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Ownership Verified: Our 1994 Daimler Six 4.0: ?1000 Brexit Express that's Not a Jag

Hemily said:
A friend had a 90's Audi A8, the outside of the car looked really boring, as did the interior. But it was well equipped and very comfy, and fairly peppy with the V8.

The Daimler looks like it oozes luxury from every pore, it just looks expensive, unlike the Audi that looks... generic.
I love cars that dare to be different, ones that don't seem to aim to be so unoffensive it has no design at all, it's just.... there.
Audi, Mercedes and BMW are the Toyotas of Luxury cars, boring but functional.
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I agree on your points about boring.

But the daimler didn't dare to be different. It was a 30 year old design that never changed, they got left behind and it is cool for that :)
 
loose_unit said:
I agree on your points about boring.

But the daimler didn't dare to be different. It was a 30 year old design that never changed, they got left behind and it is cool for that :)
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Yeah, true, but those 30 years ago, it wasn't aiming to please everyone, it was aimed at a specific group, mostly executives and folks that wanted "class" but couldn't afford a Rolls. :p
So it was different then too in a way... though more so now than then i suppose.
 
Daimlers are what we get in the US as Vanden Plas, aka the top of the line long-wheelbase trim levels. Jaguar bought the UK Daimler car company in the 60s (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), but due to naming rights issues with Daimler-Benz, Jaguar can't use that name here.
 
Labcoatguy said:
Daimlers are what we get in the US as Vanden Plas, aka the top of the line long-wheelbase trim levels. Jaguar bought the UK Daimler car company in the 60s (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), but due to naming rights issues with Daimler-Benz, Jaguar can't use that name here.
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Except Daimlers can be SWB too, like our one.
 
Oh whoa, I thought that those tables only came on LWB versions. That back seat on the SWB ones is really not roomy enough for them.
 
The back seat is rather cramped, even for me. Not adequate as expected, i'm guessing a LWB would walk into the realm of adequate - but not excessive.
 
Labcoatguy said:
Daimlers are what we get in the US as Vanden Plas, aka the top of the line long-wheelbase trim levels. Jaguar bought the UK Daimler car company in the 60s (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), but due to naming rights issues with Daimler-Benz, Jaguar can't use that name here.
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Ah... I see now. Have some internets...
 
Labcoatguy said:
Oh whoa, I thought that those tables only came on LWB versions. That back seat on the SWB ones is really not roomy enough for them.
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There is slightly more space for your knees when the tables are open, actually :D Unless you hit the table from below.
 
Not even people who own daimlers and classic cars know the difference between Daimler, Daimler-Benz and so forth all the time. I didn't either until a customer (that wanted central lubrication plumbing for his classic UK diamler) lectured me a bit.
 
Daimler can be seen as a similar luxury package as Maybach on Mercedes-Benz. It even makes sense as Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler were associates.

As for the car, I like its cantankerous insistence on catering to a very specific customer base, some idiosyncratic decisions and a certain archaic feel even for a new-for 1994 car that's MY95 :lol:
 
There?s an excellent discussion going on in here! Please continue!
 
I echo some of the opinions that the XJ40 set out to be a truly groundbreaking design in some respects, and that a lot of state-of-the-art production values went into it during 1975-1985 when it was hatched. Now, when the XJ40 didn't quite match its targets and some of the design elements like the big headlights and LCD bits received a lot of negative feedback, the Ford-financed rethought X300 dialed back the innovation and set out to be a modernized version of the 'classic' XJ models. With the XJ40, Jaguar wanted to make the best car in the world, and the X300 was to be the best Jaguar they could make with their funds. To me, it feels roughly like a 1979 car dressed to match the market in 1995, but not doubling over to suit absolutely everyone. Someone dead set on buying a Lexus would have balked at the Daimler, and the Daimler driver I have in mind would just have considered the LS400 to be just as appliance-like as we see upscale Hyundais these days. I wanted to reflect this with the choice of cassettes I bought for the car: classic Genesis, Dire Straits and Chris Rea. It would not have fit the car to use a cassette adapter to play modern music from an iPhone, it had to be Brothers in Arms and Telegraph Road from an archaic tape.

I would have been equally happy with a late XJ40 or a maintained X308, but obviously with this timespan, market and budget we bought whatever happened to be handily available yet not overly decrepit, meaning the robust big six fit the bill perfectly. Further investigation will reveal what it is exactly that we have in our hands, and how viable it is to fix it and tax it, but a complete shed would not have completed a trip like this with such relatively minor issues.
 
I'm delighted that even the soft cushy Daimler is a nice dance partner on twisty B roads. You guys ought to come to the states and try my XJR for comparison.
 
I would love to try XJR6, in both automatic and manual configurations. Whilst I really like the comfortable ride on the Daimler, if I could only have one car the XJR6 would be very high on my list. In my imagination it retains the initial layers of softness, but feels much tighter when pushed. But as I have an MX-5, I kinda like the non-compromise attitude of the Daimler.
 
public said:
I wanted to reflect this with the choice of cassettes I bought for the car: classic Genesis, Dire Straits and Chris Rea. It would not have fit the car to use a cassette adapter to play modern music from an iPhone, it had to be Brothers in Arms and Telegraph Road from an archaic tape.
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Like I said on IRC: I watched a short video shot inside the Daimler. I could even tell, through tinny Macbook Air speakers, that it was coming off of a cassette. :D So fitting somehow.
 
Lastsoul said:
I would love to try XJR6, in both automatic and manual configurations. Whilst I really like the comfortable ride on the Daimler, if I could only have one car the XJR6 would be very high on my list. In my imagination it retains the initial layers of softness, but feels much tighter when pushed. But as I have an MX-5, I kinda like the non-compromise attitude of the Daimler.
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Mine has Bilstein touring shocks on it, which are noticeably stiffer than the factory ones on my previous X308 XJR; apples to oranges I know, but the X308 also has 18"s vs. the X300's 17"s, so it should be stiffer to begin within. In any case, XJRs have an odd combination of chuckability and heft; I'm also used to small nimble cars (MR2s), so you might have a similar kind of wtf moment when manhandling a Jag. The X308 is definitely much more refined, but loses the fun factor of the X300. Heretical as it may sound, it's a very similar transition to what Saab went through when replacing the 9000 with the 9-5.
 
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what you mean. I'd like to keep my imaginary XJR quite comfy and soft, but enjoy occasional power slide or two out of junctions and roundabouts. LSDs shouldn't be too expensive for the Daimler, but there are quite a lot of things to sort out first.

Me and MXM spent an hour or so under the car, checking out every single issue. There were no nasty surprises, we had heard about the two main rusts spots during pre-purchase discussions. We also took away the chromed arches. I'll post the results later...
 
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