To USER SD3ik9rt6d To be "fair", the reason none WERE trimmed in DALMATIONS, was only because there was actually a bit of a SHORTAGE of dalmations at the time. They had all been used up for her COATS
@@rob5944 Ah ha it's UK things. My bad. I didn't realize Brits called it the post office and the water company . Thought they used different terms. Hadn't heard of a US Postal Service scandal except certain members of Congress whose campaigns are funded by private shipping companies like FedEx are then coincidentally pushng to defund the Postal Service to make it fail.
Even Spike Miilgan lampooned Lady Docker's excesses. In "The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill on Sea" which was first broadcast on 12th October 1954. Had this exchange: Fx: Metal door slides open. Henry Crun: Ooh oh, Minnie? Minnie Bannister: What, what, what, what, what, what? Henry Crun: Did you hear a gas oven door slam just then? Minnie Bannister: Don't be silly, Henry, who'd be walking around these cliffs with a gas oven? Henry Crun: Lady Docker? Minnie Bannister: Yes, but apart from the obvious ones, who'd want to...
I have to say that this was most interesting, packed with information I had no idea existed. As for the automobiles, stunning, I could easily ride in one.
It was never unfashionable. Just as the insane wealth of leading sport figures from the Roman charioteers to the Premier League has always been the same.
7:23 Cadillac borrowed a lot of styling cues from these cars when they designed the 1980 Seville, a car design loved by many and despised by many more.
Oh, you spotted the British influence on the Cadillac Seville, on the ELEGANTE version with the sloping rear! One of my favourite cars is the ORDINARY Seville, but I have grown to like the Elegante, over time, as well.
To pcno 2832. You say various styling features were picked up by Cadillac for their (sloping back) SEVILLE They could have also done a "special edition" for a particular, very wealthy employee of the B.B.C. And called the Cadillac SAVILLE. (with blacked out windows, to hide the "goings on" inside!)
When you said Silver Flash I immediately thought about the BSA A10 Golden Flash, I’m almost surprised that Lady Docker didn’t try to steal the Golden Flash name for one of her cars. I know you have already covered the collapse of the British motorcycle industry but a specific video on the collapse of the BSA empire sounds like it would be a ripping yarn 🇬🇧
She was the ultimate gold digger but getting banned from Monaco pretty much levelled her to a Chav. Her gravy train ran out after such greed and excess. When they ran out of money, they quickly ran out of "friends".
Great story though we do see similar excesses and tastelessness in some of the special edition Rolls Royces and Bugattis of today not to mention some of the aftermarket customisations. Seems that bad taste never goes out of fashion even in tough times.
Absolutely agree with you. The real Rolls-Royce company would refuse to build cars if they thought that they would reflect badly on the company. Now they encourage the most vulgar and tasteless cars. Absolutely proves that money and taste don't always go together. Their cars are for new money show off people now.
Was a time that Royce, the engineer, only wanted to make black cars because they looked refined and tasteful without ever being garish. The only other colour he wanted was the RR logo in red above the radiator grille. Rolls on the other hand was the salesman with the aristo friends who all wanted to outdo each other with garish showoff colours and bodywork styles. Royce wanted to make a black saloon (sedan🇺🇲) but Rolls came back with an order or more for yellow half timbered boat tail things. And BTW the red RR was not changed to black to acknowledge Rolls' death at a young age, it was changed to black for smartness years before Rolls died.
If I ever think I haven't achieved enough in life, I just look at the social elite and realise how little it is actually possible to contribute yet still be amply rewarded.
One more burn: In those days there was a distinct difference between old and new money. But the Dockers sure managed to carry over the worst of new money behavior into the old money realm.
My shaky memory tells me that the American magazine Popular Mechanics had a photo article about one of these. As a child, I was most impressed by its silver picnic service in a custom wicker basket fitted to the boot/trunk. I had zero political awareness - I thought that such extravagance by corporate leaders was routine and unremarkable.
In either 2001 or 2002 I regularly travelled on the Olau Line ferries from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. On one of my trips there was a striking Daimler present. I was told it was a former Docker Daimler and it was going to Holland for an exhibition. As my father had owned, and I had driven, Daimlers, DB18s, I was very interested in it. From memory it is like the one shown at 10.06 onwards and 24.51. It was painted in a slightly deeper eau de nil green with the brighter colour being cream, both solid colours. I know it made every other vehicle on the ship look dowdy by comparison. Thank you for the article. 25:12
I remember BSA motorbikes. Pre-war they were very good bikes by the standard of the day. Post-World War 2 they were no better and the world was moving on. Then in the early 1960's, Honda arrived and that was the end of BSA, as BSA were still no better than 1930's bikes and Honda bikes far better quality, smoothness, and reliability. So why did BSA allow that to happen, why didn't they improve their bikes? Management stupidity.
I think it’s a great credit to all those skilled engineers and craftsmen at Daimler and Hooper that the Daimler name retains its association with high quality, luxury and style rather than the crass snobbery, wastefulness and vulgarity of the awful Dockers.
Her taste wasn't so bad, but she seemed to have it in for wildlife! And I cant help thinking that the Dart would've looked a lot better if she'd been involved!
