No other limousine model has been delivered to more reigning monarchs than the DS420, and the car is still used by the royal houses of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg.
The new limousine also shared the 420G's twin ten-US-gallon (38 L) fuel tanks set in each of the rear wings, each with its own electric SU pump selected by a dashboard-mounted switch.
[5] Originally, the cars were built at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury Lane, London, from body shells made by Park Sheet Metal Company, assembling panels supplied by Motor Panels of Coventry, and by Pressed Steel Fisher.
Early limousines bore the "Daimler Vanden Plas" designation on tread plates and workshop manuals.
The move to Coventry also brought the second and most extensive facelift in the car's life, when larger bumpers and a revised rear number-plate frame were fitted.
It also addressed the corrosion issue of earlier cars (which was related to the division glass), slightly changed the dimensions of the grille, exterior badge placement, and reduced the amount of woodwork in the interior.
Delivered vehicles varied from very basic models, with manually operated windows, to a model—reportedly produced in 1984 for the use of Jaguar boss John Egan[citation needed]—that was outfitted as a mobile boardroom, complete with a TV, computer, printer, and cocktail cabinet.
Most Daimler Hire cars were well equipped with options, including electric division window, air conditioning, matching leather interiors, and the bonnet flag mount for ceremonial use.
[citation needed] By 1992, the DS420 was the only model in the Jaguar range still using the XK engine, along with other parts of the drive train and suspension; and, although the car still appealed to its traditional customers, production was no longer economical.
The Daimler DS420 is widely used among the funeral trade, serving as both the executive car for mourning relatives and the hearse, after customization, for the deceased.
Diana's coffin was transported in a 1985 Daimler hearse from RAF Northolt to St. James Palace for a lying in state.
This first DS420 Limousine delivered to a monarch is still with the Queen's fleet and thus has served the Danish court for almost half a century.
His DS420 had exterior two-tone paint of "silk" (a mixture of gold, silver, and pale green) over black, the same as his previous car, a Rolls-Royce.
The Daimler carried a blue bullet-lamp on the roof and served the prince as state car until his death in 2005.
It was the wish of the Queen Mother that after her death her final DS420 should be given to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT), which today maintains the limousine (with new registration K123 EYL) at the museum at Gaydon, or takes it to rallies.
It was painted in the colour "Sand" and served various duties, including bringing King Abdullah II to school when he was young.
[18][23] Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg ordered a Daimler DS420 in 1970, as his new state car, taking delivery in 1971.
As with the models supplied to the Queen Mother, it was painted black over royal claret and carried a blue bullet lamp.
Other members of the royal family could display their personal flag shields as well but regularly used the flag shield with the vice-regal crown, which is also mounted when other dignitaries are being transported, such as the private secretaries, the ladies-in-waiting, the mistress of the robes, or the spouses of foreign heads of state, accompanied by Prince Philip, following the state car.
In September 1988, Grand Duke Jean replaced his 1971 Daimler Limousine with another in "Westminster Blue" (chassis nr.
Of the four final examples produced, one went to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, another to the Queen Mother (chassis nr.
The Danish Queen was lucky to find a pristine example, with almost no mileage on the odometer, that was kept in reserve by a Swedish importer since 1987.
When hosting state visits or at the parade on National Day it carries a plate that simply displays a crown symbol.
At the wedding of the Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume to Stephanie de Lannoy in October 2012, the plate displayed an orange and a blue stripe, the colors of the House of Weilburg-Nassau.
At the wedding of the nephew of the Grand Duke, who belongs to the House of Habsburg, in Nancy later that year, the corresponding colors of black and yellow were displayed.
There is no other car that had the honour to carry six members of a reigning royal family at the same time except the Daimler Limousine.
Both sons of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark have four children and they can be seen travelling together with their parents in the rear of the Daimlers.
On the other hand, royals sometimes can be found in the drivers compartment of the DS420, such as Prince William in August 1999 or Princess Anne leaving Easter Service at Windsor Chapel in 2016.
[34] It highlights the special significance of this model that it is still in use by the courts of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and Luxembourg, despite its production having ended more than a quarter of a century ago and despite the discontinuation of the Daimler marque since 2008.