Daimler Conquest
Encyclopedia
The Daimler Conquest was made in the following models:
. The whole car appeared to have been developed within four months after Bernard Docker, then MD of BSA, took on the additional responsibility of MD of Daimler in January 1953.
Presented as a new car, the 75 hp (1953 - 1956) Daimler Conquest saloon chassis and running gear had originated in the 1950 Lanchester
Fourteen/Leda. Lanchester was a subsidiary of Daimler. The Conquest's appearance was identical to the Lanchester Leda, apart from the grille. The Leda, at first, had been made of steel on a timber frame.
The usual Daimler
large cruciform chassis had a double wishbone front suspension, with laminated torsion bars, telescopic dampers and a sway bar, while the rear suspension used leaf springs with telescopic dampers.
Automatic chassis lubrication to 21 points, using a pump controlled by exhaust heat, was a Conquest model feature.
Cam and peg steering was used, and Girling hydro-mechanical brakes. (Hydro - mechanical = hydraulic front, mechanical rear brakes.) The cars had an 2642 mm (104 in) wheelbase.
The Conquest motor produced 75 hp at 4000 rpm, and 124 lbft of torque at 2000 rpm. In Century form the dry liner, pushrod engine with its balanced crank and large water jacket, delivered 100 hp at 4000 rpm, and 130 lbft of torque at 2400 rpm. A Daimler four-speed preselector gearbox with "fluid flywheel" was used.
The Saloon had steel bodies weighing 1397 kg (3,079.9 lb) (Conquest: 81 mph (130.4 km/h), 0-60 mph: 20.4 seconds. Conquest Century: 90 mph (144.8 km/h)).
The open two-seater Roadster (3) had an aluminium body, except for the bonnet, and aluminium castings were used instead of a traditional timber frame. The Roadster used (pioneered) the Century form of the Conquest engine though when it was first announced in the Roadster it was said to produce just 90 bhp. (100 mph, 0-60 mph: 14.5 seconds, 25.5 cwt
(1300 kg))
The 4-seater drophead coupé (2) had a powered roof folding mechanism and shared few body parts with the Roadster. (87 mph (140 km/h)), 0-60 mph: 16.3 seconds)
The New Drophead (3) had steel to the B-pillars, and alloy from there back, apart from steel inner rear guards. (89 mph (143.2 km/h)), 0-60 mph: 19.7 seconds)
The lighter Roadster (3) was slightly taller geared; while the heavier New Drophead also (3) was slightly lower geared. Other differences to the Conquest saloon (1) include 1/2 in brakes, and steering that was 2½ turns lock-to-lock instead of 3¼.
A saloon tested by The Motor
magazine in 1953 had a top speed of 81.6 mph (131.3 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 24.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 20.3 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1511 including taxes.
. (That price may well be linked to the name "Conquest".) It was pedigree with pace, at a reasonable price. They still had luxurious, well-appointed traditional wood-grain and leather interiors. Actual construction was by another BSA subsidiary, 'Carbodies
'.
The open 2-seater Conquest Roadster first appeared at the Motor Show in 1953 with the tuned engine later known as the Century engine. The Roadster was not available to the public till 1954.
The Daimler Conquest Century, released in 1954 was the best seller of the range with 4818 of them produced. A hundred horsepower and, presumably downhill, a hundred miles an hour, hence the Century.
The Conquest Roadster was dropped from production in 1955. The dropheads had outsold them by over 3:1. Then a new drophead 4-seater and a drophead coupé version of the 2-seater Roadster were introduced at the 1955 Motor Show. This Mark II Conquest Roadster drophead coupé had a sideways-facing single rear seat, making the car a 2- or 3-seater and with wind-up side windows in place of the clip-on side-curtains of the continuing Mark II open 2-seater Conquest Roadster.
Two of the roadsters, at least, were coach-built as fixed head coupes. [ However at this time many very small businesses indeed offered low-cost glass-fibre-reinforced removable tops for all brands of open sports-cars. ]
There is one fibreglass new drophead, and one fibreglass fixed head coupe (with a Hillman Minx Californian three piece rear window!!)
One-offs seem to have been mostly done on Roadster allocated chassis, so there may have been even fewer roadsters built than officially indicated.
In October 1956 Daimler Conquest Century buyers were offered the choice of an automatic transmission or the traditional preselector
system. Time was changing gear. Preselector gearboxes faded away as modern automatic transmissions took their place. Currency restrictions had meant that until Borg-Warner
built a British plant automatic transmissions were only available on export cars.
The Suez crisis
in the summer of 1956 had brought petrol rationing.