And I think the moral to this is this: if you want to cater for a new clientele, don't let your social-climbing wife loose with the company cheque book, or let her anywhere near the design office. Oh yeah, and don't piss Princess Grace off.
All this passed me by, because, born in 1946, I was growing up at the time. Clearly the description 'Golddigger' was invented for this lady ! It shouldn't be forgotten, though, that the UK government was being equally extravagant at the time with its nuclear bomb programme !
An excellent review of this strange episode and five vulgar Daimlers that nobody wanted and made the Queen switch officially to Rolls. From 1949 to 1955, there was zero technical advance in the cars: it was all just surface pizzazz.
TV I do remember the massive publicity these Docker Daimlers produced un the media,TV News and at the cinema weekly newsreels. No car manufacturer could get such easier publicity for their company than that of the Docker Daimlers. It was perhaps more the extravagant lifestyle of the Dockers that bought financial hardship on th company rather than the bespoke luxury cars.
Lady Gold-Digger... what a selfish waste of resources. Burning money while the rest of Britain suffered. The cars themselves are exquisite, but then was not the time for that. Fascinating as always, thanks again.
Last week I visited my neighbour and there on the kitchen bench was a tin of spam. Now I would not eat spam if you paid me, but this spam was "oven roasted turkey - made with 100 per cent turkey". Talk about laugh!
As of the early 2000's, there was a gentleman in NJ who owned the Gold car. His intention was to restore it to its original state, including all of the gold stars. He also had one of the original green goddesses. The pictures of the green goddess make it look a lot smaller than it actually is. He was quite active in the US Daimler Owner's Club. Since I sold my Daimler, I dropped out of the club, so I don't know what happened with his restoration project.
You know, i'm ready to bet there are luxury apartments in Dubai not nearly as lavishly designed and equipped like any of these cars. I'm surprised none of these cars became the personal car of -name a tinpot dictator-. Those are cars worthy of a supreme leader.
The DS420 was NOT a re-badged Jaguar Mk 10. The DS420 was a unique body shell which looks NOTHING like a Mk 10. The DS420 has a 36cm longer wheelbase than the Mk 10, and is about 20cm taller than a Mk 10. The two cars share Jaguar running gear, but they're as different as night and day. The Jaguar Mk II and the Daimler 250v8 share the same body shell. However, the Daimler 250V8 has the Daimler V8 designed by Turner with hemi heads, while the Jaguar Mk II had either a 3.4 or 3.8 litre Jaguar engine. The Daimler cars had a higher grade of leather and more woodwork inside than the Jaguar cars.
Without Lady Docker's excesses Daimler could have probably done much better without ending up being taken over and reduced to a badge by Jaguar after the latter were refused planning permission for a new factory nearby.
It's not a particularly big castle at 10 bedrooms as far as castles go, more like a manor house in size. It was recently sold for £2.7m in exceptional condition.
JUst goes to prove once again that being rich does not mean you have good taste. I'd heard of the Dockers, but had no idea of their link to Daimler and BSA
It’s not his style. He’s quite minimalist. Even the Cybertruck, it’s striking, but it’s actually got a lot less visual features than almost any other vehicle. The materials he likes seem to be fairly basic. Stainless steel, aluminium etc. Let’s put it this way, I expect Lady Docker wanted gold plated gargoyles on her house, and I expect Elon wants to live in a house that’s a perfect geometric shape where even the door handle is flush with the door.
Hi from Sydney, Australia, you need to check out Liberace's 1949/50 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith long wheelbase car with sedanca De-ville style lift off roof panel above the driver. Both the two-tone paint scheme and the interior upholstery which was just as wild, with a mix of wood, leather and some special kind of animal fur. The car exists today in 2024.
@@nygelmiller5293 see my answer below to nygelmiller5293, Liberace's Rolls was just as , or maybe even more over the top, as its "fuzzy-fur" seats were even more outrageous than Nora Dockers interiors, and fitted to the most expensive 1949/50 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith long wheelbase car sold to the public As the 16 even more gigantic straight 8-cylinder Phantom 4's were sold to royalty and just one of the 16 with a Hooper Empress Style coach built body fitted. Sold to a London lawyer, Guy Rolfe an interesting man at near 6 foot 6 inches tall plus he had also dabbled in acting & when young at uni he had been a boxer, plus in his 20's was an accomplished race car driver, plus a great horseman as well. One of those multi-talented people that would be excellent and ultra capable no matter what field of endeavor they tried. The opposite of Liberace's Rolls or Lady Nora's Daimlers, Guy Rolfe's Phantom 4 was the utmost of understated pure class in Ink blue (ultra dark blue almost black) & a lower color of a metallic silver-blue, with pale blue-grey leather seats NO glass divider either as he often drove the car himself and due to his extreme height needed seat to travel on its runners. He must have really liked his RR Phantom 4, as it appeared in every film or TV series episode he appeared in during his ownership, eg TV series The Champions, episode called "to catch a rat". Where the giant car is seen backing out of an old-style service centre & petrol station, later there are other RR Wraiths in the episode in an under-building parking garage.
The moment you mentioned 'Shallow vanity' I immediately thought that summed this car up in a nutshell. Still an amazing bit of engineering, though! Edit: Dear gods, how can something so beautiful be so vulgar? The car is amazing but sweet mercy it is everything that makes me dislike people with more money than sense.
