Daimler 20hp Limousine.
The indications are that this original pre-war photograph, showing a 20hp Daimler Limousine, was most likely taken for coachbuilders Arthur Mulliner Ltd, on completion of the vehicle. The photo is mounted on card, and has the Daimler posed in front of some majestic iron gates, no doubt leading to the type of property that a coachbuilt Daimler could often be found. The car appears to be brand new, and not yet registered for the road. Note the "V" windscreen, and "Dunlop Cord Wired Type" tyres fitted to the car. A small spotlamp is fitted to the driver's side windscreen pillar, along with a circular fitting I've yet to identify (a close-up of it can be found here).
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Mulliner is a name often associated with vehicle coachbuilding, but there were four different companies who shared this common surname. The company responsible for the 20hp Daimler shown above was Arthur Mulliner Ltd of Northampton. Arthur Felton Mulliner was born in 1859, and joined the firm set up by his father (also Arthur). By the beginning of the 20th Century, the firm had constructed 150 or so bodies for motor vehicles, primarily Daimlers. Demand for coachbuilt bodywork grew rapidly, and the 1920s would be a boom time for the industry. By the 1930s, more and more mainstream car manufacturers were bringing their body building requirements under their own wing, leaving the third party coachbuilding market to work with the products of top end marques, such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley. In 1939 the company was sold to Henlys, and the coachbuilding arm of the operation was wound up.
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Other pre-war Daimlers featured on this site include a selection of 15hp Daimler saloons, and a rare Daimler 15 Rye Cabriolet.
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Return to Page 11 of the vintage motoring gallery.
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