Imposing Force: ’62 Daimler SP250 Race Car
My apologies to the memory of Donald Healey. Forget Austin-Healeys. If you want to go racing, you need to consider a Daimler SP 250 Hemi V-8 Dart. The Daimler SP250 was originally the Daimler Dart before Dodge rightfully objected. They renamed it SP250. And Daimler, by the way, has nothing to do with German Daimler-Benz. To say it possesses controversial styling is an understatement. Some say it was inspired by a catfish. We’ll not comment because now that it is old and collectible, it is “distinctive”. Performance was exciting due to lightweight fiberglass construction and a perky 2.5-liter hemi V8. Disc brakes on all four wheels brought everything to a halt in an orderly manner. Early cars built before 1960 were flexible flyers so later cars are the ones to get. So if you want to go racing you should begin with a ’62 like today’s featured car. This is a beautiful low mileage SP250 that was upgraded to be VSCCA and VRG compliant. The original numbers matching engine was removed and stored and goes with the car. The seller has all of the original parts that were removed such as the windshield and wipers, the side windows and their risers, the original wire wheels, the cockpit cover and soft convertible top and the highly regarded removable hard top with a new glass, the bumpers, the heater and other small parts. In other words if you want to put this car back to a screaming street machine you could. The Daimler Hemi V-8 that became the performance powerplant for this racer was built by legendary mechanic and racer Tivvy Shenton. This $11,000 rebuild has seen only two races, one of them the Pittsburg Vintage Gran Prix. The stock SP250 V8 put out about 140 horsepower; this one puts out more than 200. It is ready to go. It is still early in the season so grab this one if you can by clicking here.