@@rob5944 Well NASTY people claim Thatcher "turned Britain around. Those who hated hospitals, for example. Because of her starting the closure of hospitals. Also she started the run- down of COUNCIL HOUSING, by selling the houses to tenants, who didn't have to sell them back to the council preceding their deaths, so the houses could be sold off purely for profit!
@@MrSmith1984 well I think she was bad medicine sorely needed, but went too far towards the end. Things were in a mess here in the 1970s, that I do know.
@@rob5944 Thatcher gave out the wrong medicine and if anything made things even worse. That's why this country is in a far worse state than it previously was, even in the 1970s. Especially when well paid jobs were more commonplace back then.
They got Daimler's new V8 hemi engines, their lucrative bus manufacturing arm, experienced workforce/engineers, and extra build capacity for increasing Jaguar output especially into foreign markets.
Daimler would've been better off dropping the senior line entirely and taking the basic styling of the Conquest in a far more rakish direction for greater export appeal. Jaguar saloons sold in 1950s America in numbers the Conquest, Rovers and Armstrong-Siddeleys didn't because those appealed to a buyer who simply wasn't ready to consider a foreign car.
The problem with Daimler was that all their cars were hand built, so were not mass produced like Jaguar. Their two-seat Conquest Roadster went on sale in 1954 almost the price of Jaguar XK120 but having nowhere near the power or performance of the Jag, needless to say it was an expensive failure for Daimler and pulled off market only after two years.
The most opulent cars made in the UK. But a thing of beauty and craftmanship as well. Sadly they did ruin the company, but owners ruining their companies for their own good is sadly not a thing of the past, as I experienced with my previous employer. Luckily for me things turned the good way as I found well paid new employment very quickly. Probably this wasn't the case for many employees of the Daimler company.
I think that th gold cars were completely awful, but some of those cars were just beautiful. The one with the blue interior and star motif clock was pretty special. But KEEPING those cars and not selling them on after their show-stopping exploits? That's just crazy.
What awful taste. I wonder what the workers thought when they were building these? A template for how not to run a company. Good job she didn’t personalise any BSA motorcycles.
It seems these Daimler cars when converted to today's prices are not much more expensive than many EVs. That Daimler ambulance seen at 21.50- I had the Dinky toy model! The Daimler armoured cars were the business- the Dingo and later Ferret were excellent vehicles. Lady Docker should have gold-pated a Ferret- dictators around the world would have bought them.
We find it disgusting today cause that's how we are. And we like to judge people from 'unenlightened eras' kinda like born again Christians do. Deep down I don't think we are fundamentally better people. We just make different mistakes and like to judge people from the past.
Viewed as a showcase for the amazing craft of the coach builders who actually created them, these are fascinating, if not particularly beautiful. Viewed as an embodiment of ultimate vulgar excess, they are sickening. A well made and interesting video (as always, many thanks 😊) that ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
I was going to write pretty much the same: so thanks for saving me the trouble! While I suppose that, considered in isolation, the cars themselves have some curiosity value, the Dockers are loathsome: crass, entitled, and detached from reality. Fortunately we no longer have people like that today... 🤔
I sometimes wondered how did British Daimler became part of Jaguar. Wonder how those board meetings went. Ma’am company has no money. Non sense and you’re fired. Darling I need a new mink coat. - Yes dear. On this particular model. Uses silver instead of gold. - yes dear.
Perspex headlight covers? They wouldn't have lasted long. Would have been broken by stones thrown up by passing vehicles, turned opaque by ultraviolet light from the sun.
@@dcanmore So? Perspex/acrylic canopies on WW2 aircraft outlasted the War (4 years) which was all that was required. The air at altitude is stone and dust free. Ultra violet light is stronger (about 70% at 20,000 feet) but its effect is minimised by the low air temperature (-23 C) . The degradation of perspex by UV is a chemical reaction process - reactions typically halve in rate for each 10 C reduction in temperature. Perspex/acrylic has some important advantages in military aircraft over glass: Bullets just leave a small hole instead of causing complete shattering; it weighs a lot less than glass, and weight is always a critical factor in aircraft performance. Even so, frequent inspections were required to ensure canopies were clear and undamaged. Bear in mind that aircraft get maintained far more rigorously and expensively compared to cars.
@@keithammleter3824 Perspex was much more durable as mentioned and used on many low production cars as glass windscreens were trick to form in three planes. The Bell helicopter sixty years old and the still look in good shape. Keith I had not thought about the temperature and UV degradation. Not sure what I am going to use that fact for but it was interesting.
