Although Daimler, of Coventry, was one of the very first British manufacturers to make and sell motor cars in any numbers, for the first few years it had to rely on license-built designs from the Daimler company of Germany. Even so, starting from premises in a converted textile mill, it soon built up its business, and began producing all-British models in the early 1900s.
The original Daimler, started life as the invention of Gottlieb Daimler, of Cannstatt, whose pioneering ‘horseless carriage’ had gone on the road in 1886. After producing internal combustion engines for sale to other concerns, Daimler began building cars in 1896. A licence to build these twin-cylinder engined cars in Britain was taken out by one Harry Lawson, a vigorous promoter of car businesses, whose intention seems to have been to corner the market. Using fair means and foul, he failed in this, and spent time in jail as a result, but the Daimler marque prospered.
Looking back with a century’s hindsight, one could say that the first Daimlers were almost impossibly crude and spidery in the extreme, but we must also remember that they were among the first reliable machines which did not require horses, oxen or human power to move them down the roads. Without previous experience on which to draw, these ‘horseless carriages’ were just that – developments of carriages which might once have been pulled by horses, but now had a petrol engine mounted underneath the frame instead. |
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With a top speed of no more than 15-20 mph, and a cruising speed (if anything so chancy or restless can be described in this way) of no more than 10 mph, features such as suspension and braking could be virtually ignored, handling meant nothing, and it was the fight for reliability which was paramount. The 12 hp model which followed in 1899 was altogether more sophisticated, for it had a more powerful four-cylinder engine in the nose. Described by The Motor Car Journal as ‘the most up-to-date carriage built in this country’, in July 1899 the Hon. John Scott-Montagu’s car (which is illustrated) was the first-ever petrol-engined vehicle to enter the precincts of the Houses of Parliament.
Like many cars of its day, this machine has a front- mounted engine, a gearbox under the seats, and final drive to the rear wheels was by chain. Although pneumatic tyres were fitted to the front wheels, early examples had solid rear tyres.
Although the styling of late-Victorian cars differs completely from those of today, their mechanical layout was already edging towards what became an industry standard for many decades to come.
A choice of body styles was available, and during the four-year life of this machine a number of subtle improvements were made to the specification. Early cars had near-vertical steering columns, though a more raked wheel was added later. |
