Jaguar Cars does not build many cars like the Daimler Sovereign: a 4-door notchback saloon / 2-door notchback coupé, built from 1966 to 1983 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar.
The story
Daimler Sovereign was a name applied by British manufacturer Jaguar Cars to a sequence of luxury automobiles built by it but carrying the Daimler badge between 1966 and 1983. The Daimler Sovereigns were based on contemporary Jaguar bodyshells, chassis and engines in an example of badge engineering. Jaguar Cars took over The Daimler Company in 1960 and the 1966 Sovereign was the second Daimler to be based on a Jaguar model. The first was the 2½ litre V8 with an engine designed by Edward Turner.
Unlike the Daimler 2½ litre, the Sovereign had a Jaguar engine, marking the end for the Turner designed engines. The first Daimler Sovereign was based on the 1966 Jaguar 420 and is sometimes referred to as the "Sovereign 420". Subsequent Sovereigns were derived from the Series I, II and III Jaguar XJ6. In 1983 the model name "Sovereign" was switched to the high specification version of the Series III Jaguar XJ6, the 6-cylinder Daimler based on it simply continuing without a model name. The V12 versions of the Daimler, available from 1972 to 1997, were named Daimler Double-Six after the original Daimler V12s.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door notchback saloon / 2-door notchback coupé — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Jaguar Cars's history is not in doubt: the Daimler Majestic / Daimler Majestic Major came before it; the Jaguar Sovereign / Daimler Double Six followed it; it was built at Coventry, England, United Kingdom. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Lamborghini Miura, the Alfa Romeo Spider, the Toyota Corolla. Nearby in the Jaguar Cars catalogue sit the Prime Ministerial Car and the SS Jaguar 100.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Daimler Sovereign has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.