A Daimler Conquest appeared in a local scrapyard, an interim stop on a journey that will likely take it to a steel mill in the far east. My British car enthusiast brother spotted the regal old girl during one of his frequent trolls through the two local "you-pull-it" scrapyards in the Mobile, Alabama area. He sent me photos by text and at first, I could not identify the car. He later found a bar code sticker applied by the scrapper that indicated that it was a 1954 Daimler Conquest.
The car is right hand drive with Trafficator turn signals. The engine and driveline were intact but the interior was a disaster. The radiator shell and other chrome bits were AWOL, but the brass maker's plate was present.
The plate indicates that the car was built with Daimler's "Fluid Flywheel" transmission and that it is a DJ 250 model. For you Daimler enthusiasts out there, the chassis number is 84027; the engine number is 75573.
I'm not sure that these cars were ever officially imported to the US but in the freewheeling days before Federal restrictions it was possible to import nearly anything with wheels. Could this have been a UK diplomat's personal transportation while posted in America? We'll never know.
These Daimlers were imported into the US in small quantities. Some came in via Fergus Motors in NY. Other cars have come in from Canada over the years and some have been privately imported, usually by Brits living in the US. Very unlikely to be a diplomat's car, as a RHD car would be considered a road hazard.
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