Docker's Daimlers

[John-B]

Very interesting video which confirmed everything I had heard before.

The cars are certainly beautiful even if they are vulgar; they must have brightened up a dull day, and still do.

[Fossil]

Whatever one thinks of the Dockers in post-war Britain, they were ahead of their time by many decades in all but philanthropic legacy and would not look at all out of place in today's world of the conspicuously wealthy and their luxury goods/lifestyles which the manufacturers of current expensive cars fall over themselves to court. Their yacht Shemara has recently been refurbished at huge cost presumably for that audience, but with little reference to them.

Trail blazers they were, such a pity that they don't get any credit for it, and more particularly such a pity that the Daimlers of the period don't get the credit that they deserve, but are still tainted by the period collective media revulsion at excessive indulgence in a time of post war austerity.

Meanwhile Aston Martins, on the strength of that one film from just a few years later, Goldfinger, have rocketed in value.

An odd world we live in truly.

Cheers

Geoff

[watkindj]

Richards book covers more than just the Dockers

[Bonzodog]

Well thanks for the kind comments so far.

I suppose I ought to clarify that the book is about Docker's Daimlers in the sense that it is about the Daimlers produced under or in consequence of the Chairmanship if Sir Bernard Docker. This is stretching a point a little in the case of the V8 cars which were certainly the initiative of Docker's successor Jack Sangster. However that may be, the book covers the cars made from 1945 to 1960 when Jaguar took over. There is coverage of the Dockers themselves which, within the limited space available, attempts to provide a more thought through view than usual of their behaviour and effect.

There is certainly a lot of very third hand material circulating about the Dockers. I have seen Norah described as the daughter of a Nottinghamshire coal miner, and Sir Bernard raised to the peerage by a columnist at The Independent who doesn't know that the fact your wife is a Lady does not guarantee that you are a Lord.

I think what John wants is the book I would love to write next which is a properly researched biography of the Dockers. It is very hard to say what effect they had on the commercial health of Daimler and BSA because such things were not properly analysed even at the time. That said, I do point out in the book that even an extreme design like Golden Zebra did generate orders for Hooper on both Daimler and Rolls-Royce chassis. Also, other manufacturers produced blinged up versions of production models for Earls Court - google "gold plated Austin Healey" and note that they ignored Norah's observation about Mink. Another one to look at is Freestone & Webbs "Honeymoon Express" - no gold plate but very much in the same vein. So the flash obviously had some appeal with the public.

Part of the trouble with forming a view on Norah is that one man's salt of the earth is another's common as muck. That said I worked with one woman who met Norah in the fifties and found her to be pleasant, friendly and unaffected. I do wonder whether a lot of the establishment's dislike of her was that they were trying to keep their heads down and not draw attention to how rich they were in the austerity stricken aftermath of the war. Telling people how rich you are only inspires them to want some of it off you, especially when a socialist government is on the prowl.

The fact is that the Docker's turned a rather obscure car maker into a household word (though what that word was is open to debate) and Daimler failed at a time when every equivalent was also shutting or being kept alive by an indulgent parent group. Another influence was Purchase Tax which, for example, killed the Regency 1 and merits (along with HP restrictions) a book in itself.

In the meantime, if you need to get your head round the difference between a DB18 and a DB18 Consort or want to know what Kirksite was, do (please) buy the book.

[John-B]

Oh, I'd forgotten that your book is about all cars in the Docker era, not just the luxury ones. My copy hasn't arrived yet.

However, I wonder if anyone has a list of the locations of all Lady Docker's luxury cars? I would love to see them but I expect most are in America. Large Daimler limousines don't seem to come to local classic car shows near me. I've only seen a very tatty DS420 that had rusty bulging doors viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1072

I'm sure the luxury Docker Daimlers were superb styling and craftsmanship and worth seeing.

[Bonzodog]

Lets see now.... Off the top of my head the Docker cars (in no particular order) are located as follows

Golden Zebra - Louwman Museum, The Hague
Stardust - private owner, last one was in Japan but now in Europe I think
Gold Car - private owner, USA
Green Goddess - private owner, USA but there is one like it at Gaydon
Blue Clover - Samsung Museum of Transport, South Korea
Silver Flash - probably private owner, USA but off the radar since the 80s

What has to be understood about them is that, like runway fashion, the intention was not that anyone bought something just like that years show model (though that did happen) but that customers would take an idea or two from them such as door cappings trimmed not necessarily with lizard but something other than the usual walnut veneer.

[JohnRidley]

The book sounds great -I have just order my copy. JohnR

[Salmons]

Richard's book is a pleasant easy to read guide describing all the main models produced by Daimler within the Docker era. A must for any Daimler enthusiast which may well attract owners of other makes.

The book fills the gap between the superbly comprehensive volumes produced by Brian Smith and the Daimler Digests by Daniel Young which just reprint Reviews and Road tests.

Dennis

[Salmons]

In my comments above the comments on reprinting reviews etc were only referring to Daniels books.

[simonp]

Ordered the book which has arrived. Sadly it does not cover the actual Docker Daimlers quite as fully as I would have wished and is mostly a book about the Docker era Daimlers from 1945 - 1960 (DB18, Regency, Conquest and Majestic etc) which are very adequately covered in Brian Smith's books.

I met Norah a few weeks before she died when staying in London. We had dinner with Sandy Marcus and David and Marie Adcock.


SimonP