Daimler Majestic

Daimler Majestic

Manufacturer	Daimler Motor Company
Production	1958–1962 1490 produced
Predecessor	Daimler One-O-Four
Successor	Daimler Majestic Major
Class	Executive
Body style	Four door Saloon
Engine	3.8 litre in-line 6
Transmission	Automatic
Wheelbase	114 in (2,900 mm) [1]
Length	196 in (5,000 mm) [1]
Width	70.5 in (1,790 mm) [1]
Height	63 in (1,600 mm) [1]
Kerb weight	1,955 kilograms (4,310 lb)[2]

The Daimler Majestic 101 was launched by the Daimler Motor Company of Coventry in July^[3] 1958 and was in production until 1962. The six cylinder, four door saloon, with new three speed Borg Warner automatic transmission, power steering and four-wheel disc brakes, vacuum-servo assisted, was very mechanically advanced for its time, but it had an outdated heavy body and engine with separate chassis which kept the car's mass well above more modern designs and made it difficult to manoeuvre, despite the modern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 The styling was already somewhat outdated when the car appeared and became increasingly dated as lighter bodies with monocoque construction appeared during the Majestic's production run.^[4]

Construction

Like all previous postwar Daimlers, the "Majestic" was designed around a massive cruciform-braced box-section chassis equipped with coil-sprung independent front suspension, with a well located 'live' rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Four-wheel servo-assisted disc brakes were regarded as a first for a British production car^[5].

The engine was an inline six of 3.8 litres (3794 cc), based on previous Daimler sixes with pushrod operated overhead valves and retaining the 107.95 millimetre (4.25 inch) stroke, but with the bore increased to 86.36 millimetres (3.4 inches) from the 82.55 millimetres (3.25 inches) of the One-O-Four, giving a power output of over 147 brake horsepower (110 kW) at 4,400 rpm and produced 209 lb·ft (283 N·m) of torque at 2,800 rpm^[6]. The Majestic had a maximum speed of around 180 km/h (112 mph). To help with the increase in the bore, the cylinder block was considerably enlarged to allow for the fitting of completely new liners: dry liners as present on the One-O-Four were absent on the Majestic.

The styling of the Majestic was similar to, but wider and with smoother lines than the short lived One-O-Four model it replaced. The body was massive and the doors were quite high with narrow windows and a rounded rear window. There were two small headlamps at each end on the front side and two fog lamps just above low-set bumpers. There were plain disc wheels.

Performance

A car tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1958 had a top speed of 100.6 mph (161.9 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 14.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of 19.3 miles per imperial gallon (14.6 L/100 km; 16.1 mpg_-US) was recorded. The test car cost £2495 including taxes of £832. ^[1]

Notable successors

The Daimler Majestic was soon overshadowed by the Daimler Majestic Major, using the same body, perhaps with an extended boot, but with a new 4.5 litre hemi-head V8 engine announced, though production was delayed until the following year, at the October^[3] 1959 motor show, even though production, such as it was, continued, side by side until 1962.^[5] It is notable that, though produced for a shorter period, significantly more examples of the six-cylinder model were produced than of the latterly better-known "Major".

Takeover

Some of the way forward became clearer when a preliminary announcement on 26 May 1960 confirmed negotiations for purchase of Daimler and its factory by Jaguar were nearing completion.^[3]

Revival

In 1989 and 1990 Jaguar Cars produced a special edition of the XJ40 using the Majestic name, at first in the US only, leather-equipped with steering wheel in interior colour and often red or blue piping. In the final XJ40 years the name Majestic was used for the special build LWB XJ40, of which only 121 examples were constructed.

Sources

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "The 3.8 litre Daimler Majestic saloon". The Motor. July 9 1958. 
2. ^ Smith, Brian E.; The Daimler Tradition; published 1972 by Transport Bookman Publications; p. 264. ISBN 0851840044
3. ^ ^{a b c} Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise Daimler Century ; Stephens 1995 ISBN 1-85260-494-8
4. ^ "Motorbase.com Daimler Majestic". http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/539/. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Fletcherservices.com Daimler Majestic and Majestic Major". http://www.fletcherservices.com.au/fs_024.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-14. 
6. ^ The Daimler Handbook; p. 19