This 30hp Daimler Tourer started life in Cheshire and was still in that area until the late 1980s although nothing is known of its history before 1951. It had two owners between 1951 and 1967, and then spent no less than 23 years in the same ownership. It was restored in the early 1980s and acquired by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust at an auction in 1990.

During the First World War, Daimler continued production of private cars as staff vehicles for the Army, and many chassis were also made for ambulance bodywork. In 1919, Daimler re-entered the civilian market with the well- established 30hp and 45hp six-cylinder models. The 30hp car with a 5-litre engine had been introduced in 1912 and was now available in short wheelbase Light Thirty form, as well as the Standard Thirty with a long wheelbase of 11ft. 9in (3,588 mm), of which this car is an example.

All Daimlers of this period featured the Knight sleeve-valve engine which had been used since 1908. The elliptic rear springs and the absence of front wheel brakes still gave this 1922 model a rather Edwardian air. Daimler however had- adopted ‘streamline’ design by which was meant a higher bonnet line, on the same level as the scuttle! The 30hp chassis alone was priced at £1000 while complete cars with Daimler’s own bodywork started at £1,325 for a tourer such as this car. This clearly put the Daimler near the top end of the market, competing, for instance, with the new ‘small’ 20hp Rolls-Royce.

By 1922, in addition to the two large six-cylinder cars, Daimler had introduced a smaller 20hp model, which was the last Daimler with only four cylinders. It was however discontinued after one year, and Daimler instead introduced a new range of three smaller six-cylinder cars, the 12hp, 16hp and 21hp models, giving a total of five different engine sizes, and a typically wide range of bodywork was available on all chassis.