Daimler's flagship DE series debuted in 1946 as their largest and most expensive car on offer. The chassis was a fairly conventional design with x-bracing and independent front suspension; Hotchkiss drive rear axle, and Girling hydro-mechanical brakes. Two versions were available, the 138-inch wheelbase DE27 which was powered by the Daimler _Twenty Seven_ inline-six cylinder engine (named such for its taxable horsepower rating), or the range-topping DE36 which featured a grand 147-inch wheelbase and was powered by a 5.4 liter inline-eight cylinder engine. The _Thirty Six_ was essentially Britain's last straight eight (Rolls Royce did use one in the "heads of state only" Phantom IV, but only eighteen were ever produced). It is a marvelously smooth, overhead valve unit with nine main bearings and a 150 horsepower output. Every bit of that power was needed to pull along the large and opulent bodies that were fitted to the DE36 chassis. Just 205 examples of the Thirty Six were built between 1946 and 1953, with a great many finding favor with the Royal Families of Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Thailand as well as at home in England.