The Docker Daimlers were cars built for display at the British International Motor Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre from 1951 to 1955. The cars were built on Daimler chassis by Hooper, a Daimler subsidiary, on the order of Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Daimler and managing director of parent company Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), and his second wife, Lady Docker, who had been made a director of Hooper by Sir Bernard.
1948—Green Goddess
In 1948, the year before Sir Bernard Docker's second marriage, he had a car built by Hooper on a DE36 chassis for the 1948 British Motor Show. At a cost of £7,001, it was the most expensive car at the show.
The show car, a drophead coupé built on chassis number 51223, was painted pastel jade green, causing it to be named the "Green Goddess" by the motoring press. The operation of the hood was electro-hydraulically powered, including the metal cover under which the hood was stored when retracted. The side windows in the doors were electrically powered and the raked, curved windscreen had three wipers. The headlights and pass lights were in recesses in the front wings, behind Perspex covers held in chrome bezels that were fluted at the top to match the radiator grille. The body had aluminium spats set over the rear wheels, with spring balanced arms to move them out of the way for access to the wheels.
The car had seating for five, with an adjustable front bench seat with three individual backs, the outer two of which folded for access to the two armchairs in the back. The backs of the rear armchairs could be folded for extra luggage space. The rear seats were centred such that their occupants could look between the heads of the front passengers for an unobstructed forward view. The gear selectors were extended almost to the rim of the steering wheel for fingertip control, while the speedometer could be switched from miles to kilometres.
Hooper built six or seven more of these bodies on DE36 chassis. These differed from the show car in small details, usually in the positioning of the headlights and side lights and in details regarding the wheel spats. Some of the wheel spats were louvered diagonally. Four examples of the type, including the show car, were known to exist in 2010. One example is owned by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust and is on display at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, England.
1951—Gold Car/Golden Daimler
Lady Docker was appointed as a director of Hooper, and she began a publicity campaign for Hooper and Daimler which included a sensational car built for the Earls Court Motor Show each year. The first of Lady Docker's specials was a touring limousine which was referred to variously as the Gold Car, the Gold Daimler, or the Golden Daimler. The car was named for the use of gold on all the trimmings where chrome would normally have been used, and for the 7,000 gold stars on the sides of the car, below the waistlines. The upholstery and headliners in the rear were made from gold silk brocade woven on a hand loom. Cabinets in the division were made of Australian camphor wood, chosen for its golden colour. The left cabinet contained a gold and crystal cocktail set, the right cabinet contained a gold and black china tea set with a gold-plated Thermos tea jug, and the linen tablecloth and napkins was kept in the centre. The divider also contained a pair of folding tables and a gold vanity set. Gold-plated radio controls were in the armrests.
The upholstery in the driver's section was black leather with gold piping. All side windows were double-glazed and the rear window had an electric demister, while the sunroof in the rear enclosure was made from toughened glass. The sunroof, the side windows, and the division window were all electrically operated.
Design elements carried over from the Green Goddess included the flush rear wheel spats on spring-balanced rods and the headlights and pass lights faired into the front wings behind Perspex covers. The bezels holding the headlight covers were plain, and were not fluted as on the Green Goddess.
The Golden Daimler won its class in the annual coachwork competition held by the Institute of British Carriage and Automobile Manufacturers. According to Lady Docker, the production cost was £8,500.
The Golden Daimler was shipped from London for display at the Australian World’s Fair at the Sydney Show-grounds from July 26 to August 4, 1956.