This particular DS420 was originally supplied to Her Majesty the Queen Mother, replacing an earlier car of the same model that Her Majesty had used, and while in her ownership it was registered NLT 2, one of several NLT numbers found on cars owned by The Queen Mother. This car, finished in the traditional Royal colours of black over claret, was in fact the second from last of the DS420 range.

The Queen Mother decided that her Jaguar and Daimler cars should eventually return to the Jaguar Company’s museum, which duly happened after Her Majesty passed away in 2002.

When Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation in 1966, both companies manufactured limousine models, the ageing Daimler Majestic Major and the Vanden Plas Princess 4 litre. It was decided to replace both of these older models with a single new limousine, which would bear the Daimler name and would be based on Jaguar components, but which would be assembled in the Vanden Plas factory at Kingsbury in London.

The result was the DS420 which was launched in 1968 and co-incidentally became the first new model of the newly-merged British Leyland company. It was based on an extended floorpan from the Jaguar 420G, which made the DS420 the biggest ever British car with unitary body construction. The engine was the well-known Jaguar XK in 4.2 litre form, with an automatic gearbox as standard. The semi-razor-edged style of the body was probably inspired by some of the classic Hooper bodies on Daimler chassis.