@@WOFFY-qc9te There are lots of aircraft 80 years old that look in great shape - because the perspex/acrylic has been replaced. Generally, for aircraft parked in the open, about 10 years is the maximum service life of perspex/acrylic. If driven along roads and highways, stones and dust would make service life a lot shorter. With safety glass made by sandwiching perspex/acrylic between glass sheets, the glass obviously protects the perspex from stone and dust abrasion. Glass absorbs most UV wavelengths, protecting the perspex from UV-induced chemical degradation. A slight tint can be added to the glass in the melt to improve UV absorption. I once owned a Triumph Herald car - the convertible version. It was a fun little car for a teenage me to drive, but it had some very dodgy features - eg a cardboard dash. The back window in the soft top was perspex. It went opaque within about 5 years, so I simply got a packing knife and cut it out. When Heralds were on the roads, one used to see other convertibles with the rear window missing. The "aerodynamic" headlight covers on Jaguar E-type cars were initially made from perspex - and they went opaque too. Jaguar changed to glass for this reason. Cops never worried much about Herald rear windows, but Jags with stuffed headlights was another matter.
Hearing the kit lists, makes me wonder of the sheer skill of these engineers, painters, cabinet makers and craftsman 😮 stunning, no robots just gods tools, wow just wow. Such a shame for all those British brands put to the sword by Dockers kiss and expensive tastes on anothers pocket, why was it left so long to bin the Dockers? 🕊
I'm surprised none of them were trimmed with Dalmatian skins.
To USER SD3ik9rt6d
To be "fair", the reason none WERE trimmed in DALMATIONS, was only because there was actually a bit of a SHORTAGE of dalmations at the time. They had all been used up for her COATS
We'd've spotted that!
Or lepeord skin
The new, electric powered, retrostyle Version will get this Option.
Well, there was zebra skin on the last one 😂
Today, Lady Docker would be called a 'social influencer' and would have 50 million subscribers on UA-cam.
So, Supercar Blondie?
They make the water company and post office bosses look competent and honest.
Water company and post office bosses? WTF?
@@JackF99 they took bonuses for running companies into the ground while people wrongly accused of fraud went to jail.
Post Office Horizon scandal is going to be remembered forever.
@@rob5944 Ah ha it's UK things. My bad. I didn't realize Brits called it the post office and the water company . Thought they used different terms. Hadn't heard of a US Postal Service scandal except certain members of Congress whose campaigns are funded by private shipping companies like FedEx are then coincidentally pushng to defund the Postal Service to make it fail.
@@CharlieFlemingOriginal you wait, I bet nobody gets properly punished for what went on, they never do....
Even Spike Miilgan lampooned Lady Docker's excesses. In "The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill on Sea" which was first broadcast on 12th October 1954. Had this exchange:
Fx: Metal door slides open.
Henry Crun: Ooh oh, Minnie?
Minnie Bannister: What, what, what, what, what, what?
Henry Crun: Did you hear a gas oven door slam just then?
Minnie Bannister: Don't be silly, Henry, who'd be walking around these cliffs with a gas oven?
Henry Crun: Lady Docker?
Minnie Bannister: Yes, but apart from the obvious ones, who'd want to...
I was just thinking about that - ofc the first time I heard that episode I'd no idea who Lady Docker was!
@@TheFrogfather1 me neither, and back then There wasn't Internet either.
Ha ha - my first thought!
"who do you think you are, Lady Docker?" - a common enough put down used for decades after their downfall.
The gold Daimler was a foretaste of the Middle East markets.
I have to say that this was most interesting, packed with information I had no idea existed. As for the automobiles, stunning, I could easily ride in one.
I remember back in the day radio comedians making fun of her and her extravagant lifestyle.
Cafe De Paris = AKA Knocking Shop For The Rich & Titled Of The Day … A fantastic book was written about it
So THIS is where modern CEOs model themselves from. Only difference now is living excessively is no longer unfashionable.
Good comment - CEO's should me ashamed of their pay and bonus......and give most of it to good causes!
It was never unfashionable. Just as the insane wealth of leading sport figures from the Roman charioteers to the Premier League has always been the same.
@@spencerhardy8667 Not true, footballers until the 60s were on not much more than a semi-skilled wage.
100%
Same thing in the states, the pro athletes used to have off-season jobs. Now they live in gated community and have personal chefs.
7:23 Cadillac borrowed a lot of styling cues from these cars when they designed the 1980 Seville, a car design loved by many and despised by many more.
Oh, you spotted the British influence on the Cadillac Seville, on the ELEGANTE version with the sloping rear! One of my favourite cars is the ORDINARY Seville, but I have grown to like the Elegante, over time, as well.
To pcno 2832.
You say various styling features were picked up by Cadillac for their (sloping back) SEVILLE
They could have also done a "special edition" for a particular, very wealthy employee of the B.B.C.
And called the Cadillac SAVILLE.
(with blacked out windows, to hide the "goings on" inside!)
@@nygelmiller5293Now that's a solid kneeslapper! Don't forget the "extra storage" in the rear doors to conceal "substances"
Bustleback Caddy yes the hideous malaise era.
Cadillac must've raided the rejects bin then, that Seville was ugliness personified🤮
When you said Silver Flash I immediately thought about the BSA A10 Golden Flash, I’m almost surprised that Lady Docker didn’t try to steal the Golden Flash name for one of her cars. I know you have already covered the collapse of the British motorcycle industry but a specific video on the collapse of the BSA empire sounds like it would be a ripping yarn 🇬🇧
Seconded
To be fair, Silver Flash is a great name for a car... albeit the kind of high speed supercar a 1950's superhero would drive 😂
She was the ultimate gold digger but getting banned from Monaco pretty much levelled her to a Chav. Her gravy train ran out after such greed and excess. When they ran out of money, they quickly ran out of "friends".
