"In many ways, the Majestic Major family was the last hurrah for Daimler; an old money car in a new money world.” Today, Andrew Steers is such a devotee of the marque’s last independentlydesigned product that he owns two of the DR450 limousine version.
The DQ450 series Majestic Major made its bow as a surprise exhibit at the 1959 London Motor Show at the end of the challenging decade for Daimler. In the early 1950s, the infamous ‘Docker’ show cars” may have astounded and/or horrified visitors to Earls Court, but they did not halt declining sales. The decade also saw the Royal Family, long-time customers of the marque, had transferred their allegiance to Rolls-Royce while the 1949 Rover P4 and the 1950 Jaguar MkVII had caused a significant change in the prestige car market. Neither quite possessed the Daimler’s social cachet, but both combined excellent road manners with a high level of appointments at very reasonable prices. The historian Brian Sewell believed
“Daimler’s refusal to acknowledge change had most to do with its decline”, so the Majestic Major was the company’s attempts to create transport ‘For The Motorway Age.’ Andrew remarks: “The bodywork appeared dated when it was new, but Daimler wanted to use as many existing parts
