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Daimler Dart SP250

Daimler Dart SP250

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Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250
Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250
Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250
Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250Daimler Dart SP250
Lot number 59
Hammer value £15,456
Description Daimler Dart SP250
Registration APB 347A
Year 1962
Colour Blue
Engine size 2,584 cc
Chassis No. 103883
Engine No. 96934
Documents V5C; green logbook; four old MOTs; invoices

Aimed mainly at the American market, the Daimler Dart was launched at the 1959 New York Motor Show but was soon renamed the SP250 after Chrysler asserted that they had already trademarked the Dart name for a forthcoming Dodge.

It featured a truly wacky glassfibre body that combined a bewildering assortment of curves, bulges and fins with a face that came straight from a grouper fish. Love it or hate it, you certainly can’t ignore it. Built on a traditional cruciform-braced ladder-frame chassis equipped with independent coil-and-wishbone front suspension and a leaf-sprung 'live' rear axle, it had modern disc brakes all round and a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top three speeds.

But what really grabbed the attention of anyone who drove it was the magnificent V8 engine. Designed by Edward Turner, this 2.5-litre ‘hemi’ is one of the most charismatic engines ever made, a lightweight marvel of unparalleled refinement and flexibility that also emits a fabulously fruity exhaust note. Producing 140bhp and 155lb/ft of torque, it could throw the Dart to 60 in 8.2 seconds on its way to a top speed of 125mph, but was flexible enough to burble around town in top.

In initial ‘A’ series form the car was criticized for an over-flexible chassis and when Jaguar took over Daimler in 1960, they promptly brought out a ‘B’ spec version with a much-stiffened frame, thicker bodywork and other detail improvements. Production finally came to an end in 1964 by which time just 2,645 examples had been sold, the vast majority in America. Survivors are now surprisingly rare and good ones have shot up in value recently.

Dating from January 1962, this ‘B’ spec car started out in life in Sheffield with the registration number JWB 83, a number it sadly lost when it changed hands in 1990. The current registered keeper acquired the Dart in 2004 at which point it was still a running and driving car with a valid MOT and tax disc, both of which are in the history file along with three other old MOTs, the earliest from 1994. A number of invoices from 2001 – 2004 show various jobs being carried out including a full brake overhaul in March 2001 with new discs front and rear, rebuilt master cylinder, new pipes and hoses.

Since then the car has barely covered 700 miles, spending most of its time in storage and not being driven at all for the past 15 years. As you can see it is now in need of restoration but the engine still turns, it looks very solid underneath and it appears to be complete so the new owner will have a very good base to start from.

Supplied with a V5C, green logbook and the aforementioned invoices and old MOTs, it should keep someone gainfully employed over the coming winter months. Pull your finger out and it could be back on the road for the spring.

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