The Daimler DB18 is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

produced by Daimler from 1939 until 1953. It is a 2½-litre version of the preceding 2.2-litre New Fifteen introduced in 1937. From 1949, the DB18 was revised to become the Daimler Consort. Using the engine developed for the

Daimler Scout Car The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the Daimler Dingo (after the Australian wild dog), is a British light, fast four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle also used for liaison during the Second World War. Design and development In 193 ...

, it was offered to customers from 1939 as a six-cylinder chassis on which Daimler and various British coach builders offered a range of bodies including drop-head coupes.

Development

The model was introduced immediately before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which the company concentrated on the manufacture of military vehicles. To contemporaries the model was generally known as the Daimler 2½-litre until Daimler adopted the North American habit of giving their cars names (although not on any badgework), and an all-steel export version of the car was introduced in October 1948 at the

London Motor Show London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O ...

, "principally for export" and branded as the Daimler Consort. The updates included the integration of the firewall into the body rather than it being part of the chassis, a move from rod operated mechanical brakes to a Girling-Bendix hydraulic front and rod operated rear system, incorporating the head lights into the front guards, and providing a badge plate behind the front bumper with a curved radiator grille replacing the flat one.

Specification

The car used a 2,522 cc in-line six-cylinder, pushrod OHV engine fed by a single SU carburetter. Throughout its life, was claimed, though a change in the gearing in 1950 was marked by an increase in maximum speed from to for the saloon, while the acceleration time from 0 – improved from 17.9 to 16.9 seconds. By the standards of the time the car was brisker than it looked. The car was supplied with the Daimler Fluid Flywheel coupled to a 4-speed Wilson

Pre-selector gearbox A preselector gearbox is a type of manual transmission mostly used on passenger cars and racing cars in the 1930s, in buses from 1940-1960 and in armoured vehicles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The defining characteristic of a preselector gearbox ...

. The independent front suspension used coil springs, while the back axle was suspended using a traditional semi-elliptical set-up. The chassis was "underslung" at the rear with the main chassis members passing below the rear axle. In mid-1950 the restricted ground clearance was improved by the adoption of a conventional hypoid bevel drive to the rear axle replacing the traditional Daimler underslung worm drive which had hampered sales outside Britain.

Coachwork

Although offered originally as a chassis only model, post-war the most common version was a four-door saloon which Daimler themselves produced. The interior was fitted out with traditional "good taste" using mat leather and polished wood fillets. By the early 1950s, this coachwork was beginning to look unfashionably upright and "severe yet dignified". In 1939,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

commissioned

Carlton Carriage Co The Carlton Carriage Company was a highly respected London coachbuilder that provided bespoke coachwork for some of the finest car makers of the 1920s and 30s. They are best known for their drophead coupes which are archetypal designs of the Brit ...

to build a drophead coupe on a DB18 chassis, chassis No.49531. He used it during election campaigns in the later 1940s.

Production

Approximately 1,000 DB18s and 25 DB18 Special Sports were produced to 1940.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars of the 1930s, Haymarket Publishing Ltd, 1989, page 61 In addition 3,355 DB18s, 608 DB18 Sports Specials and 4,250 DB18 Consorts were built in the post-war years.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1945-1970, Haymarket Publishing Ltd, 1986, page 48 The Consort became a popular car among the wealthy in India. All together, over 100 cars were ordered, mainly by the Maharajas in India and a further dozen were ordered by Royalty in Ceylon and Burma.

Photos of exterior and interior

(Example:

Daimler New Fifteen The Daimler New Fifteen, was a large saloon/sedan car at the low end of the manufacturer’s range, announced in September 1937. It had a tax rating of 16.2 hp. In September 1938 it was given a larger engine with the tax rating of 17.9 ...

)

Gallery

Daimler Eighteen 4-dr tourer 5917703687 7b99d9d211 o.jpg, Tickford 4-door tourer by Salmons
1940 Daimler Eighteen Dolphin sports saloon 1940 5918261334 8e01cc933a o.jpg, Dolphin 4-dr sports saloon by Charlesworth
1940 Daimler DB18 5917685705 1b5a34140c o.jpg, Daimler 2½ litre
six-light saloon
1947 Daimler 2½ litre Tickford body by Salmons 5918248134 754c6ed724 o.jpg, Tickford drophead coupé by Salmons
1950 Daimler DB18 drophead coupé 1950.jpg, Tickford drophead coupé by Salmons
1950 Daimler Empress convertible5917682645 ac54db9871 o.jpg, Empress
drophead coupé by Hooper
1951 Impress Empress.JPG, Empress saloon body by Hooper
1951 1952 Daimler Special Sports by Barker SP.jpg, Special Sports
drophead coupé by Barker
1952

References

''This entry includes statistical information from the German Wikipedia concerning the

Daimler Motor Company The Daimler Company Limited ( ), prior to 1910 The Daimler Motor Company Limited, was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H. J. Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The compan ...

.''

External links

Brochure 1946
{{Post-war Daimler cars

Consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

Cars introduced in 1939 1940s cars 1950s cars