Vanden Plas

The English car brand Daimler is associated with luxury and royal splendor all the way back to 1902. In that year, the factory was chosen as a supplier of cars to the English court.

Ended up with Jaguar

Daimler in England initially had close technical cooperation with Daimler in Germany. The collaboration started in 1888 and developed further. Frederick Simms of English Daimler bought the patent rights for England from German Daimler in 1890. Daimler developed both boat and car engines based on these patents. The result was the first entirely English-developed Daimler in 1897. From the start, the factory became best known for its large, solid and heavy luxury cars. The cars were mostly sold at home in England. After 1945, the model range was once again aimed at the luxury market and car models with a small touch of "sports car". The sports model SP250 with fiberglass bodywork was an honorable attempt, but the price was too high. Daimler was sold to Jaguar in 1960 who sold it on in 1984. Jaguar launched several Daimler models as luxury versions of Jaguar models.

Daimler Double Six

In 1972, Daimler revived one of its most famous model names, "Double Six". The model was based on the Jaguar XJ-V12 and, as a Daimler model, it was supposed to occupy the luxury top among prestige models on the market. To emphasize this, Daimler launched the "Double-Six Vanden Plas" in 1972. Here there was better interior space thanks to an increased wheelbase of 10 cm. In addition, it was delivered with a black vinyl roof to distinguish it from the factory's other models. In addition, there was a 2 door version that was in production between 1975 and 1977. Jaguar tried again to market the Daimler with a new and bigger engine between 1993 and 1994 without any success. The car brand's long history as a top class luxury car was not enough to lure customers to the dealerships.

The end for the Daimler car brand came in 2007 when Ford, which then owned the car brand, stopped production

Technical data 1985 Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas

Length: 496 cm
Width: 177 cm
Height: 137 cm
Top speed: 230 km/h
Engine: 5343 ccm, 295 hp

Advertising for Daimler and Lanchester. The car in the advertisement is a Lanchester Leda (1950-1953). Note that RSA was the Norwegian representative for the brand in the 50s. The car chain is alive and well and currently sells the brands Suzuki, Isuzu, Maxus and BYD.

See

Exciting car history from Anders de Lange's archives

Norwegian Jaguar Club

Stately cars with English design both inside and out are what we associate with cars from Rover.

The history of the Rover car brand

The factory was started in the late 1800th century as a bicycle factory and quickly became known for good products. It helped when the production of cars and motorcycles started in 1904. Bicycle and motorcycle production continued until 1924. Rover produced a number of cars in different price ranges in the interwar period. One of the models had an advanced engine of 2132 ccm which was designed by the Norwegian Peter Poppe. From 1945 Rover concentrated on family cars in the middle class. In the 50s, Rover experimented with gas turbine operation, but only test models were produced. In this period, Land-Rover also came, which was a success. The model was later supplemented by the Range-Rover. New models of the family cars (P4) came in 1949 with a modern design and a larger model range. This series lived until 1964 with some changes. In 1967 Rover joined the Leyland Motor Corporation.

Rover 3500

Rover, which was known for its rather sturdy and solid car models, surprised the market in 1976. A completely new model saw the light of day. The luxury and the big engine were in place, but for the first time a Rover had a 5-door hatchback model in its product range. These were new lines from a traditional manufacturer of "finer" English cars. The real reason was probably that Leyland, which also controlled the Jaguar car brand, did not want competition between its own car brands.

With a hint of Ferrari

The lines of the new car were modern and extremely streamlined. Many thought it resembled the Ferrari Daytona - certainly not a rear end. Technically, the new car was more conservative. Apart from a 5-speed gearbox, there were traditional technical solutions. The interior was elegant and luxurious with a very comprehensive instrument panel. 2 years after its introduction, 2 new models with a smaller engine were introduced. In 1980, the factory created a racing team that participated in track races for several years with great success. In 1986 it was over and the Rover 3500 was replaced by new models.

Data Rover 3500

Length: 469 cm
Width: 176 cm
Height: 138 cm
Top speed: 200 km/h
Engine: V8 3528 ccm, 155 hp.

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Daimler – English luxury cars for the few