The Roadster had started out priced close to the Jaguar XK120
at 1673 pounds, but by the time the New Drophead was released the price was 280 pounds more than an XK140. While Jaguars became less expensive, the hand built Daimlers escalated in price. Jaguars sold in large numbers, and Daimlers sold in small numbers with frequent model changes. Jaguars were built very fiercely down to a price with inevitable consequences for used examples. Some Jaguar fleet owners did not even bother with regular servicing (downtime) but simply sold the car when the inevitable trouble arrived yet replaced it with another Mark 2 Jaguar. The price to grace space and pace ratio was so astounding all was forgiven.
The writing on the wall for Daimler grew ever larger. Four years after the Conquest ceased production dealers were given the Daimler 250
V8 but those buyers did not come back for a V8 replacement.
In August 1956 a press release endeavoured to relieve the workforce's belief that all production was to stop. In the chairman's speech to the November 1958 shareholders' AGM he advised the only cars made in the year ended 31 July 1958 were the 3½ and 4½ litre models
- Daimler Conquest Saloon (1953–1956), (1)
- Daimler Conquest Roadster (1953–1955), (3)
- Daimler Conquest Century Saloon (1954–1958), (1)
- Daimler Conquest Century Drophead Coupe (1954–1955), (2)
- Daimler Drophead Coupe (1955–1957) (3)
Engine
The standard 1953 cast iron, single Zenith carb, 6.6:1 compression, 2433 cc 75 bhp Conquest motor was essentially a six-cylinder version of the Leda four. Bore was 76.2 mm (3 in) and stroke was 88.9 mm (3.5 in). The 1954 Conquest Century model had a new alloy head with big valves, higher compression, high lift cam, and twin SU carburettors.Origins
The body was a very little modified version of that used on the earlier Lanchester 14Lanchester Motor Company
The Lanchester Motor Company Limited was a car manufacturer based until 1930 at Armourer Mills, Montgomery Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England. It operated from 1895 to 1955....
. The whole car appeared to have been developed within four months after Bernard Docker, then MD of BSA, took on the additional responsibility of MD of Daimler in January 1953.
Presented as a new car, the 75 hp (1953 - 1956) Daimler Conquest saloon chassis and running gear had originated in the 1950 Lanchester
Lanchester Motor Company
The Lanchester Motor Company Limited was a car manufacturer based until 1930 at Armourer Mills, Montgomery Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England. It operated from 1895 to 1955....
Fourteen/Leda. Lanchester was a subsidiary of Daimler. The Conquest's appearance was identical to the Lanchester Leda, apart from the grille. The Leda, at first, had been made of steel on a timber frame.
The usual Daimler
Daimler Motor Company
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 right to the use of the name Daimler had been purchased simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler Motoren...
large cruciform chassis had a double wishbone front suspension, with laminated torsion bars, telescopic dampers and a sway bar, while the rear suspension used leaf springs with telescopic dampers.
Automatic chassis lubrication to 21 points, using a pump controlled by exhaust heat, was a Conquest model feature.
Cam and peg steering was used, and Girling hydro-mechanical brakes. (Hydro - mechanical = hydraulic front, mechanical rear brakes.) The cars had an 2642 mm (104 in) wheelbase.
Performance
The Saloon had steel bodies weighing 1397 kg (3,079.9 lb) (Conquest: 81 mph (130.4 km/h), 0-60 mph: 20.4 seconds. Conquest Century: 90 mph (144.8 km/h)).
The open two-seater Roadster (3) had an aluminium body, except for the bonnet, and aluminium castings were used instead of a traditional timber frame. The Roadster used (pioneered) the Century form of the Conquest engine though when it was first announced in the Roadster it was said to produce just 90 bhp. (100 mph, 0-60 mph: 14.5 seconds, 25.5 cwt
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
(1300 kg))
The 4-seater drophead coupé (2) had a powered roof folding mechanism and shared few body parts with the Roadster. (87 mph (140 km/h)), 0-60 mph: 16.3 seconds)
The New Drophead (3) had steel to the B-pillars, and alloy from there back, apart from steel inner rear guards. (89 mph (143.2 km/h)), 0-60 mph: 19.7 seconds)
The lighter Roadster (3) was slightly taller geared; while the heavier New Drophead also (3) was slightly lower geared. Other differences to the Conquest saloon (1) include 1/2 in brakes, and steering that was 2½ turns lock-to-lock instead of 3¼.
A saloon tested by The Motor
The Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
magazine in 1953 had a top speed of 81.6 mph (131.3 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 24.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 20.3 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1511 including taxes.
