MY FEEDLY

Barn Find Daimler SP250 Dart – A British Corvette Or An Ugly Duckling?

The Daimler SP250, originally named the Daimler Dart, was a car that should have been a huge success for the British automaker. It has a lightweight composite body, a low curb weight, a hemi-head V8 engine, and a top speed of over 120 mph – all great features by the standards of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The reason the SP250 wasn’t a runaway success is widely thought to come down to one factor, it has what’s been described as a “droopy mouth” and the design has been widely panned for decades since its 1959 debut.

That said, there is a sold fanbase for this car around the world including people who will yell at you if you try to tell them the car is stylistically challenged. When it was first shown to the public at the 1959 New York Motor Show it was awarded the unofficial title of “Ugliest Car In Show.” This must have set alarm bells ringing back in England at Daimler headquarters as the USA was anticipated to be the car’s number one market by quite some margin.

Daimler had originally intended to call the car the “Daimler Dart” however on introducing the car to the American market they were told in no uncertain terms by Chrysler’s lawyers that they would be sued into oblivion – Chrysler had trademarked the Dart name for their own cars. The name was quickly changed to “SP250” which had been the original internal project number for the car.

This poor reception suffered by the car in the USA was troubling, you could go so far as to say that the Daimler SP250 had been developed specifically for the American market. The company believed that 2/3rds of the models sales would be in North America, a market that had been white hot for British sports cars since the curtain fell on World War II.

The project to develop the car that would become the Daimler SP250 was assigned to Edward Turner, designer of the now famous Triumph parallel twin engine that helped to transform the British motorcycle industry.

Above Image: The styling of the car has always been somewhat divisive, but it does have a solid group of enthusiasts around the world keeping them running and on the road.

Turner was appointed to the Managing Director role of BSA’s Automotive Division in 1956 and tasked with developing a new sports car with a V8 engine. V8s were famously popular with American buyers of course, and cars like the Chevrolet Corvette with its fibreglass body and V8 engine likely provided no small amount of inspiration.

Interestingly the V8 engine option in the Corvette was offered for the first time in 1955, just a year before development of the SP250 began, and with its lightweight composite body there were many who believed the Corvette may represent the future direction of the global sports car market.

There can be no denying that Turner was a brilliant engineer, the V8 he developed for the SP250 is still winning him fans today over half a century later. The 140 hp engine has a swept capacity of 2,547cc, a centrally-mounted camshaft that actuates 16 overhead valves in the heads via pushrods. The block is iron and the heads are alloy, and the engine has hemispherical combustion chambers fed by twin SU carburetors.

A fiberglass body was designed for the new car, this helped to keep weight low but it also saved a small fortune on tooling costs – steel stamping dies are far more costly than fiberglass moulds. The chassis is a 14 gauge ladder frame with cruciform bracing, and the car rides on independent front suspension with a live axle in the rear being sent power from the 4-speed transmission.

The first car to be introduced is now retroactively known as the A-spec SP250, there would be two further iterations, namely the B-spec and C-spec cars which are generally more sought after by collectors. The reason the later cars tend to be more popular is that the original A-spec model was the first Daimler to have a fiberglass body, due to inexperience with the material the chassis was too flexible which led to poor handling and an unnerving propensity for doors to fly open when cornering hard.

Jaguar would acquire Daimler in 1960, they immediately set to work on improving the SP250 with a particular focus on the chassis. The original chassis was significantly strengthened with new outriggers and a strengthening brace between the A-pillars which solved the problems suffered by the first models.

Above Image: The Edward Turner-designed V8 has proven to be enduringly popular, it would be produced in large numbers to fill demand for the later Daimler 2.5 V8 four-door saloon car.

Possibly due to the somewhat controversial styling the sales for the Daimler SP250 had never been stellar and had fallen far short of early projections. By the time Jaguar killed the model off in 1964 just 2,654 had been built, it had been hoped the company would sell 3,000 per year.

The V9 that had been developed for the SP250 would later be fitted to a version of the Jaguar Mk2 which would be sold with Daimler 2.5 V8 (later V8-250) badging. This would go on to become the single highest production model for a Daimler up until that point in history.

Although the SP250 had a troubled production life it did become a popular choice for police departments in the United Kingdom and further afield in places like Australia and New Zealand. The British Metropolitan Police in London famously used police-specification SP250s to chase down and arrest cafe racers – amateur motorcycle racers considered a scourge in London at the time who would later go on to become counter culture heroes.

It’s not known how many Daimler SP250s remain, most estimates are well under 1,000, and as a result they’re becoming more popular as time goes by and more people discover the simple joys of that Turner-developed V8.

If you’d like to read more about the car you see here or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on H&H Auctioneers. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 26th of May with a price guide of £14,000 to £18,000.

