Daimler TL30 Bottle Car

A 1924 Daimler 30hp fitted with promotional bodywork in the shape of a Worthington's beer bottle, its neck extending along the bonnet to the radiator

Key facts

Year

1924
Country

Great Britain
Capacity

3,520cc
Cylinders

6 cylinder
Valves

Overhead valve
Output

Not recorded
Performance

45mph
Price new

£950 (chassis only)
Owner

Montagu Collection
Manufacturer

Daimler Company Limited

This unusual vehicle is one of five bottle cars purchased by Worthington’s brewery of Burton upon Trent in the early 1920s. They were built on Daimler 30hp car chassis. Worthington merged with its neighbour Bass in 1927, the bottle cars continuing to be used for promotional work for both brands throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The original 4,962cc Knight sleeve-valve engine was replaced with a Bedford engine shortly after the Second World War. This vehicle continued to work for Bass-Worthington until 1958.

Motor vehicles have been transformed into a variety of unlikely body shapes to advertise a wide range of products including pencils, teapots, shoes, batteries and tubes of toothpaste. The first bottle car is believed to have been built in 1906.