Daimler SP250

The Daimler SP250 was a sports car built by the Daimler Company in Coventry from 1959 to 1964, the last car launched by Daimler before BSA sold it to Jaguar Cars in 1960. Edward Turner, appointed head of BSA's automotive division in 1956, was asked to design a V8 saloon and the engine drawings were finalised by March 1958. A committee study projected a profit of over 700,000 pounds on 1,500 cars in the first year, two thirds of them for the United States, and chose a fibreglass body for its short lead time and lower tooling cost. The original A-spec car could reach 120 mph, but its ladder frame, based on the Triumph TR3, flexed so much that doors sometimes came open. It was pre-production named the Dart.