Images courtesy of H&H Auctioneers

The post Barn Find Daimler SP250 Dart – A British Corvette Or An Ugly Duckling? appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/daimler-sp250-dart-car/
via gqrds

The Unusual Citröen 2CV Roadster by Burton – $10,000 to $15,000 USD

This unusual looking car is actually a Citröen 2CV under the skin, a vehicle that we don’t typically associate with sporting driving but the team at Burton saw potential in the 2CV for an entirely new look, and a new driving experience to boot.

The project to develop what would become the Burton Citröen 2CV Roadster started in the late 1990s, brothers Dimitri and Iwan Göbel took a 2CV chassis and began creating a mould based on it using 160 kilograms of filler and a wall of inspiration that included images of many classic mid-century cars like Jaguars, Morgans, Bugattis, and Delayahes.

It took a few tries but they eventually landed on a design they liked and created the first set of fiberglass moulds. These moulds were then used to create the first body which was affixed to a 2CV chassis and shown to the world for the first time at Citromobile in the year 2000 – the biggest Citröen car show in the Netherlands.

By 2001 the car was ready for production and orders began to pour in, the kits were offered cheaply enough that essentially anyone could afford to buy a 2CV and a Burton kit to crate their own little roadster.

Over time a hardtop with gullwing doors was developed and the company faced so much demand for Citröen parts that they developed their own in-house parts supplier than can now offer any parts you may require as well as full rolling 2CV chassis.

Above Image: This is what the original 2CV looked like for reference. Citröen became famous for their eye-catching and oftentimes humorous ads.

Citröen 2CV Burton Roadster

As you may have guessed the performance specifications of the Burton 2CV roadster are somewhat humble.

The car is powered by a the two-cylinder, air-cooled Citröen 2CV engine that can produce anywhere from 9 hp to 30+ hp depending on model and the state of tune. Engine capacity ranges from 375cc up to 602cc and there are big bore kits available to increase this further.

Although the engine output may be a little on the low side the actual weight of the vehicle is just 480 kilograms or 1,058 lbs. The cars typically use approximately 5 litres to over 100 kilometers and they can offer over 700 litres of luggage space depending on configuration.

Over the course of the 20 years of production over 1,300 of these cars have been built all over the world, most reside in Europe however they have been put together in America, Ibiza, Africa, and further afield.

With its low price tag and exceedingly affordable operating costs cars like the Burton 2CV roadster have opened the door to classic car ownership to many people who would otherwise never have experienced it.

There is now an avid community of Burton owners around the world and the company is even working in developing a 100% electric version of the car.

The Burton roadster you see here has an enlarged engine with a capacity of 652cc up from 602cc, it’s also fitted with the Burton PowerTube air intake, and it’s mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It’s due to roll across the auction block in May with an affordable price guide between $10,000 to $15,000 USD.

The post The Unusual Citröen 2CV Roadster by Burton – $10,000 to $15,000 USD appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/citroen-2cv-roadster-burton/
via gqrds

The New Stirling Moss No. 7 Sweatshirt By Goodwood

This is the new Stirling Moss No. 7 sweatshirt from the team over at Goodwood, it was designed as an homage to Sir Stirling’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB, which he famously drove to three back to back victories in 1960 including one popular win at the Goodwood Circuit.

It was during this race at Goodwood that Moss famously tuned the Ferrari’s radio in to the local radio commentary to learn what was happening in the race around him. So well-equipped was the 250 GT SWB that it it included its radio and many other amenities usually removed from racing cars for weight savings – even with them all still fitted the SWB make short work of its competition.

The 250 GT SWB remains one of the most popular of the Ferrari 250 GT series, through the 250 GTO is notably more expensive and generally more famous, the SWB has long been a favorite among enthusiasts.

Each one of these sweatshirts is made from 100% cotton to ensure it’s both comfortable and period correct. It uses the same dark navy blue as Moss’ Ferrari with the lucky number 7 on the front upper left.

The folks at Goodwood are offering this sweatshirt in sizes from XS all the way up to XXXL and they cost £50.00 apiece. Worldwide shipping is available as you would expect and this sweatshirt is joined by a new coffee cup carrying the same Moss-inspired livery.

Visit The Store

Images courtesy of Goodwood

The post The New Stirling Moss No. 7 Sweatshirt By Goodwood appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/stirling-moss-no-7-sweatshirt/
via gqrds

For Sale: Blue Bird Wanderlodge – A Luxurious, Original ’60s-Era Motorhome

1969 is a highly desirable year for the Wanderlodge Blue Bird, just 9 were built that year and today collectors and enthusiasts consider them among the most prized. The story behind this particular Wanderlodge is perhaps a little more interesting than most, it was ordered new by executives at Stroehmann Bakeries for the princely sum of $48,000 USD – that’s approximately $349,280 USD in 2021 dollars.

