Daimler Sovereign

The Daimler Sovereign was a luxury automobile built by British manufacturer Jaguar in Coventry. The first Sovereign was introduced in 1966, being the second Jaguar bodyshell to be offered in a Daimler version following the 2½ litre V8. Unlike the 2½ litre the Sovereign had a Jaguar engine, marking the end for the Edward Turner-designed V8 engines that Jaguar inherited when it took over the Daimler company in 1960.

Sovereign 420

The first Sovereign was a badge-engineered version of the Jaguar 420 saloon, which was itself based on the Jaguar S-Type. The 420 and Sovereign differed from the S-Type in having a revised four-headlight nose reminiscent of the Jaguar Mark X and a 4.2 litre version of the straight-six XK engine. The main external difference between the 420 and Sovereign was the traditional Daimler fluted radiator grille. There were thoughts of fitting the Sovereign with the Daimler 4½ litre V8 engine as used in the Majestic Major but as this significantly outperformed the Jaguar XK unit and would have led to the Sovereign outgunning the Jaguar 420 the Jaguar hierarchy did not pursue the idea; the Jaguar badge was meant to be more sporty than the Daimler one.