The
Daimler DS420, popularly known as the
Daimler Limousine, is a large limousine produced by
Daimler Motor CompanyThe Daimler Motor Company was a British motor vehicle manufacturing company, founded in 1896, and based in Coventry. The company became a subsidiary of BSA in 1910, and was acquired by Jaguar Cars in 1960....
between 1968 and 1992. The vehicles are used extensively as
official state carAn official state car is a car used to transport heads of state. It is usually a limousine or an executive car. Official state cars are often those of domestic manufacturers, giving leaders an opportunity to demonstrate faith in their nation's products and therefore domestic manufacturing...
s in several countries, including by the
BritishImage:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Image:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner...
and
Danish Royal FamiliesThe Danish Royal Family includes The Queen of Denmark and her family. All members hold the title of Prince or Princess of Denmark with the style of His or Her Royal Highness , or His or Her Highness...
. The car is also commonly used in the funeral and hotel trades.
The DS420 began production in 1968, replacing the DR450 which had been based on the
Majestic MajorThe Daimler Majestic Major was a large executive saloon made by Daimler in Coventry between 1959 and 1968, using a 4,561 cc V8 engine. A limousine version known as the Daimler DR450 was available from 1961 until the V8 engine ended production....
. Unlike its predecessor, it had no
DaimlerThe Daimler Motor Company was a British motor vehicle manufacturing company, founded in 1896, and based in Coventry. The company became a subsidiary of BSA in 1910, and was acquired by Jaguar Cars in 1960....
engineering, but was entirely a Jaguar product, utilising the 4.2 litre version of the
Jaguar XKThe renowned Jaguar XK dual overhead camshaft inline 6-cylinder engine was introduced in 1949 and continued to be manufactured until 1986...
straight-six engine.
The
Daimler DS420, popularly known as the
Daimler Limousine, is a large limousine produced by
Daimler Motor CompanyThe Daimler Motor Company was a British motor vehicle manufacturing company, founded in 1896, and based in Coventry. The company became a subsidiary of BSA in 1910, and was acquired by Jaguar Cars in 1960....
between 1968 and 1992. The vehicles are used extensively as
official state carAn official state car is a car used to transport heads of state. It is usually a limousine or an executive car. Official state cars are often those of domestic manufacturers, giving leaders an opportunity to demonstrate faith in their nation's products and therefore domestic manufacturing...
s in several countries, including by the
BritishImage:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Image:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner...
and
Danish Royal FamiliesThe Danish Royal Family includes The Queen of Denmark and her family. All members hold the title of Prince or Princess of Denmark with the style of His or Her Royal Highness , or His or Her Highness...
. The car is also commonly used in the funeral and hotel trades.
Origins
The DS420 began production in 1968, replacing the DR450 which had been based on the
Majestic MajorThe Daimler Majestic Major was a large executive saloon made by Daimler in Coventry between 1959 and 1968, using a 4,561 cc V8 engine. A limousine version known as the Daimler DR450 was available from 1961 until the V8 engine ended production....
. Unlike its predecessor, it had no
DaimlerThe Daimler Motor Company was a British motor vehicle manufacturing company, founded in 1896, and based in Coventry. The company became a subsidiary of BSA in 1910, and was acquired by Jaguar Cars in 1960....
engineering, but was entirely a Jaguar product, utilising the 4.2 litre version of the
Jaguar XKThe renowned Jaguar XK dual overhead camshaft inline 6-cylinder engine was introduced in 1949 and continued to be manufactured until 1986...
straight-six engine. It also replaced the
Vanden PlasVanden Plas is the name of a company of coachbuilders for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. It originated in Belgium in 1870 as Carrosserie Vanden Plas.-History:...
4-Litre Princess Limousine, and was initially produced at the Vanden Plas works in
KingsburyKingsbury is a town in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Its name means "The King's Manor".-History:Kingsbury was historically a small parish in the Hundred of Gore and county of Middlesex. Until the nineteenth century it was largely rural with only scattered settlements. Oliver...
, North
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
Description
The Limousine was based on the floorpan of
Jaguar's 420GThe Jaguar Mark X was the top-of-the-range saloon car built by the British manufacturer Jaguar, and was originally aimed at the United States market...
flagship (not to be confused with the smaller
Jaguar 420The Jaguar 420 and its Daimler Sovereign equivalent were produced for a short period at the end of the 1960s as the ultimate expression of a series of "compact sporting saloons" offered by Jaguar throughout that decade...
), but with a wheelbase extended an extra . The frontal styling was similar to the original
Daimler SovereignThe Daimler Sovereign was a luxury automobile built by British manufacturer Jaguar in Coventry. The first Sovereign was introduced in 1966, being the second Jaguar bodyshell to be offered in a Daimler version following the 2½ litre V8...
, with the Jaguar four-headlight treatment first seen on the 420G's predecessor, the
Mark XThe Jaguar Mark X was the top-of-the-range saloon car built by the British manufacturer Jaguar, and was originally aimed at the United States market...
, mated to a Daimler radiator grill bearing the traditional fluting. Jaguar Mark X/420G underpinnings were also apparent from the twin ten gallon fuel tanks set in each of the rear wings, each with it own electric SU pump selected by a dashboard mounted switch.
The driver sat on a full width bench seat in a relatively upright position which was said to make length-wise adjustment for different sizes of driver unnecessary, although there was 2.75 in (7 cm) of telescopic adjustment available on the low-set steering wheel.
The passengers sat on a bench-seat behind the glass division in opulent comfort — the DS420's rear seat spanning over in width. The dimensions of the vehicle are the same as those of the
Rolls-Royce Phantom VIThe Phantom VI was an ultra-exclusive Rolls-Royce model produced in London at Mulliner Park Ward. It was made from 1968-1991.Though it had been expressed that the days of motor cars of the like of the Rolls-Royce Phantom V were undoubtedly numbered, in 1968 Rolls-Royce launched the Phantom VI as a...
with which the limousine was designed to compete, although the Daimler significantly undercut the Rolls-Royce on price.
