Model history: It is hard to imagine today that the motor car was not very well received in Great Britain. At the time the first races were organized in France across the channel cars were only allowed on the road escorted by a man on foot waving a large red flag to warn pedestrians and animals alike for the dangerous machine approaching. These strict limitations might explain why F. R. Simms did nothing with the exclusive right to build Daimler engines in Great Britain he received in 1891. He sold the rights a few years later to Harry J. Lawson who subsequently formed the Daimler Motor Co. in 1896. The company first met the country's small demand by importing cars from Europe, but within a year production of the first British car commenced. A mix of a German engine and a chassis heavily inspired by Panhard & Lavasseur, the British Daimlers were immediately popular with the British nobles including the Royal Family. With the motor car now fully accepted and embraced by the upper class, Daimler thrived in the first two decades of the 20th century. Daimler's hugely diverse line-up catered to many budgets, but the company obviously took most pride in their many Royal customers. In this niche market Rolls Royce had gradually eased in as Daimler's main rival and when the Phantom was launched in 1925 the Coventry based company had their work cut out to do one better.
Apart from being exceptionally well put together, Daimlers offered an extremely quiet ride thanks to adoption of the Knight patented sleeve valve engines. These used sliding valves to open and close the intake and exhaust ports in complete silence. This was quite a contrast to the rattle usually produced by the conventional camshaft actuated valve. A drawback of this configuration was that the valves required lubrication to work properly, resulting in a visible oil-smoke trail wherever one ventured out with a sleeve valve Daimler. Just like the Phantom, the then current line up of Daimlers all featured six cylinder engines, so to really take centre stage something a little more exotic was required; a V12. Aptly named the Double Six, the new engine was designed by the company's chief engineer L. H. Pomeroy. Using the basic design of the six cylinder engines, consisting of two sets of three cylinders, he relatively easily created the new engine with the aluminium crankcase being the only completely new part. Each bank of six cylinders had a separate intake, exhaust and ignition system. In the process Pomeroy also refined the sleeve-valve design by replacing the cast-iron valves with more precisely manufactured steel ones, which significantly lowered the oil consumption.
Production of the Daimler Double Six commenced in 1926 and although the model remained available until 1936. It is believed around 500 examples were built, many of which were scrapped during the War for the abundance of the metal used in the massive cars. All of them were built to meet the special demands of the owners and as a result no two were alike. The V12 engine was also available in a very wide variety of displacements ranging from the initial 7136cc for the 'Double Six 50' to 3477cc for the 'Double Six 30'. Being the most complex and exotic machine available at the time, the Double Six appealed to local and foreign Royals. Britain's King George owned two seven person limousines and King Hussain of Jordan was driven around in an open example. Daimler's top model did not only form the basis for lavish luxury vehicles, but also for a number of 'sporty' fixed head and drop top models. All of them shared a conventional pressed steel ladder frame chassis of which the wheelbase varied from very long to even longer. There was one notable exception, which sported a custom chassis constructed by Thompson and Taylor to a design penned by Reid Railton. It differed from the other chassis that it had an underslung rear end, which made the rolling chassis considerably lower. Railton would later use this design for the highly acclaimed Invicta S-Type. Before being bodied and sold to its first customer, the low-chassis Daimler was used as a demonstrator of Daimler's excellence for a considerable time.
Chassis: 30652
Fitted with the standard Landaulet limousine body, this Daimler Six 50 was sold new in 1928 to Sir Frederick Stewart of Sydney, Australia. Here the car received the license plate '1'. After the War the car was acquired by an American and eventually ended up in the Harrah Collection. During the 1980s the big Daimler was owned by a prominent Japanese collector. In 2007 the current owner fell in love with the car and submitted it to a 10,000 hour restoration. The fruits of that labour were picked at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It successfully completed the Tour d'Elegance on Thursday and claimed Third in Class on Sunday.
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Double Six 50 Landaulet
It is hard to imagine today that the motor car was not very well received in Great Britain. At the time the first races were organized in France across the channel cars were only allowed on the road escorted by a man on foot waving a large red flag to warn pedestrians and animals alike for the dangerous machine approaching. These strict limitations might explain why F. R. Simms did nothing with the exclusive right to build Daimler engines in Great Britain he received in 1891. He sold the rights a few years later to Harry J. Lawson who subsequently formed the Daimler Motor Co. in 1896. The company first met the country's small demand by importing cars from Europe, but within a year production of the first British car commenced. A mix of a German engine and a chassis heavily inspired by Panhard & Lavasseur, the British Daimlers were immediately popular with the British nobles including the Royal Family.