It’s likely that Stroehmann Bakeries intended the Wanderlodge to be used by salespeople or executives as they travelled around the country, though they would never get the chance. The shareholders in the company were so outraged when they discovered the purchase price that they demanded the vehicle be sold immediately, which it was.

The new owners cherished the motorhome and they used it for an annual pilgrimage to the Daytona 500 between 1970 and 1999. These long term owners made the wise decision to keep the bus in original condition throughout, preserving its value well over the years.

When the Wanderlodge had originally been ordered by Stroehmann Bakeries it had been optioned with two single rear beds and two separate dinette areas, the only one ordered in this configuration. There is also an additional couch at the front of the bus that converts into a bunk bed which can accommodate an additional two people.

As you would expect the vehicle also has a small kitchette and a small bathroom, it has an onboard 6.5 Kw Onan generator and the interior light fittings have been fitted with LED bulbs to reduce power use. On the roof you’ll find more modern Coleman HVAC units to keep the occupants warm or cool as the climate requires, you’ll also find a roof deck with a cargo carrier and a life raft. I’m not 100% sure why there’s a life raft but you never know when it might come in handy.

The Origins Of The Wanderlodge

Interestingly the Blue Bird Body Company had originally started out as a school bus manufacturer and were one of the first to use all-steel construction. The company had been founded by Albert Luce Sir who sold both of his Ford dealerships and went full time with his school bus manufacturing operation, something he had been doing part time previously.

Above Image: The bus has two front seats (with cup holders) offering occupants expansive views of the countryside as it flits by.

School bus production took off and before long Blue Bird was one of the biggest bus builders in the country. By the 1960s they were looking to diversify and cash in on the rising popularity of recreational motor coaches, which led to the creation of the Wanderlodge Blue Bird.

The first Wanderlodge was built in 1963 as a promotional vehicle to test the waters, small number of orders began to trickle in but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the popularity of the model really took off. Each Wanderlodge was individually optioned by its owner so no two are identical, over the years they’ve been owned by everyone from retirees to celebrities and even heads of state.

The 1969 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Shown Here

The Wanderlodge you see here is fitted with the rare Ford FT 391 cu. in. V8 truck engine, this engine was a derivative of the Ford FE which was used in everything from the Ford GT40 Le Mans winning race cars to US Navy SEAL high speed assault boats.

This bus’ unusual interior arrangement will appeal to both collectors and those who actually want to use it for its intended purpose, it’s been carefully upgraded over time where needed but kept in largely original condition throughout.

The vehicle was given a respray in its original colors more recently and power is sent to the rear axle via an Allison MT40 six-speed automatic transmission.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual motor coach or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It has a price guide of $40,000 to $50,000 USD and the bidding is currently underway, bidding will close on the 26th of May.

The post For Sale: Blue Bird Wanderlodge – A Luxurious, Original ’60s-Era Motorhome appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/blue-bird-wanderlodge/
via gqrds

An Unusual Ferrari 308 GTB LM Evocation

This eye-catching Ferrari 308 GTB has been brought up to LM specification and now closely resembles the 308 GTB LM raced by Maurice Dantinne in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The car has been thoroughly rebuilt for track day and fast road use with the interior largely stripped of its non-essential conveniences, saving 80 kgs (176 lbs) of weight in the process.

The most noticeable change to the car is of course the exterior, the LM body kit with its wider wheel arches allows for the fitment of notably wider tires and the reshaped nose with its additional two headlights gives the car a menacing road presence.

The Ferrari 308 GTB + GTS

Ferrari released the 308 GTB and GTS models in 1975 to replace the Dino 246 GT and GTS in 1975. The new 308 used a similar tubular steel frame to the Ferrari 308 GT4 with a version of the same engine – the Ferrari F106 AB V8 with double overhead cams per bank, two valves per cylinder, four twin-choke Weber 40DCNF carburetors, a swept capacity of 2,927cc or 2.9 litres.

Interestingly the early models in the 308 GTB/GTS family had bodies made from fiberglass by Carrozzeria Scaglietti they called it “Vetroresina” and it would stay in use for two years until 1977 when steel bodies were used and the cars gained approximately 150 kgs (331 lbs) as a result.

The earlier versions of the 308 GTB/GTS were powered by one of two engine specifications depending on delivery location, European cars produced 252 bhp at 6,600 rpm whereas American delivered cars produced 237 bhp at 6,600 rpm due to emissions control devices to meet local regulations.

Above Image: The car has pop up headlights as well as new additional driving lights in the nose.

Regardless of engine specification all cars sent their power back to the 5-speed gearbox to the rear wheels and the shifter worked inside a Ferrari trademark gated transmission plate.

