. The brand's 100 years anniversary was celebrated in 1996 with a special called the Daimler Century.
Best Car: The Daimler Century.
Worst Car: The 1950 car whose gearbox let the royals down.
Weirdest Car: The 1950 car commissioned by Lady Docker covered in 7,000 gold stars and with every bit of brightwork gold-plated.