Her life reads like a tasteless, unlikable version of The Great Gatsby, lol.
Great story though we do see similar excesses and tastelessness in some of the special edition Rolls Royces and Bugattis of today not to mention some of the aftermarket customisations. Seems that bad taste never goes out of fashion even in tough times.
Absolutely agree with you. The real Rolls-Royce company would refuse to build cars if they thought that they would reflect badly on the company. Now they encourage the most vulgar and tasteless cars. Absolutely proves that money and taste don't always go together. Their cars are for new money show off people now.
Was a time that Royce, the engineer, only wanted to make black cars because they looked refined and tasteful without ever being garish. The only other colour he wanted was the RR logo in red above the radiator grille.
Rolls on the other hand was the salesman with the aristo friends who all wanted to outdo each other with garish showoff colours and bodywork styles.
Royce wanted to make a black saloon (sedan🇺🇲) but Rolls came back with an order or more for yellow half timbered boat tail things.
And BTW the red RR was not changed to black to acknowledge Rolls' death at a young age, it was changed to black for smartness years before Rolls died.
and dont mention tacky not very good in storms superyachts, capsized in a Maxwell homage stylee...
(i kinow, maybe too soon, but its damn true)
If I ever think I haven't achieved enough in life, I just look at the social elite and realise how little it is actually possible to contribute yet still be amply rewarded.
One more burn: In those days there was a distinct difference between old and new money. But the Dockers sure managed to carry over the worst of new money behavior into the old money realm.
My shaky memory tells me that the American magazine Popular Mechanics had a photo article about one of these. As a child, I was most impressed by its silver picnic service in a custom wicker basket fitted to the boot/trunk. I had zero political awareness - I thought that such extravagance by corporate leaders was routine and unremarkable.
The Hooper Empress is one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.
That castle was a bargain, tbf.
In either 2001 or 2002 I regularly travelled on the Olau Line ferries from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.
On one of my trips there was a striking Daimler present. I was told it was a former Docker Daimler and it was going to Holland for an exhibition. As my father had owned, and I had driven, Daimlers, DB18s, I was very interested in it.
From memory it is like the one shown at 10.06 onwards and 24.51. It was painted in a slightly deeper eau de nil green with the brighter colour being cream, both solid colours. I know it made every other vehicle on the ship look dowdy by comparison.
Thank you for the article. 25:12
Rolls Royce, Bentley, et. al. probably looked at Daimler with dismisive diresion and contempt, but no envy.
But ultimately the Docker Daimlers were superior cars👌🏻
Count all exotic animals that were used for Dockers models upholstery😀
rather a mobile zoo🇬🇧🦓🐅🦩🇬🇧
Horrific by today's values.
@@jeffreycase9497
Mobile zoo?
I personally always say sarcasm is the greatest form of wit!
wow a template for many modern CEO's
I remember BSA motorbikes. Pre-war they were very good bikes by the standard of the day. Post-World War 2 they were no better and the world was moving on. Then in the early 1960's, Honda arrived and that was the end of BSA, as BSA were still no better than 1930's bikes and Honda bikes far better quality, smoothness, and reliability. So why did BSA allow that to happen, why didn't they improve their bikes? Management stupidity.
I think it’s a great credit to all those skilled engineers and craftsmen at Daimler and Hooper that the Daimler name retains its association with high quality, luxury and style rather than the crass snobbery, wastefulness and vulgarity of the awful Dockers.
Her taste wasn't so bad, but she seemed to have it in for wildlife!
And I cant help thinking that the Dart would've looked a lot better if she'd been involved!
And I think the moral to this is this: if you want to cater for a new clientele, don't let your social-climbing wife loose with the company cheque book, or let her anywhere near the design office. Oh yeah, and don't piss Princess Grace off.
Upholster the car with zebra not mink, mink will give me a sweaty ass it's too warm 💅
Makes a note of this………
@@Mike8981 nothing worse than a sweaty ass
@@Samstrainsofficially Hmmmm really?
@@Mike8981 never discuss politics religion or money... or have a sweaty ass.
All this passed me by, because, born in 1946, I was growing up at the time. Clearly the description 'Golddigger' was invented for this lady ! It shouldn't be forgotten, though, that the UK government was being equally extravagant at the time with its nuclear bomb programme !
A fascinating story so well rold. A docudrama should be made.
An excellent review of this strange episode and five vulgar Daimlers that nobody wanted and made the Queen switch officially to Rolls. From 1949 to 1955, there was zero technical advance in the cars: it was all just surface pizzazz.
TV I do remember the massive publicity these Docker Daimlers produced un the media,TV News and at the cinema weekly newsreels. No car manufacturer could get such easier publicity for their company than that of the Docker Daimlers. It was perhaps more the extravagant lifestyle of the Dockers that bought financial hardship on th company rather than the bespoke luxury cars.
Lady Gold-Digger... what a selfish waste of resources. Burning money while the rest of Britain suffered.
The cars themselves are exquisite, but then was not the time for that.
Fascinating as always, thanks again.
To scofab
You are the ONLY person not to criticise the cars themselves!
