Story by Bill Holland
One of the more interesting stories in motorsports lore is that of the Daimler SP250–which was introduced at the 1959 New York Auto Show and promptly dubbed the “ugliest” car there by the press.
Not to mention that Daimler Company Limited (founded in 1896 by British investors and Gottlieb Daimler in Coventry, England) had named their …
Don't agree that all st stl fastners are 20% stronger then grade 8
Growing up in Royal Oak I was amazed that a apartment in town had two SP 250's in the parking lot- Definitely not racers!
Best part of the SP 250 is the engine. The styling is comical and the choice of a Triumph chassis is tragic.
Best thing about the SP 250 was that when I managed to park my Jensen CV8 beside one at our annual concours, people stopped criticizing the styling of my car!
(The Salisbury rear end housing (similar to a Dana 44) is stabilized with an adjustable Panhard bar and link bars.) Very common for a Sunbeam Tiger rear to be installed.
Always kind of liked these despite the quirky styling.
In reply to Tim Suddard :
They do stand out. I saw one about a month ago at the Philadelphia Concours d'Elegance. It was not entered into the concours, unfortunately, but it was in the parking lot.
In a sea of **fill in the blank** a Daimler does stand out.
It seemed so lonely at the Philadelphia Concours d'Elegance.
Somewhere I have a photo of Daimler SP250–aka a Daimler Dart–stopped at a light behind a Dodge Dart.
I don’t think it was planned.
There was a fellow from Elmira NY several years ago that raced a red SP 250 at Watkins Glen. Once he spun it at the bottom of the start/finish bend. Got him on film and asked if he wanter to see it. He gave an abrupt NO!
John McNulty
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
Lonely or not, it looks good in that navy.
The engine, designed by Turner, was made for the SP250 but also in a 4.5 litre size for the Daimler big saloons. Apparently the exterior dimensions weren't much different . A friend who vintage raced an SP250 had somehow acquired a 4.5 limo engine and had designs on putting it into his SP250, but never got around to it. He did experiment with things like running nitrous in his engine (he said it made the piston crowns go 'wavy' when he next tore the engine down).
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