1958 Daimler Majestic Saloon

Description

With a long and proud tradition of building some of the finest cars in Britain, The Daimler Company Limited was founded in 1896 and enjoyed the patronage of the Royal Family for the first half of the 20th Century. Daimler began building a series of smaller, more affordable models alongside its big straight eights, starting with the medium-sized Fifteen of September 1932, the first design to break away from the previous sleeve-valve technology in over two decades. When production resumed after the Second World War a myriad of new models appeared, including the six-cylinder DB18, better known as the Consort. Daimler introduced a larger version for the luxury market in 1951, initially badged as the DF300 (or DF301 for left-hand drive export versions) but is better known as the Regency. Clothed by the coachbuilders such as Barker and Hooper, a handful were also built with a larger 4 ½-litre version of the straight six and most featured pre-selector gearboxes. In October 1955 the Regency gave way to the One-O-Four (a reference to the top speed of 104 mph), the new model benefiting from a revised cylinder head with higher compression ratio, fully hydraulic brakes and the option of a Borg-Warner automatic transmission. Daimler announced yet another development of the model in July 1958, the Majestic using a new 3.8-litre version of the motor rated at 147 bhp, fed by twin SU HD6 carburettors, along with a torque converter and vacuum servo-assisted disc brakes all round - a first on a British saloon car.  Although the Majestic bore more than a passing resemblance to its predecessors, the styling was updated to increase interior space, making the Daimler a genuine six-seater. Only sold with automatic transmission, the Majestic featured plenty of luxurious touches, including leather upholstery, burr walnut timber, reading lamps for passengers, courtesy lights when the doors opened, a cigar lighter and decent heating and ventilation.  A road test by The Motor conducted in 1958 found the Majestic capable of reaching 0-60 mph in just 14.2 seconds on the way to a top speed just over 100 mph.