This police-issue 1962 Daimler SP250 Dart will cross the block at on October 22. It’s one of 26 Daimler Darts purchased new to serve as high-speed pursuit vehicles for the Metropolitan Police Service of London.
At the time, it was reported in the Daily Mirror that the car "will be a great help in curbing the menace of the ‘ton uppers’ – hooligan motorcyclists who boast of doing a ‘ton’ (100 MPH) in built-up areas. If necessary the Darts could also be used to chase car bandits – who have often escaped in the past because their getaway cars were much more powerful than ordinary police saloons."
Lest you think that the police in the UK have taprooms, a "saloon" in the King’s English is what we in the States term a sedan.
This and the other cars ran Daimler’s 140hp hemi-head 2.5-liter V-8s and were equipped with Borg-Warner three-speed automatic transmissions.
The example being auctioned was decommissioned from police service in 1967, then used as an official course car for 13 years at the Goodwood Revival. Much of the original police equipment remains with the Dart, including the chrome Winkworth police bell that warned of the car’s rapid approach.
The photos appearing here are courtesy of the auctioneers and the story came to us from our friends at Hemmings Motor News.