@@nygelmiller5293 Whatever happened sure wasn't the cars' fault... 😅
Awesome video as always and very informative as well awesome knowledge
At a time of severe postwar austerity, extravagance like this seems almost obscene.
And now, singer Porsches 2m+ and they sell.
I don't know much about them but it's the reason I don't follow domestic football with overpriced and overpaid players and managers from abroad.
Almost? It's disgusting :)
My mum remembers this, and it was certainly considered obscene. The country still had food and fuel rationing until 1952
@@Parakeet-pk6dl agreed.
Relaxing on a Saturday arvo with a beer & an RMV video. Nice.😊
Kaiser actually built a production car with green alligator-pattern vinyl interior.
Pardon my rudeness but... to me it seems that Lady Docker was... a 'gold digger' ?
Remember Harry Enfield….women should know their place….
@@DrRock2009Nice call back!
Pretty much.
A gold Docker?
@@DrRock2009 😂women, know your limits!
Your grandpa eating spam and the Dockers eating caviar with gold and adamantium
Last week I visited my neighbour and there on the kitchen bench was a tin of spam. Now I would not eat spam if you paid me, but this spam was "oven roasted turkey - made with 100 per cent turkey". Talk about laugh!
As of the early 2000's, there was a gentleman in NJ who owned the Gold car. His intention was to restore it to its original state, including all of the gold stars. He also had one of the original green goddesses. The pictures of the green goddess make it look a lot smaller than it actually is. He was quite active in the US Daimler Owner's Club. Since I sold my Daimler, I dropped out of the club, so I don't know what happened with his restoration project.
Okay I looked it up, Lady Norah Docker was not how the expression "Bloody Norah!" came about.
Wow Ruairdch, what a fantastic documentary, thank you!!!!!!!
What would the history of the British car industry be without a bit of snobism and excentricity ...
Best story so far
Well done! 👍👍
Meet the Dockers ..
You know, i'm ready to bet there are luxury apartments in Dubai not nearly as lavishly designed and equipped like any of these cars. I'm surprised none of these cars became the personal car of -name a tinpot dictator-. Those are cars worthy of a supreme leader.
Great video - these cars are truly bonkers - in any time period but especially in post war Britain. What were the accountants doing ?!
Wow, if any of these still exist they must be worth a fortune!!
I spit up my drink at the suggestion that these cars were bringing happiness to the British public. She was better than Johnny Carson!
The DS420 was NOT a re-badged Jaguar Mk 10. The DS420 was a unique body shell which looks NOTHING like a Mk 10. The DS420 has a 36cm longer wheelbase than the Mk 10, and is about 20cm taller than a Mk 10. The two cars share Jaguar running gear, but they're as different as night and day.
The Jaguar Mk II and the Daimler 250v8 share the same body shell. However, the Daimler 250V8 has the Daimler V8 designed by Turner with hemi heads, while the Jaguar Mk II had either a 3.4 or 3.8 litre Jaguar engine. The Daimler cars had a higher grade of leather and more woodwork inside than the Jaguar cars.
great job
Without Lady Docker's excesses Daimler could have probably done much better without ending up being taken over and reduced to a badge by Jaguar after the latter were refused planning permission for a new factory nearby.
"Who do you think I am, Lady Docker ?"
Having wealth does not mean that you will have good taste.
Nothing changes, you only have to look at the Kardashians as proof.
Or morals or scruples, taste, a conscience, or a soul.
The Glandyfi Castle purchase price of 12,500 pounds around 3:40 doesn’t sound right. Where did you find that number?
It's not a particularly big castle at 10 bedrooms as far as castles go, more like a manor house in size. It was recently sold for £2.7m in exceptional condition.
Probably needed work.
JUst goes to prove once again that being rich does not mean you have good taste. I'd heard of the Dockers, but had no idea of their link to Daimler and BSA
Is Elon taking notes.... Who am I kidding. He is doing fine all by himself.
Even when I just saw the title of the vid I thought of the Cybertruck!
It’s not his style.
He’s quite minimalist. Even the Cybertruck, it’s striking, but it’s actually got a lot less visual features than almost any other vehicle.
The materials he likes seem to be fairly basic. Stainless steel, aluminium etc.
Let’s put it this way, I expect Lady Docker wanted gold plated gargoyles on her house, and I expect Elon wants to live in a house that’s a perfect geometric shape where even the door handle is flush with the door.
Surprised Liberace didn’t have the zebra one
To GC 7820
NO, Liberace DIDN'T have one of these cars. But he DID have the same coats as her!
Hi from Sydney, Australia, you need to check out Liberace's 1949/50 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith long wheelbase car with sedanca De-ville style lift off roof panel above the driver. Both the two-tone paint scheme and the interior upholstery which was just as wild, with a mix of wood, leather and some special kind of animal fur. The car exists today in 2024.
