Lady Docker: her part in Daimler's downfall

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There have been a few infamous examples of director’s wives who thought they could do better than the trained designers of their husband’s factories, with consequences that could be described as outrageous, or even hideous. No example is perhaps as striking as that of Norah Docker, who was recently described by Tatler magazine as ‘Lady Docker: The Fifties socialite whose extravagant lifestyle scandalised Britain’ and ‘The sometimes-forgotten working class girl who went from rags to riches, and back again’.

Born in 1906 in Derby as the daughter of a car dealer, Norah became a dance hostess in a London club where she entered relationships with a number of men, some in high circles, some even of noble descent. She married three times, respectively to a whisky magnate, to the president of Fortnum & Mason - the posh department store, and eventually to the chairman of (amongst other things) Daimler Motor Cars, Sir Bernard Docker. Sir Bernard gave her everything she longed for, including a title, and the couple’s lavish lifestyle was often funded by his companies. When these expenses could not be legitimately defended anymore, it eventually led to him being removed from the board of directors.

By that time, Lady Docker had already been making her presence felt in the manufacturer’s design department. She even took an interest in the running of the companies and became a director of Hooper, the coachbuilder. She contrived a number of extraordinary cars made to suit her fancy, based on Daimler limousines of the early 1950s. Their specification included things like gold-plating rather than nickel or chrome, ivory dashboards, interiors with silver brocade and crocodile skin upholsteries with matching luggage sets, and gold or silver stars or initials embossed into the bodywork. Further accessories included cocktail cabinets, vanity boxes, solid silver hairbrushes and built-in picnic hampers. Her wishes must have raised eyebrows among the design staff, to say the least. One car which had just been painted in a deep dark green at her request was immediately ordered to be resprayed in a metallic blue-grey as soon as it was finished.

The Dockers came along at the wrong time and were thought to be ‘Too opulent and vulgar for austere post-war Britain.’ The British royal family seemed to agree and turned to to Rolls-Royce after having been Daimler customers for decades. By the end of 1960, all the State Daimlers had been sold and replaced with Rolls-Royces, and the Daimler company had been taken over by Jaguar.

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: Cartalk.com
 

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