Daimler Limousine DR450 | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | The Daimler Company Limited |
Production | 1961–1968 864 produced [1] |
Assembly | Coventry, England |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Full-size luxury car |
Body style | 4-door 8-passenger [2] limousine |
Layout | Front-engine, Rear-wheel-drive |
Related | Daimler Majestic Major DQ450 [2] |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 4.561 litres (278 cu in) V8 [2] |
Transmission | Borg Warner DG-250M automatic |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 3,505 mm (138.0 in) [2] |
Length | 5,740 mm (226.0 in) [2] |
Width | 1,868 mm (73.5 in) [2] |
Height | 1,615 mm (63.6 in) [2] |
Kerb weight | 2,122 kg (4,678 lb) [2] |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Daimler DK400 |
Successor | Daimler DS420 |
Daimler (Turner) 4½ litre V8 | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | The Daimler Company Limited |
Production | 2,044 864 DR450 cars 1,180 DQ450 cars |
Layout | |
Configuration | 90 degree V eight-cylinder |
Displacement | 4.561 litres (278 cu in) [2] |
Cylinder bore | 95.3 mm (3.8 in) [2] |
Piston stroke | 80 mm (3.1 in) [2] |
Cylinder block material | Cast iron |
Cylinder head material | Aluminium alloy, hemispherical combustion chambers |
Valvetrain | OHV by pushrods and rockers [2] Two valves per cylinder hemispherical head |
Compression ratio | 8.0:1 [2] |
Combustion | |
Fuel system | Carburettors—twin S.U. HD8; fuel pump—SU electric Aua 61 [2] |
Management | None |
Fuel type | Petrol [2] |
Oil system | Filter—Full flow replaceable element [2] |
Cooling system | Water [2] |
Output | |
Power output | 220 bhp (160 kW; 220 PS) @ 5,500 rpm [2] |
Torque output | 383.7 N⋅m (283.0 lbf⋅ft) @ 3,200 rpm. [2] |
Dimensions | |
Length | 31.25 in (793.8 mm) |
Width | 25.5 in (647.7 mm) |
Height | 31 in (787.4 mm) |
Dry weight | 498 lb (226 kg) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Thirty-Six DE 36 DK400 Straight-Six |
Successor | Daimler DS420 |
The Daimler DR450 is a limousine variant of the Majestic Major DQ450 saloon. Produced from 1961 [3] to 1968, it was the last complete car designed by The Daimler Company Limited.
Intended for the carriage trade, as an executive express or as a hire car for those needing something larger than a five-seater saloon, the DR450 was produced in numbers close to those of the Majestic Major saloon on which it was based.
The chassis was 24.0 in (609.6 mm) longer than for the Majestic Major and the necessarily flat glass of the three side-windows no longer could be let flow with the body-shape. The equally flat-windowed but bulbous Jaguar Mark X was released to the market the same year. [4] The 4,561 cc (278 cubic inch) hemi-head engine pushed the 2¼ tonnes of car and driver to 100 km/h in under 11 seconds, to 100 mph in 37 seconds and provided a top speed of 183 km/h (114 miles per hour), [2] rather better than the much shorter lighter 5-passenger Jaguar Mark X.
Autocar road testers said "Few cars possess the Jekyll and Hyde personality of the Daimler limousine in providing very high performance, comfort, safety and enormous carrying capacity . . . after enjoying the Daimler for its special merits of high performance and excellent handling, one feels even a little sympathy for chauffeurs who may rarely have the opportunity to discover for themselves the other side of the car's character." [2]
"It is always a challenge for the engineers to provide a good compromise of ride in a car of which the laden weight can conceivably vary by as much as 14 to 15 cwts 1,568 lb (711 kg) to 1,680 lb (762 kg). The Daimler limousine has achieved a very high standard in this respect". [2]
On test by Autocar average fuel consumption for the total distance of 1404 miles proved to be 14.7 miles per gallon or 19.2 L/100 km. The maximum speed of the car was a (mean) of 113.5 mph, 182.6 km/h and the best run 114 or 183.2 km/h. [2]
October 1961 £3,995 including tax,
Jaguar Mark X £2,393
There were only three English limousines in production in 1966. The Rolls-Royce Phantom V was available for approximately £10,700, the Daimler DR450 for £3,558 complete (or £1,899 for a bare chassis), and the Vanden Plas Austin Princess for around £3,100. [5]
The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names.
The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British front mid-engined sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd from 1961 to 1974. Its combination of exceptional aesthetics, advanced technologies, high performance, and competitive pricing established the model as an icon of the motoring world. The E-Type's claimed 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) top speed, sub-7-second 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) acceleration, largely unitary body construction, front and rear independent suspension with disc brakes, mounted inboard at the rear, and rack-and-pinion steering, distinguished the car and spurred industry-wide changes.
The Jaguar XK150 is a sports car produced by Jaguar between 1957 and 1961 as the successor to the XK140.
The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their replacement by the Consul and Granada models in 1972.
The Jaguar Mark X, later renamed the Jaguar 420G, was British manufacturer Jaguar's top-of-the-range saloon car for a decade, from 1961 to 1970. The large, luxurious Mark X not only succeeded the Mark IX as the company's top saloon model, but radically broke with both its predecessor's styling and technology.
