Details of Cars

Daimler Double-Six: the V12 Daimler, 1926 to 1997

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1974 Daimler Double-Six Vanden Plas Series II saloon
A 1974 Double-Six Vanden Plas Series II. Photo by Coolalabright, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Daimler used the name Double-Six twice: for its sleeve-valve V12 engines of 1926 to 1938 and for the V12-engined Daimler versions of the Jaguar XJ sold between 1972 and 1997. The post-war cars took the badge from the twelve-cylinder engine and carried it through three generations of the big Jaguar saloon.

Daimler Double-Six at a glance

Daimler Double-Six key facts
Name used by Daimler Company, then Jaguar Cars
First V12 engines 1926–1938, sleeve valve
First sizes 7.1 litres (1926–1930), 3.7 litres (from 1927)
Later sizes 5.3 and 6.5 litres (1930–1936), 6.5-litre poppet valve (1937)
Second V12 family 1972–1997, Jaguar V12
Second family sizes 5.3 litres (1972–1981), 5.3 HE (1981–1992), 6.0 HE (1993–1997)
Cars Double-Six 1972–1992, XJ81 1993–1994, X305 1994–1997

Based on one source: the English Wikipedia page is a name index and gives the engine and model dates only.

History of the Daimler Double-Six

The sleeve-valve years

Daimler Double-Six
A Daimler Double-Six with the V12 badge. Photo by Guillaume Vachey from Chalon sur Saone, France, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The first Daimler Double-Six was an engine rather than a model. Introduced in 1926, it was a V12 with sleeve valves. The original 7.1-litre version was built from 1926 to 1930, a 3.7-litre unit joined it in 1927, and from 1930 the range had 5.3 and 6.5-litre sleeve-valve versions, both built to 1936. In 1937 the 6.5-litre engine was listed with poppet valves instead.

The Jaguar-built Double-Six

The name returned in 1972 on a car rather than an engine. Jaguar, which had owned Daimler since 1960, sold a V12-engined car under the Daimler name as the Double-Six. The 5.3-litre engine was built from 1972 to 1981; from 1981 it was replaced by the 5.3-litre HE version, which lasted until 1992.

The car was renewed with the XJ81 generation of 1993–1994, still with a 5.3-litre HE engine, and then with the X305 of 1994–1997, which used the 6.0-litre HE V12.

Design and features

  • Two engine families: the sleeve-valve V12s of 1926–1938 and the Jaguar V12s of 1972–1997.
  • Twelve cylinders as a Daimler: from 1972 the Double-Six was a car produced by Jaguar Cars under the Daimler nameplate.
  • HE engine: from 1981 the 5.3-litre V12 was the HE version, followed by the 6.0-litre HE from 1993.
  • Three generations: the original Double-Six, the XJ81 and the 6.0-litre X305.

Daimler Double-Six versions

  • Double-Six (1972–1992): the 5.3-litre car, later with the HE engine.
  • Double-Six XJ81 (1993–1994): the V12 version of the XJ81 generation.
  • Double-Six X305 (1994–1997): 6.0-litre HE V12.
  • Early V12 engines: 7.1, 3.7, 5.3 and 6.5 litres, sleeve valve, with a poppet-valve 6.5 from 1937.

The Double-Six sat above the six-cylinder Daimler Sovereign in the Jaguar-based range, and its XJ underpinnings link it to the Daimler XJ40. More cars are in the Daimler collection.

Sources

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