Identify This Week's Classic Car

Clue: British sports car

It’s time for our second round of Identify the Classic Car! No prizes, no trophies, no glory—just the smug satisfaction of knowing you’re a big head if you nail it, and the gentle sting of being a loser if you don’t (chuckles). Take your best shot, drop your guess, and let’s see who’s strutting into the weekend with bragging rights.

Take Your Best Shot!

Answer: Friday 31st July

Answer: The Daimler Dart:

The British V8 That Wasn't Allowed to Keep Its Name

There's a particular kind of car that history almost forgets, not because it wasn't good, but because everything around it went sideways. The Daimler Dart is one of those cars.

It debuted at the 1959 New York Motor Show, built with the American market squarely in mind. And for a moment, it looked like Daimler had a hit: a fibreglass-bodied roadster with real muscle under the hood. Then Chrysler's lawyers came calling. Dodge already had a "Dart" of its own, and Chrysler wasn't about to share the name. Daimler backed down and rebadged the car as the Daimler SP250, a far less romantic name for a car that deserved better.

What Was Under the Hood

The SP250 wasn't just a pretty shape. Edward Turner, the engineer behind some of Triumph's most famous motorcycles, designed a 2.5-litre Hemi-head V8 for the car, and it delivered 140bhp, enough to push the lightweight roadster past 120mph. Pair that with four-wheel Girling disc brakes, uncommon for the era, and you had a car that could genuinely compete on performance.

The catch was the chassis. Built on a 14-gauge ladder frame with cruciform bracing, borrowed loosely from the Triumph TR3, it flexed under hard driving. Flexed enough, in fact, that the doors could pop open mid-drive. Not exactly a confidence builder.

Jaguar Steps In

In 1960, Jaguar acquired Daimler, and inherited the SP250's chassis problem along with it. Rather than scrap the car, Jaguar fixed it. The result was the B-spec version, which added outriggers and a strengthening hoop between the A-posts to keep the frame and the doors where they belonged. A C-spec followed in 1963, adding a bit more luxury equipment for buyers who wanted comfort along with speed.

A Rare Survivor

Only 2,654 SP250s were built across all three specs between 1959 and 1964. That scarcity, combined with its odd history and genuine performance credentials, has made it an increasingly sought-after find among British classic car collectors today.

The Daimler Dart never got to keep the name it launched with, but the car underneath it, quirks, chassis flex, and all, earned its place in the story of British sports cars.

Time for our third round of Identify the Classic Car! 

There's no cash on the line, no medal, no confetti cannon. Just the eternal bragging rights of being the one who called it, and the very public reminder that you didn't if you're wrong (chuckles). Drop your guess below. History is watching. Mostly me, but still.

Identify Classic Car Quiz

Sources: Wikipedia – Daimler SP250, Auto Express – Daimler Dart Buying Guide, FastestLaps.com – Daimler SP250 "Dart"