@@nygelmiller5293 see my answer below to nygelmiller5293, Liberace's Rolls was just as , or maybe even more over the top, as its "fuzzy-fur" seats were even more outrageous than Nora Dockers interiors, and fitted to the most expensive 1949/50 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith long wheelbase car sold to the public As the 16 even more gigantic straight 8-cylinder Phantom 4's were sold to royalty and just one of the 16 with a Hooper Empress Style coach built body fitted. Sold to a London lawyer, Guy Rolfe an interesting man at near 6 foot 6 inches tall plus he had also dabbled in acting & when young at uni he had been a boxer, plus in his 20's was an accomplished race car driver, plus a great horseman as well. One of those multi-talented people that would be excellent and ultra capable no matter what field of endeavor they tried. The opposite of Liberace's Rolls or Lady Nora's Daimlers, Guy Rolfe's Phantom 4 was the utmost of understated pure class in Ink blue (ultra dark blue almost black) & a lower color of a metallic silver-blue, with pale blue-grey leather seats NO glass divider either as he often drove the car himself and due to his extreme height needed seat to travel on its runners. He must have really liked his RR Phantom 4, as it appeared in every film or TV series episode he appeared in during his ownership, eg TV series The Champions, episode called "to catch a rat". Where the giant car is seen backing out of an old-style service centre & petrol station, later there are other RR Wraiths in the episode in an under-building parking garage.
The comparison to Cruella De Ville is quite appropriate. Besides, what actually makes a true luxury car, she had no clue.
Great effort. TY
The moment you mentioned 'Shallow vanity' I immediately thought that summed this car up in a nutshell. Still an amazing bit of engineering, though!
Edit: Dear gods, how can something so beautiful be so vulgar? The car is amazing but sweet mercy it is everything that makes me dislike people with more money than sense.
Brilliant video. Feels like a little too much influence of egoism in a business that maybe needed a different management.
I would guess that Margaret Hilda Thatcher drew some inspiration From lady D?
The BSA Group was in Tatters less than 2 Decades later.
Many say that Thatcher turned Britain around, like or not.
@@rob5944
Well NASTY people claim Thatcher "turned Britain around. Those who hated hospitals, for example. Because of her starting the closure of hospitals.
Also she started the run- down of COUNCIL HOUSING, by selling the houses to tenants, who didn't have to sell them back to the council preceding their deaths, so the houses could be sold off purely for profit!
@@rob5944
The events of the last few decades prove that she certainly didn't do that.
@@MrSmith1984 well I think she was bad medicine sorely needed, but went too far towards the end. Things were in a mess here in the 1970s, that I do know.
@@rob5944
Thatcher gave out the wrong medicine and if anything made things even worse. That's why this country is in a far worse state than it previously was, even in the 1970s.
Especially when well paid jobs were more commonplace back then.
She was doing these things, because they let her.
She definitely had a thing for luxury!
The UK had their own Leona Helmsley, huh?
Monégasque? All my life I've been saying Monocan, probably.
She was ahead of her time. This was before the Arab oil money, the Russian oligarchs and the Crazy Rich Asians.
And the tasteless Trump.
I am surprised Jaguar saw value in the brand after all of that.
They got Daimler's new V8 hemi engines, their lucrative bus manufacturing arm, experienced workforce/engineers, and extra build capacity for increasing Jaguar output especially into foreign markets.
Oh!!!, the humiliation!, eaking ones days out above a Railway Station, the shame of it!.
Daimler would've been better off dropping the senior line entirely and taking the basic styling of the Conquest in a far more rakish direction for greater export appeal. Jaguar saloons sold in 1950s America in numbers the Conquest, Rovers and Armstrong-Siddeleys didn't because those appealed to a buyer who simply wasn't ready to consider a foreign car.
The problem with Daimler was that all their cars were hand built, so were not mass produced like Jaguar. Their two-seat Conquest Roadster went on sale in 1954 almost the price of Jaguar XK120 but having nowhere near the power or performance of the Jag, needless to say it was an expensive failure for Daimler and pulled off market only after two years.
Incredibly, she often looked exactly like MARGARET THATCHER!
The most opulent cars made in the UK. But a thing of beauty and craftmanship as well. Sadly they did ruin the company, but owners ruining their companies for their own good is sadly not a thing of the past, as I experienced with my previous employer. Luckily for me things turned the good way as I found well paid new employment very quickly. Probably this wasn't the case for many employees of the Daimler company.
Not a great period to be a zebra, lizard or crocodile.
How many animals did they have to kill for these monstrosities!
These prices, in 2024 numbers seem very low. I would think to have a one off docker Daimler made today would be maybe a few million??
I think that th gold cars were completely awful, but some of those cars were just beautiful. The one with the blue interior and star motif clock was pretty special.
But KEEPING those cars and not selling them on after their show-stopping exploits? That's just crazy.
Gold plated versions 'stead of chromium was in rather bad taste - although the Zodiac MkIII used it it to effect in a much restrained way. 😊
That last car is a real minger
By any chance, would you have any Grey Poupon? For us, Dockers, it should be Gold Poupon!
What awful taste.
I wonder what the workers thought when they were building these?
A template for how not to run a company.
Good job she didn’t personalise any BSA motorcycles.
Only common people like me ride BSA motorcycles.
@@philhawley1219 Ah ! That’s why I like them👍
It seems these Daimler cars when converted to today's prices are not much more expensive than many EVs. That Daimler ambulance seen at 21.50- I had the Dinky toy model! The Daimler armoured cars were the business- the Dingo and later Ferret were excellent vehicles. Lady Docker should have gold-pated a Ferret- dictators around the world would have bought them.