Production history
The Conquest saloon was released to the public in 1953 as a replacement for the Daimler Consort, but was shorter and lighter, with better performance. The Daimler Conquest was meant to be an affordable Daimler, priced at 1066 poundsPound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
. (That price may well be linked to the name "Conquest".) It was pedigree with pace, at a reasonable price. They still had luxurious, well-appointed traditional wood-grain and leather interiors. Actual construction was by another BSA subsidiary, 'Carbodies
Carbodies
Carbodies LImited is a British company based at Holyhead Road, Coventry. It started business as a coachbuilder, and now, as The London Taxi Company is best known for its production of London taxicabs.-History:...
'.
The open 2-seater Conquest Roadster first appeared at the Motor Show in 1953 with the tuned engine later known as the Century engine. The Roadster was not available to the public till 1954.
The Daimler Conquest Century, released in 1954 was the best seller of the range with 4818 of them produced. A hundred horsepower and, presumably downhill, a hundred miles an hour, hence the Century.
The Conquest Roadster was dropped from production in 1955. The dropheads had outsold them by over 3:1. Then a new drophead 4-seater and a drophead coupé version of the 2-seater Roadster were introduced at the 1955 Motor Show. This Mark II Conquest Roadster drophead coupé had a sideways-facing single rear seat, making the car a 2- or 3-seater and with wind-up side windows in place of the clip-on side-curtains of the continuing Mark II open 2-seater Conquest Roadster.
Two of the roadsters, at least, were coach-built as fixed head coupes. [ However at this time many very small businesses indeed offered low-cost glass-fibre-reinforced removable tops for all brands of open sports-cars. ]
There is one fibreglass new drophead, and one fibreglass fixed head coupe (with a Hillman Minx Californian three piece rear window!!)
One-offs seem to have been mostly done on Roadster allocated chassis, so there may have been even fewer roadsters built than officially indicated.
In October 1956 Daimler Conquest Century buyers were offered the choice of an automatic transmission or the traditional preselector
Preselector gearbox
A preselector or self-changing gearbox is a type of manual gearbox used on a variety of vehicles, most commonly in the 1930s...
system. Time was changing gear. Preselector gearboxes faded away as modern automatic transmissions took their place. Currency restrictions had meant that until Borg-Warner
Borg-Warner 35 transmission
The Borg-Warner 35 transmission is an automatic transmission produced by the BorgWarner company.It has three forward and one reverse gears. The selector lever follows a quadrant which has six stations...
built a British plant automatic transmissions were only available on export cars.
Pricing
There were major price reductions in April 1956 (12%) and in September 1956 (a further 12% and much more on some models).The Suez crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in the summer of 1956 had brought petrol rationing.
The Roadster had started out priced close to the Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
at 1673 pounds, but by the time the New Drophead was released the price was 280 pounds more than an XK140. While Jaguars became less expensive, the hand built Daimlers escalated in price. Jaguars sold in large numbers, and Daimlers sold in small numbers with frequent model changes. Jaguars were built very fiercely down to a price with inevitable consequences for used examples. Some Jaguar fleet owners did not even bother with regular servicing (downtime) but simply sold the car when the inevitable trouble arrived yet replaced it with another Mark 2 Jaguar. The price to grace space and pace ratio was so astounding all was forgiven.
The writing on the wall for Daimler grew ever larger. Four years after the Conquest ceased production dealers were given the Daimler 250
Daimler 250
The 2.5-V8/V8-250 was the last Daimler car to feature a Daimler engine after the marque was acquired by Jaguar Cars in 1960. The engine is the hemispherical head V8 designed by Edward Turner and first used in the Daimler SP250 sports car.-Daimler 2.5-V8:...
V8 but those buyers did not come back for a V8 replacement.
Production figures
- 4568 Daimler Conquest Saloons (1)
- 4818 Conquest Century Saloons (1)
- 65 Conquest Roadsters, (3)
- 234 Conquest Century Drophead Coupes, (2)
- 54 Conquest Century New Drophead Coupes (3) (A.K.A. the Mark II)
In August 1956 a press release endeavoured to relieve the workforce's belief that all production was to stop. In the chairman's speech to the November 1958 shareholders' AGM he advised the only cars made in the year ended 31 July 1958 were the 3½ and 4½ litre models
External links
Useful for disambiguation- 1953 sales brochure; Out of pedigree comes pace. The new Daimler Conquest, top class car in the medium price field scroll down
- 1956 sales brochure; Get there swifter safer fresher - Drive Daimler scroll down
- Mark II Conquest with horn grilles
- Roadster without its clip-on sidescreens for weather protection
- Ad for full range, Punch May 5, 1954
