Daimler - Daimler SP250 Dart
Immediately following the unveiling of the new Daimler Dart at the 1959 New York show, Daimler had to change the name of their car to it's prototype code name of SP250. This was because the Dart name had been Trademarked by Dodge. The Daimler SP250, or Dart, had the lovely new 2.5 litre V8 designed by Edward Turner that produced a useful 140bhp at 5,800 which, when you consider the BMW V8 all alloy 3.2 litre engine of the time, was a very impressive result! With disc brakes to all 4 wheels, the SP250 Dart had a glass fibre body fitted on a conventional ladder steel chassis which was said to be loosely based on a TR2, and it could reportedly flex enough in use to sometimes allow the doors to open! When Jaguar purchased Daimler from its parent company BSA, they inherited the Daimler SP250 with production continuing under Jaguars ownership, who sorted out the chassis flex issue as well as making some improvements including an adjustable steering column. These later Daimler Dart models were known as the "B Specification" cars. I suspect William Lyons may have had issues with the styling, at the front end in particular, because the optional extra bumpers were no longer offered. Production of the Daimler SP250 Dart ran to 1964.
This smaller of the Edward Turners V8 engines, as built for the SP250, was also fitted to the Jaguar Mk2, which is how the Daimler 2 1/2 litre V8 model came about.
Tyre size for the Daimler Dart / Daimler SP250 - the SP250 was specified at the factory with 5.90x15 tyres with the factory later offering the radial ply 165R15 size - the 165R15 size being the radial equivalent of 5.90x15 tyre size. However, most Daimler SP250 / Dart owners these days ask for the wider version of our 165VR15, which is the 185/70VR15 tyre. We have even supplied the full 80 profile 185VR15 tyres, so below we list all three of these high speed rated steel belted correct period tread pattern tyres - full details at the links below. But note Blockley 165VR15 was the original factory tyre size, although we have yet to see a car running on this size! So far we would say that most customers ordering tyres for the SP250 / Dart have asked for the 185VR15 tyre size, whereas we would suggest the 185/70VR15 as the best compromise. . .
