Frequently Asked Questions about Classic Daimler

Who founded Daimler and when?

The Daimler Motor Company was formed in 1896 by financier Harry Lawson, building on work by engineer Frederick Simms. Simms had secured the British rights to Gottlieb Daimler's engine patents and set up the Daimler Motor Syndicate in 1893, then sold out to Lawson. The new company took over a former cotton mill in Coventry, England, and delivered its first complete car in 1897.

Is the British Daimler related to Mercedes-Benz?

The British Daimler was a separate company from the German firm behind Mercedes-Benz. It took its name from German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, whose engine patents it was licensed to use, but Grace's Guide records that the Coventry company was not connected with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. That German company merged with Benz & Cie. in 1926 to form Daimler-Benz, which built cars under the Mercedes-Benz name.

Who has owned Daimler over the years?

Daimler passed through a series of owners and no longer builds cars. The Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) acquired it in 1910 and sold it to Jaguar in 1960. Daimler then followed Jaguar into British Motor Holdings in 1966 and British Leyland in 1968, to Ford in a takeover agreed in 1989, and to Tata Motors in 2008. The last Daimler-badged model was the Super Eight, introduced in 2005.

What was Daimler known for in the classic era?

Daimler was known as the state car of British monarchs for the first half of the 20th century. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, ordered a Daimler in 1900 and went on to grant the company a royal warrant, and Daimlers kept that role until Rolls-Royce supplanted them in the 1950s. On the engineering side, Daimler adopted the Knight sleeve-valve engine, unveiled in 1908, and introduced its fluid flywheel transmission in 1930.

What is the Daimler SP250?

The Daimler SP250 was a sports car built from 1959 to 1964, with a fiberglass body and a 2.5-liter V8 designed by Edward Turner that made 140 horsepower. It debuted at the New York show in April 1959 as the Daimler Dart, but Chrysler objected because its Dodge division had claimed the Dart name, so Daimler used the project code SP250 instead. The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust counts 2,654 built, though Hagerty cites 2,656.

What is the Daimler 250 V8 sedan?

The Daimler 2.5 V8, renamed the V8-250 in 1967, was a sedan that paired the Jaguar Mark 2 body with Daimler's 2.5-liter V8, the Edward Turner engine first used in the SP250. It was introduced in 1962 and built until 1969, with an automatic transmission as standard and the Daimler fluted grille as its main identifier. Classic & Sports Car estimates 17,620 were built.

What is the Daimler DS420?

The Daimler DS420 was a limousine built from 1968 to 1992 on an extended floorpan from the Jaguar 420G, powered by the 4.2-liter Jaguar XK six-cylinder engine with an automatic transmission as standard. Cars were first assembled at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury, London. After that factory closed in 1979, production moved to Jaguar's Browns Lane plant in Coventry. Just over 5,000 cars and bare chassis were made, according to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust.

Were Daimler cars sold in the United States?

Daimler cars were marketed in the United States until 1967. The SP250 was launched at the 1959 New York show, and the Daimler and Lanchester Owners' Club records that most of the first left-hand-drive batch went to America. Prestige & Performance Car reports that the parent group dropped Daimler there in 1967 because its advertising budget could not cover every brand. From 1982, Jaguar sedans badged as Daimlers elsewhere were sold in North America as Jaguar Vanden Plas models.