Daimler Dart SP250

Hi there

You are now looking at my 1960 daimler Dart SP250 that I have owned for the last 23 years.

For most of those 23 years the car has been either off the road  undergoing restoration or parked at the back of the garage buried under a mountain of things that might come in handy one day? I bought the car as a young fella with a passion for classic cars but then the family came along and my priorities changed along with the size of my bank balance. The car got pushed to the back of the garage where it has spent most of of its days. I have only ever MOT'd it about 4 times in all the time that I have owned it and I don't think that I have ever driven it more than two or three thousand miles.

When I bought the car I completely stripped it down and she underwent a complete body off restoration (photographic evidence is available) this included the following.

Sandblasting of the chassis down to the bare metal. replacing any corroded outriggers etc.  then respraying using a pre heated enameling process. Completely repairing and respraying of the fibreglass body shell. Stripping down of the engine. checking  for wear. fittiing replacement valve seals. oil seals. gaskets etc and then rebuilding. Reassembling of the running gear using new bushes. bearings. ball joints and uj's etc.  where necessary. Replace the engine and body followed by the refitting of the original interior.

All this work was done around 1994 to 1995 but as I said earlier the car has hardly been out of the garage since the rebuild and one look underneath  will reveal a clean shiny chassis that looks like new. The body is in very good condition with very few visible cracks to the gel coat and hardly any scratches or chips to the paintwork. Whilst on the subject of the bodywork there is the odd issue with the drivers door needing a good slam and one or two bits of trim that require securing properly. The chromework is all good with the exception of the rear light surrounds where the chrome has perished. At 53 years old she is always going to have a few niggles.

Over the last winter I have reupholstered the dashboard and replaced the clutch and brake master cylinders and slave cylinders which had all perished due to age and  lack of use. I have also replaced the troublesome double ignition contact breakers in favour of an electronic ignition system to improve starting and reliability. I have kept the original ignition system should anybody prefer to refit them for authenticity.

The engine now starts beautifully and sounds fantastic as you would expect from a Daimler V8.

To the best of my knowledge the car is totally original apart from the colour which according to the original documentation used to be green but it is now red as it was when I bought it. The ony other thing that is not original is that it has been converted to a rack and pinion steering system but again this had been done before I bought it so I don't have the original steering box. Because of this conversion I have not found it possible to fit the original steering wheel and indicator / horn switch whch should be in the middle of the steering wheel. I have an original Dart steering wheel complete with indicator switches and horn button and I will include this in the sale.

The car does still require some light restoration to make it pristine and this would predominantly involve work to the interior which has never been touched since the car was new apart from new foam seat cushions that I fitted last year as the originals were crumbling with age. The rear seat could do with the same treatment and a new set of carpets wouldn't go amiss. As I said the dashboard has been restored and all the gauges. witches and dials are now working. A small amount of work is required under the bonnet. mainly to sort out the windscreen washer asseembly and the cabin heater etc.

As you can see from the photos the car is currently fitted with the standard soft top but I also have a factory hard top which I bought seperately to restore but never got around to doing it. The hardtop has the original glass fitted but needs a respray and a new headlining. I am including the hardtop in this auction.

Whilst on the subject of extras I have an additional set of wide wheels with red wall tyres that were fitted to the car when I bought it but I have since returned the car back to the original size wheels and tyres for authenticity. I also have a box of spares including a new set of brake discs. various hoses. voltage regulators. arb overhaul kits and dozens of other bits and bats that I have accumulated over the past couple of decades. All these spares are also included in the auction.

Everything that was fitted to the car when new is still with the car apart from the Jack / toolkit (assuming that they were issued with this equipment) and a few minor items like the bonnet stay and some of the trim inside the boot.

The car is currently showing about 33. 00 miles. I Know that it has not done more than a couple of thousand miles since I bought it in the early nineties but I have no guarantees that the mileage was genuine when I bought it. All the previous MOT certs that I have show a mileage reading lower than that currently displayed but there are no certs from the 70's so I have no idea what the car was doing then. The mileage could be genuine but I do not have sufficient evidence to confirm or deny this.

I do have quite a bit of original documentation with the car including the original green log book that was issued when the car was new and I also have a dozen or so MOT's dating back to the 60's etc but there are no service records or documents of that nature. /p>

I would encourage any potential bidders to call me on 07834 097452 to discuss the car further prior to placing your bid or better still come to York  and have a look at it.

I can mail additional photos or even set up a live video link via skype if any potential buyers would like to see more or hear it running.

I don't have a buy it now price.

The car is advertised elsewhere so I reserve the right to withdraw it from this auction if necessary.

I would expect the buyer to pay by secure means other than Paypal as I understand that if I accept payment by Paypal. it will cost me 3. 4% of the final sale price ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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