Daimler DB18

From The Birth Of The Motor Industry

Daimler is one of the few manufacturers that can rightfully claim to have been established from the birth of the motor industry, and the marque is still with us today in association with Jaguar. The company's traditions of sound engineering, design and good workmanship have been maintained throughout, hardly surprising therefore that Daimler enjoyed a lengthy association with Royalty as suppliers of motor cars.

Development of the pre-war Daimler Fifteen culminated with the DB18 model announced for 1939. Independent suspension appeared for the first time on a Daimler and the DB18 featured an enlarged, 2522cc version of the overhead-valve six first introduced in 1933. Daimler's customary fluid flywheel, pre-selector gearbox and worm drive rear axle comprised the transmission.

The Wilson Pre-Selector

The Daimler DB18 Drophead Coupe was one of the most advanced cars of its day. At a time when most drivers were still laboriously double-declutching, the owner of a DB18 simply pre-selected the gear they wanted, then dabbed the 'change pedal' to enact the shift. The system itself was invented by Major WG Wilson, who, incidentally, was also co-inventor of the tank and a hero of World War I.

The portents must have seemed good to Winston Churchill, who used one for his 1944 and 1949 election campaigns. His DB18 is a rare survivor: the outbreak of war in 1939 ceased production when only eight had been made, and of these five were destroyed in the Blitz.

Post War DB18

Drawing on the experience of more than fifty successful years of car manufacture, the Daimler Company made a number of interesting modifications to their 2½ litre chassis after World War 2, with the object of providing a high speed chassis suitable for long distance touring. The main modifications carried out to the engine were the fitting of twin carburetters of vertical S.U. type, plus alteration of valve timing and redesign of the Wilson pre-selected gearbox to give direct drive on the third gear and on overdrive top with a final ratio of 3.55 to 1.

The new DB18 was first shown to the public at the London Motor Show in 1948 as the DB18 Special Sports. Stylish in a most un-Daimler-like manner, the Special Sports featured coachwork by Barker, the latter, like Daimler and fellow coachbuilders Hooper, being one of the BSA Group's many companies. The radiator grille was now curved, the alloy-panelled coachwork more streamlined, and the Special Sports benefited from hydro-mechanical braking and a power output raised thanks to fitment of twin carburettors.

With a compression ratio of 7 to 1, maximum output of the engine was about 85 b.h.p. at 4,200 r.p.m. The all-up weight being 31 cwt., this power was sufficient for excellent acceleration and top speed. The overdrive gear gave a cruising speed of 68 m.p.h. at a piston speed of 2,500 ft. per minute. Top speed was in the vicinity of 85 m.p.h., but the other end of the speed scale overdrive would give tick-over touring in town and even allow starting from rest on the 3.55 to 1 ratio - thanks, of course, to the Daimler fluild flywheel.

All Daimler and Lanchester cars were fitted with a fluid flywheel and four-speed epicyclic pre-selective gearbox, and were so fitted since about 1930. This combination provided a degree of flexibility and ease of handling unsurpassed by any other form of transmission then available. The lines of the Barker sports body were very modern for the time, the front mudguard flowing through in a smooth sweep to join with the completely enclosed rear mudguard. The radiator grille and bonnet treatment was a subtle combination of traditional and modern contours conforming to those used by the Daimler Company over the previous generation or more.

Interior trim was to a luxurious standard befitting a car of this type. Seating was for three on the bench-type front seat, with an occasional diagonal seat in the rear. The Daimler Sports Convertible was available in Melbourne from Joubert's British Motors, Bourke Street, and the price was A 2,472 pounds, including tax. When DB18 production ceased in 1953, only 500-or-so of these elegant and refined Special Sports roadsters had been completed.

Daimelr DB18 Special Sports Specifications:

• Engine: Six cylinder pushrod O.H.V. Bore 69.6 m.m. by stroke 110.5 m.m., capacity 2,522 c.c., develops 85 b.h.p. at 4,200 r.p.m., compression ratio 7 to 1, twin S.U. carburetters, A.C. fuel pump, 12 volt electrical system.
• Transmission: Fluid flywheel, four speed Wilson preselector gearbox with overdrive fourth gear, direct drive third. Underslung worm drive rear axle.
• Suspension: Girling coil-type independent front suspension, semi-elliptic leaf springs at rear.
• Brakes: Girling mechanical on all four wheels.
• Suspension: Independent coil front suspension, semi-elliptic leaf springs at rear.
• Steering: Maries worm and double roller.
• Wheels: 16 in. steel disc with 6.00 tyres.
• Dimensions: Wheelbase, 9 ft. 6 in.; track, 4 ft. 4 in.; gronnd clearance, 6 in.; overall length, 15 ft. 8 in.; turning circle, 41 in.; weight, 31 cwt.