Daimler Majestic

Daimler
Daimler Majestic
Majestic
Production period:	1958–1962
Class :	Upper class
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Otto engine : 3.8 liters (149 hp)
Length:	5000 mm
Width:	1790 mm
Height:	1600 mm
Wheelbase :	2900 mm
Empty weight :	1955 kg
Previous model	Daimler One-0-Four

The Majestic is a luxury sedan from the former British car manufacturer Daimler , which was produced from 1958 to 1962. The six-cylinder Majestic and the Majestic Major derived from it, equipped with an eight-cylinder engine, were the last vehicles that Daimler developed before the company was taken over by competitor Jaguar . When it was first introduced, the Majestic was considered technically up-to-date, but stylistically outdated.

background

The Daimler Motor Company, founded in 1896, was one of the most exclusive British automobile manufacturers in the first half of the 20th century. The company, which has been part of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) since 1910 , regularly supplied vehicles for the British royal family. The position of the company changed after the end of the Second World War . The brand lost its reputation in particular due to the extroverted behavior of Norah Docker , wife of BSA director Bernard Docker , and market shares continued to decline over the course of the 1950s compared to Bentley and Rolls-Royce . Daimler initially tried to serve lower-priced market segments with the Consort and Conquest models , but was unsuccessful. The Majestic presented in 1958 was intended to strengthen Daimler's position in the upper class. In the eight-cylinder version, the model remained in the range even after the brand was taken over by Jaguar, where it supplemented the Daimler 250 V8 until 1968 .

Model history

The Daimler Majestic replaced the One-0-Four produced until 1958 , to which it resembled stylistically and technically.

landing gear

The car used a steel box frame developed for the New Fifteen model released in 1937 . Daimler revised the design of the frame for the Majestic only slightly. The front wheels are individually suspended , a rigid axle with leaf springs is installed at the rear . The Majestic was the first British production vehicle to have servo-assisted disc brakes on all four wheels.

Engine and power transmission

A six-cylinder in-line engine served as the drive. Its basic construction corresponded to the engine of the previous model; however, by enlarging the bore, the displacement was increased from 3.4 liters to 3.8 liters. The cylinder head is made of aluminum. The valves are controlled by an overhead camshaft. The engine output is 149 hp, the maximum torque 283 Nm. The power transmission takes place as standard via a three-speed automatic transmission from BorgWarner . The Majestic was the first post-war Daimler in which Daimler's preselector was no longer available - not even as an option.

body

Plant construction

Factory body from Carbodies

Daimler offered a four-door sedan with a steel body at the factory. The body of the Majestic followed the style of the predecessor model, especially in the area of ​​the front end, but the body was slightly wider and the lines were perceived as "smoothed". The rear area is independent. The front fenders flowed into the front doors. Contemporary observers saw a similarity between the Daimler body and that of the Mercedes-Benz 300 "Adenauer" .

The bodies of the Daimler Major were manufactured by the body manufacturer Carbodies in Coventry, which, like Daimler, had been part of the BSA Group since 1954. For financial reasons, Carbodies manufactured the body panels with the presses that had already been used for the predecessor One-0-Four. In the differently designed parts, the presses had been adapted using so-called Kirksite alloys. The press quality was poor; the sheets had to be regularly reworked by hand.

Individual bodies

In addition to the factory body, a number of other, individually designed bodies were created, which were primarily produced by the British body manufacturer Hooper .

Performance

Motor magazine determined a top speed of 161 km / h in June 1958. The car accelerated from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 km / h) in 14.2 seconds. The racing driver Stirling Moss certified the Majestic's excellent handling even at high speeds; even in fast corners there is no rolling.

Market positioning and production

The Daimler Majestic competed primarily with the Jaguar Mark IX in the UK market . It was £ 500 more expensive than the Jaguar (£ 2,495 versus £ 1,995), which had an engine roughly the same size but significantly more powerful at 220 hp. 1,490 Majestics were built in four years, while Jaguar produced over 10,000 Mark IX vehicles in the same period.

literature

• David Lillywhite, Halwart Schrader: Encyclopedia of Classic Automobiles . Stuttgart 2005 (Motorbuch Verlag). ISBN 3-613-02552-3 .
• Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, David Burgess-Wise: Daimler Century . Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1995, ISBN 1-85260-494-8
• NN: The 3.8 Liter Daimler Majestic Saloon : Test in: Motor from July 9, 1958.
• NN: The Daimler V8s . In: The Driving Member. The Official Journal of the Daimler & Lanchester Owners Club. July 1999, p. 7 ff.
• Richard Townsend: Docker's Daimlers. Daimler and Lanchester Cars 1945 to 1960 , Amberley Publishing, Stroud, 2017, ISBN 978 1 4456 6316 6

Web links

Commons : Daimler Majestic  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Advertisement for the Daimler Majestic from 1960

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Schrader, Lillywhite: Classic automobiles. The international encyclopedia. P. 134.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Classic Cars Special: English classic cars. Issue 7/8/9 1994, p. 36.
3. ↑ Tim Hogarth: The Dazzling Lady Docker: Britain's Forgotten Reality Superstar , Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd., 2018, ISBN 978-0995586147 , p. 178.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, David Burgess-Wise: Daimler Century . Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1995, ISBN 1-85260-494-8 , p. 272.
5. ↑ Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 90.
6. ^ Richard Townsend: Docker's Daimlers. Daimler and Lanchester Cars 1945 to 1960 , Amberley Publishing, Stroud, 2017, ISBN 978 1 4456 6316 6 , p. 67.
7. ↑ The 3.8 Liter Daimler Majestic Saloon: Test in engine from July 9, 1958.