Brougham before brougham for sure.
Brougham was mass-produced appearance of luxury, not actual gold and lizard skin opulence.
@@jasongomez5344 but it looks as tasteless as any imitation.
How was this madness allowed by the board....😳🤔
You probably don’t want to know!
Was she the Kim Kardashian or the Wallis Simpson of the British car industry? Discuss.
Cruella de Ville
So disgusting how many animal parts and carcasses they managed to fit in
We find it disgusting today cause that's how we are. And we like to judge people from 'unenlightened eras' kinda like born again Christians do. Deep down I don't think we are fundamentally better people. We just make different mistakes and like to judge people from the past.
@@greenseaships Good for your tribe I guess
Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.
Viewed as a showcase for the amazing craft of the coach builders who actually created them, these are fascinating, if not particularly beautiful.
Viewed as an embodiment of ultimate vulgar excess, they are sickening.
A well made and interesting video (as always, many thanks 😊) that ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
To Diseased Mr.T.
NOT tasteful limousines? I disagree strongly. I'm afraid you're off my Christmas card list!
@@nygelmiller5293 I dislike Christmas too, so this has worked out well for both of us 👍
I was going to write pretty much the same: so thanks for saving me the trouble!
While I suppose that, considered in isolation, the cars themselves have some curiosity value, the Dockers are loathsome: crass, entitled, and detached from reality.
Fortunately we no longer have people like that today... 🤔
@@Diseased_Mr_TFAIR ENOUGH, THEN! have a good day!
@@nygelmiller5293 Likewise, good sir.
8mm in a car?!??
They might be the most decadent cars ever produced, aren't they?
Some of the World's most beautiful cars were produced by Daimler 1948 - 1959.
I sometimes wondered how did British Daimler became part of Jaguar. Wonder how those board meetings went. Ma’am company has no money. Non sense and you’re fired. Darling I need a new mink coat. - Yes dear.
On this particular model. Uses silver instead of gold. - yes dear.
Being famous for no reason, guess that's nothing new.
Lady Docker's motto:
"let them eat cake."
If Daimler was a British company, why was Daimler-Benz building engines for German aircraft in the 1930s and 40s?
The British Daimler has no relation to the German Daimler besides borrowing the name.
Alternate title
Cruella and Cars.
Nora Turner's climb up the social ladder is remarkably similar to that of Meghan Markle's.
Class cannot be bought. You can marry it, but eventually bring it down.
All too often lady is just a title not a description of the holder of the title.
Perspex headlight covers? They wouldn't have lasted long. Would have been broken by stones thrown up by passing vehicles, turned opaque by ultraviolet light from the sun.
WW2 aircraft canopies were made out of perspex.
@@dcanmore So? Perspex/acrylic canopies on WW2 aircraft outlasted the War (4 years) which was all that was required. The air at altitude is stone and dust free. Ultra violet light is stronger (about 70% at 20,000 feet) but its effect is minimised by the low air temperature (-23 C) . The degradation of perspex by UV is a chemical reaction process - reactions typically halve in rate for each 10 C reduction in temperature.
Perspex/acrylic has some important advantages in military aircraft over glass: Bullets just leave a small hole instead of causing complete shattering; it weighs a lot less than glass, and weight is always a critical factor in aircraft performance.
Even so, frequent inspections were required to ensure canopies were clear and undamaged. Bear in mind that aircraft get maintained far more rigorously and expensively compared to cars.
@@keithammleter3824 Perspex was much more durable as mentioned and used on many low production cars as glass windscreens were trick to form in three planes. The Bell helicopter sixty years old and the still look in good shape. Keith I had not thought about the temperature and UV degradation. Not sure what I am going to use that fact for but it was interesting.
@@WOFFY-qc9te There are lots of aircraft 80 years old that look in great shape - because the perspex/acrylic has been replaced. Generally, for aircraft parked in the open, about 10 years is the maximum service life of perspex/acrylic. If driven along roads and highways, stones and dust would make service life a lot shorter.
With safety glass made by sandwiching perspex/acrylic between glass sheets, the glass obviously protects the perspex from stone and dust abrasion.
Glass absorbs most UV wavelengths, protecting the perspex from UV-induced chemical degradation. A slight tint can be added to the glass in the melt to improve UV absorption.
I once owned a Triumph Herald car - the convertible version. It was a fun little car for a teenage me to drive, but it had some very dodgy features - eg a cardboard dash. The back window in the soft top was perspex. It went opaque within about 5 years, so I simply got a packing knife and cut it out. When Heralds were on the roads, one used to see other convertibles with the rear window missing.
The "aerodynamic" headlight covers on Jaguar E-type cars were initially made from perspex - and they went opaque too. Jaguar changed to glass for this reason. Cops never worried much about Herald rear windows, but Jags with stuffed headlights was another matter.
Hearing the kit lists, makes me wonder of the sheer skill of these engineers, painters, cabinet makers and craftsman 😮 stunning, no robots just gods tools, wow just wow.
Such a shame for all those British brands put to the sword by Dockers kiss and expensive tastes on anothers pocket, why was it left so long to bin the Dockers? 🕊