1953 Daimler Conquest MkI [DJ250]
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![1953 Daimler Conquest MkI [DJ250]](/i001470176.jpg)
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Comments about this vehicle
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◊ 2021-01-15 09:04 |
Daimler Conquest. DJ250 1953/56. /vehicle_1329407-Daimler-Conquest-1953.html -- Last edit: 2021-01-15 09:07:57 |
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◊ 2021-01-15 21:48 |
@johnfromstaffs: Once at a car boot sale I found several years of "The driving member", which is the magazine of the Daimler & Lanchester owners club. When reading those, I get the impression that no car has ever been built to such a perfection. What is your point of view? Are these well made cars, or are they reminicences of a bygone era and as such couldn't have lived for much longer if not have been bought by Jaguar? They are quite beautiful anyway, according to me. But how are they to live with? |
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◊ 2021-01-15 22:06 |
I don’t know quite how to begin. Possibly forget the Lanchester, except for rarity value. An acquaintance started a rebuild of a Conquest some years ago, I don’t think he ever got it running. Certainly it was a very pleasant car in its day, and the Century variant was reasonably quick for that sort of car but a niche rather than mainstream. You’ve got Bentley rebuild costs but not quite Bentley presence. More later, after some digging. |
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◊ 2021-01-15 22:24 |
@zodiac - the impression I got from a bit of research a few years ago into the origins of the Daimler SP250 project - which was a strange direction for Daimler at the time - was a company which had run out of steam in the 1950s; its traditional strength of big limos had declined, the small-medium ranges such as the Conquest saloons were too stodgy, its attempts at sporty Conquest roadsters failed abysmally, and it was only really being kept alive within BSA group ownership by the successful bus manufacturing activities. The only car jewels were the new Edward Turner-designed V8 engine family (2.5 and 4.5 litre). Jag bought the car business in 1960 because they were desperate to get new factory capacity to churn out more Jags, and then discovered that instead of throwing absolutely everything on the scrapheap, they found a few products at the bottom of the shopping bag which were worth hanging onto and even developing a bit further (such as putting the V8 into the Jag Mk2, letting the Majestic limos continue). There were a few experiments, such as putting the 4.5 V8 into prototype Mk.Xs, or a very neat SP252 replacement for the SP250, but otherwise they killed Daimler off as dead wood. An interesting what-if a few years later - Jag tried to buy out Lotus about 1964, and Colin Chapman was happy to sell until changing his mind at last minute. |
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◊ 2021-01-15 22:28 |
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/5/conquest/ A quick look at the asking prices says it all, I think. The company was owned by BSA before Jags bought it, so with the buses and the military vehicle business it might have been a proposition, but looking at what happened to Alvis and Armstrong Siddeley I don't see that as likely. I know that a comparison between an Alvis 3 litre and even a late Conquest might not come out too well for the Daimler. -- Last edit: 2021-01-15 22:32:53 |
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◊ 2021-01-22 20:31 |
Thank you for your kind answers! However, I have one reflection. If everybody only saw at the retail price, there would be very few cars left other than the most expensive. But as the most expensive are most expensive also because they are rare, that means the whole car hobby would soon be extinct. But it will not be extinct as it relays on enthusiasts! One comfort is the saying "If one hung on to something long enough it will sooner or later come in fashion again", but one usually has to see to other aspects than money. I was offered to buy a Conquest in bits a couple of years ago, but had to turn away because of my many other projects. I suppose I must try to be at least 150 years old anyway to be able to finnish the projects I already have. |