The top speed available from this , three speed automatic, independently suspended, four wheel disc braked Daimler limousine was 110 mph (176 km/h). Undercutting the Phantom VI in price by 50% or more, the big Daimler was considered to be a fine vehicle for the cost with its Le Mans winning Jaguar engine, the last car to use it, and bespoke construction.
Production
Originally the cars were built at the
KingsburyKingsbury is a town in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Its name means "The King's Manor".-History:Kingsbury was historically a small parish in the Hundred of Gore and county of Middlesex. Until the nineteenth century it was largely rural with only scattered settlements. Oliver...
works from bodyshells made by Park Sheet Metals Company assembling panels supplied by Motor Panels of Coventry and by Pressed Steel Fisher. Production moved to
JaguarThe Jaguar, Panthera onca, is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus. It is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere...
in
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
in 1979, where it continued until 1992. The move to Coventry also brought the third and most extensive facelift in the car's life, when larger bumpers and a revised rear number-plate surround were fitted. The previous facelift, in 1974, modernized the window arrangement for the rear passengers, addressed the corrosion issue of earlier cars, slightly changed the dimensions of the grill and badge placement on the exterior, and lessened the amount of woodwork in the interior.
As well as the complete limousine, the factory also supplied part-bodies to external coachbuilders to allow them to construct
hearseA hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the casket from e.g. a church to a cemetery, a similar burial site, or a crematorium. In the funeral trade, they are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
s.
Delivered vehicles varied from very basic models with wind up windows to a mobile boardroom, that was reported to have been designed for use by Jaguar Boss Sir John Egan in 1984, complete with TV, computer, printer and Cocktail Cabinet. The DS420 was a much bespoke vehicle, with an extensive list of options. Individual owners tended to fully option their cars. The service industry, including the funeral trade and limousine companies, tended to lightly option their cars. Until the early 1980s, after their purchase by Avis, Daimler Hire was one of the largest clients. Daimler Hire cars were offered as limousine transportation, as well as for state and official use. As such, most Daimler Hire cars are well optioned, including electric division window, air conditioning, matching leather interiors, and the official use hood flag mount.
Always hand-made, the DS420 had a fascia very similar to some contemporary (in 1968) Jaguars, particularly the Mark X and 420G, remaining faithful for many years to the old fashioned steering column and to the pencil-thin steering wheel. Two cars have been built in landaulette bodywork by the factory (and apparently none survived), but many have been converted to laundaulettes for the wedding car industry (some more successfully than others).
By 1992 the DS420 was the only model in the Jaguar range still using the XK engine, along with other parts of the drive train and suspension, and although the car still appealed to its traditional customers, production was no longer economic. No direct replacement was produced by Jaguar, although coachbuilders have adapted the Daimler version of the XJ6.
Customers
The Daimler DS420 is widely used among the
funeralA funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and...
trade, serving as both the executive car for grieving relatives and the
hearseA hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the casket from e.g. a church to a cemetery, a similar burial site, or a crematorium. In the funeral trade, they are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
for the deceased, after customization to fit funeral needs. It is also seen in official use across the world, including by the Danish Royal House (see external links) and the Governor of Tasmania. The vehicle was also purchased by many local authorities and embassies. The Inter-Continental Hotel, Hong Kong, formerly The Regent Hotel has been said to have purchased twenty-two Daimler DS420s across the years.
Royal connections
The British
Royal MewsThe Royal Mews is the mews of the British Royal Family in London. They have occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace.-Charing Cross:...
is now in possession of three Daimler DS420s available for Royal use on state occasions and for visiting dignitaries. The late
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen MotherElizabeth Bowes-Lyon was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 1936 until 1952 as the wife of King George VI. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
had three DS420 models over the years (all registered NLT1 or NLT2), including one of the last three models to be produced in 1992 (one of the other two going to
Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
, although rarely used, and the other retained by Jaguar for use in Coventry, now in the possession of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust). All of the cars delivered for royal use featured certain special features including cloth seats, removal of chrome around the doors, a bullet-shaped blue light and a mount on the roof for the Royal Standard and Coat of Arms. These cars were a reminder of the royal patronage that Daimler lost to Rolls-Royce in the early 1950s.
One of the Queen Mother's Daimler DS420s, painted in Royal Claret, is now in the Royal Mews, along with two other models already owned by HM The Queen. These are classed as
state carsAn official state car is a car used to transport heads of state. It is usually a limousine or an executive car. Official state cars are often those of domestic manufacturers, giving leaders an opportunity to demonstrate faith in their nation's products and therefore domestic manufacturing...
although, unlike the Royal Rolls-Royce and Bentley models in the royal fleet, these do have number plates as only the state vehicle (currently the
Bentley State LimousineThe Bentley State Limousine is an official state car created by Bentley for Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002.The vehicle's twin-turbocharged, 6.75-litre V8 Engine has been modified from Bentley's Arnage R version to produce and of torque...
) is permitted to drive on British roads legally without registration plates.
One of the most famous late appearances of the DS420 was for the funeral of
Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes William and Harry, are second and third in line to the thrones of the United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms.A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana...
respectively, both the hearse and the mourning limousine following it were DS420s.
A hearse version of the DS420 was used for the funerals of
HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen MotherElizabeth Bowes-Lyon was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 1936 until 1952 as the wife of King George VI. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
and
HRH Princess MargaretThe Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II....
in 2002.
The Royal Family of Denmark, in addition to many other prestigious vehicles, have three Daimler DS420s.
External links