The MG Y-Type is an automobile produced by MG in England from 1947 to 1953. It was offered in four-door saloon and limited production open four-seat tourer versions.
The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a large automobile which was produced by the British company, Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited, from 1952 to 1960.
The Jaguar XJR-9 is a sports-prototype race car built by Jaguar for both FIA Group C and IMSA Camel GTP racing. In 1988, Jaguar's XJR-9 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after debuting that year at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Daimler 2.5 V8/V8-250 is a four-door saloon which was produced by The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1969. It was the first Daimler car to be based on a Jaguar platform, the first with a unit body, and the last to feature a Daimler engine after the company was bought from the Birmingham Small Arms Company by Jaguar Cars in 1960. The engine is the hemispherical head V8 designed by Edward Turner and first used in the Daimler SP250 sports car.
V-8 engines were produced by the Daimler Company in displacements of 2.5 L (153 cu in) (1959-1968) and 4.5 L (275 cu in) (1959-1968). Designed for Daimler by Edward Turner, they were initially used in the SP250 sports car and the Majestic Major saloon respectively; ultimately, the 2.5 L was mostly used in the Daimler 2.5 V8 saloon made with Jaguar Mark 2 unit bodies from 1962 to 1969. Approximately 20,000 of the 2.5 L were used in the SP250 and the 250 saloon, and approximately 2,000 4.5 L in the Majestic Major saloon and its Daimler DR450 limousine variant which remained in production until 1968.
The Daimler SP250 is a sports car built by the Daimler Company, a British manufacturer in Coventry, from 1959 to 1964. It was the last car to be launched by Daimler before its parent company, the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), sold it to Jaguar Cars in 1960.
The Daimler Majestic Major DQ450 is a large luxury saloon produced by Daimler in Coventry, England, between November 1960 and 1968. It was fitted with a 4,561 cc V8 engine and was offered as a much more powerful supplement to their then current Daimler Majestic.
The Daimler Majestic DF316/7 and DF318/9 luxury saloon was launched by the Daimler Company of Coventry in July 1958 and was in production until 1962. Edward Turner had been appointed Chief Executive of BSA Automotive in 1957 and promised new products, this car was to carry his new V8 engine still under development. The six-cylinder, four-door saloon, with new three-speed Borg Warner automatic transmission, power steering and vacuum-servo assisted four-wheel disc brakes was mechanically up-to-date for its time, but it had a heavy coachbuilt body of outdated construction on a separate chassis which kept the car's mass well above more modern designs and made it difficult to manoeuvre, despite the modern steering. The styling was already becoming outdated when the car appeared and became increasingly dated as lighter cars with monocoque construction appeared during the Majestic's production run.
The Daimler Conquest is an automobile which was produced by The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 1958. Based on the Lanchester Fourteen, the Conquest replaced the Daimler Consort. Sales were affected by increasing prices and by the fuel shortage caused by the Suez Crisis, and production ended by January 1958, before a replacement model was in production.
The Jaguar Mark V is a luxury automobile built by Jaguar Cars Ltd of Coventry in England from 1948 to 1951. It was available as a four-door Saloon (sedan) and a two-door convertible known as the Drop Head Coupé, both versions seating five adults. It was the first Jaguar with independent front suspension, first with hydraulic brakes, first with spats, first specifically designed to be produced in both Right and Left Hand Drive configurations, first with disc centre wheels, first with smaller wider 16" balloon tyres, first to be offered with sealed headlamps and flashing turn signals for the important American market, and the last model to use the pushrod engines.
The Jaguar Mark 1 is a British saloon car produced by Jaguar between 1955 and 1959. It was referred to in contemporary company documentation as the Jaguar 2.4 Litre and Jaguar 3.4 Litre. Its designation as Mark 1 was retroactive, following its October 1959 replacement by Jaguar's 2.4-litre Mark 2. The 2.4 Litre was the company's first small saloon since the end of its 1½ and 2½ Litre cars in 1949, and was an immediate success, easily outselling the larger, much more expensive Jaguar saloons.
Daimler Sovereign was a name applied by British manufacturer Jaguar Cars to a sequence of luxury automobiles built by it but carrying the Daimler badge between 1966 and 1983.
The Daimler Regency series was a luxury car made in Coventry by The Daimler Company Limited between 1951 and 1958. Only an estimated 49 examples of the 3-litre Regency chassis were made because demand for new cars collapsed just weeks after its introduction. Almost three years later in October 1954, a lengthened more powerful Regency Mark II (DF304) was announced but, in turn, after a production run of 345 cars, it was replaced by the very much faster, up-rated One-O-Four (DF310), announced in October 1955.
The Daimler Double-Six sleeve-valve V12 was a piston engine manufactured by The Daimler Company Limited of Coventry, England between 1926 and 1938. It was offered in four different sizes for their flagship cars.
The Jaguar XK 180 is a concept car created by the British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the XK car and to show the world the skills of Jaguar stylists, craftsmen and engineers. It was presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1998.