A rare beast indeed! Our Daimler Dart was one of 2654 produced between 1959 and 1964, 1400 of which were produced for the export market. Launched in 1959 it is perhaps just possible to see why the SP250 was unofficially voted “ugly duckling” at the New York Motor Show! Known as “The Dart” until Chrysler got uppity at the use of one of its tradenames, it has a combination of a light glass fibre body and an exceptional and powerful Edward Turner V8 engine which made it an awesome vehicle in it’s day, with a top speed of 120mph!
Often used by the Metropolitan Police in high speed pursuits to try and catch motorbike racers hanging around the fashionable Ace Cafe, it was also used in films and TV, incluing the 1964 Elvis film “Viva Las Vegas” and more recently Olly Mur’s Music video for “Please Don’t Let me Go”.
In 1960, Jaguar took over Daimler and wanted to drop the Dart and the introduction of the E-Type in 1964 saw production cease. Only 560 are left road registered in the UK.
Our example has been in our ownership for a number of years, prior to which it was dry stored for a couple of years but in use until 2014. Now MOT and tax exempt, we have completed further restoration works on it, including a new interior.
The roof is in good order with Tourneo cover, and we can even offer it with a hard top which is also in good order.
