Subject: Time:12:28 PM
OFFICE MEMO Daimler/Jaguar connection Date:12/21/94
Geoff asked:
>heard of Daimler Darts, but I normally expect to hear 'Benz' after
'Daimler'... what gives?
Yes, the German Daimler and the English Daimler are named after the same
guy. The English Daimler company started out as a licensee of the German
Daimler company, but their paths diverged during the reign of Queen Victoria.
The German Daimler company linked up with Benz, who named a car after a girl
called Mercedes, but since this is the britcars list we won't bore you with
any more history of Teutonic iron.
The English Daimler company built stodgy sedans, ambulances, hearses, and
limosines for the Royal Family. They also made a great looking V12 sports car
in the '30's called the Double-Six, an odd looking sports car in the early
'50's called the Conquest Roadster, some odd looking luxury one-offs for Lady
Docker (the chairman's wife) and the better known fiberglass Dart, which had
to be renamed the SP-250 because of the Dodge Dart. They also hooked up with
Lanchester (the inventor of disc brakes) and BSA (bet you didn't know BSA
once made itty-bitty cars).
In 1960 Jaguar bought them up, and soon axed the SP250, but put the V8 in
Jaguar Mark 2's and called them Daimlers. They kept the big Daimler limosine
called the DS420 in production until just a couple of years ago. But mostly
the Daimler name has been used on upscale versions of the Jaguar XJ sedans,
different chrome, different interior, etc.
Sometimes known as badge-engineering, like Rolls/Bentley, Sprite/Midget,
Dodge/Plymouth, Ford/Mercury.
I wonder if that means Ford owns the Lanchester name. Hmmm, sounds like an
upmarket Lincoln.......
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