CarBrandLogos archive · Daimler · 1958

DaimlerMajestic

A stately saloon with a surprisingly modern braking system.

Photo: Fr Jack Hackett · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Daimler history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Daimler Majestic, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Daimler Majestic 3.8-litre saloon 618488d172 o-1

Origins

The Majestic took over from the One-O-Four in 1958 as Daimler's large luxury saloon, and it is remembered less for its bodywork — dignified, conservative, a shape already looking dated at launch — than for what sat behind its wheels. It was among the first British production cars fitted with four-wheel disc brakes as standard, at a point when even expensive machinery still relied on drums.

Daimler Majestic 3.8-litre saloon 618488d172 o-1 · maljoe · CC BY-SA 2.0

Design and engineering

A 3.8-litre in-line six drove through a Borg-Warner automatic, a combination chosen for effortlessness rather than speed. Just 1,490 were built at Coventry between 1958 and 1962, which reflects both the price and the narrowness of the market for a car of this kind.

In production

The Majestic Major that followed swapped in Edward Turner's V8 and was startlingly fast for a limousine. Daimler's independence ended in 1960 when Jaguar bought the company, and the Sovereign name would soon mark the beginning of the badge-engineered era.

At a glance