Ferrari would keep the 308 GTB/GTS in production from 1975 until 1985, it was produced in original carburettored guise as well as the fuel injected GTBi/GTSi series. Later the Quattrovalvole four-valve would be released and the rarer 208 and 208 Turbo models satisfied demand for lower tax bracket vehicles in Italy.

The Ferrari 308 GTB LM

The original Ferrari 308 GTB LM was developed for motorsport use, perhaps most famously being campaigned by Maurice Dantinne in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

The LM (an abbreviation of Le Mans) was a significantly reengineered version of the road car with a wider track, wider wheels, a body with considerable aerodynamic changes, and an uprated drive train for competition use.

The car you see here is a more recent creation that has been built to 308 GTB LM spec with changes including uprated Intrax adjustable suspension, a four-tip sports exhaust, upgraded brakes, and an 80 kg weight reduction thanks to that stripped-out interior.

The car’s appearance has been considerably changed thanks to the fitment of that front bumper and grille conversion, with a wider bodykit and a set of PLS wheels, clad with Pirelli P Zero Asimmetrico tires.

The engine now breathes through a set of velocity stacks capped with grilles to keep larger debris out, this coupled with the sports exhaust resulted in notably improved performance.

The interior of the car is well equipped for both fast road and track use with LTEC bucket seats with Sabelt four-point harnesses, and a custom three-spoke racing steering wheel.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual Ferrari or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars. It’s currently being auctioned live and at the time of writing the bidding is sitting at €44,000 with 3 days remaining.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post An Unusual Ferrari 308 GTB LM Evocation appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ferrari-308-gtb-lm/
via gqrds

Vintage FBI Training Film: Examination Of Stolen Cars

This is an official FBI training film from the 1970s about how to examine stolen cars for evidence – I know that may sound boring but it actually makes fascinating viewing and it gives you an insight into just how clever some of the chop shops were that the FBI was dealing with.

The film starts with a car thief finding the specific make and model he was looking for, he then carefully breaks into it, hot-wires it, and discreetly drives away. He brings the car to the chop shop and they set to work giving the car a new identity that they pulled from a wrecked car from a junkyard.

The techniques used by these criminals were remarkably resourceful, you have to wonder why they didn’t just run a legitimate garage, though the fast money of flipping stolen cars likely had a lot to do with it.

The FBI and police techniques were similarly advanced, more so than you might expect, including feeling around behind trim elements for welds where there shouldn’t be welds – indicating that a panel with a VIN tag had been replaced.

Whereas these thieves used to operate in an entirely analog world the car and motorcycles thieves that operate today occupy a largely digital world, with many stolen vehicles having their parts stripped and sold off online, often within a matter of days.

Modern cars can no longer be hot-wired of course, though some enterprising car thieves use sniffing devices to capture codes from keyless car ignition systems right through the air, arguably an easier task than just knowing which two wires to twist together.

The post Vintage FBI Training Film: Examination Of Stolen Cars appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/vintage-fbi-training-film-examination-of-stolen-cars/
via gqrds

The Rare RGS Atalanta 1 Of Just 11 Ever Made

This is an original RGS Atalanta, if you’ve never seen one before that’s because it’s believed that only 11 were originally built in England back in the 1950s.

The 50s were a time of astonishingly rapid development in the automotive world, with WWII over there were many men (and women) who had been trained in mechanical and engineering trades, and many of them applied this training to the development of fast cars and motorcycles.

One of these men was Major Richard G. Shattock, a retired member of the British Army and a former tank driver. Before the outbreak of WWII Shattock had been a keen motorsport enthusiast and had raced an Austin Ulster, after the war he bought the rights to the defunct Atalanta Motor Company and set to work designing a new car from the ground up.

The Original Atalanta Motor Company

Atalanta had originally been founded in 1937 by Alfred Gough, a brilliant engineer who had designed an advanced overhead-camshaft, three-valve engine for Frazer Nash. With Atalanta he set about designing his own car, he was joined by fellow Fraser Nash alumni and talented draughtsman Peter Crosby.

The project was funded by the well-heeled Peter Whitehead and Neil Watson, Whitehead would go on to become a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Watson was the heir to the Burma Oils fortune. The company’s first car was unveiled in 1937 and immediately established itself as one of the most advanced British cars of its era.

Known simply as the Atalanta, the car featured a slew of cutting edge features including fully independent coil spring suspension on all four corners, adjustable damping front and rear, hydraulic brakes all around, an electric operated pre-selector gearbox, and an unusual three-valve twin spark cylinder head courtesy of Alfred Gough’s aluminium 1½ litre 78 bhp and 2 litre 98 bhp four cylinder engines.

The Atalanta made use of a slew of advanced alloys like electron, duralumin, and hiduminium, and later in production a car was offered with the popular 4.3 litre V12 engine from the Lincoln Zephyr. Sadly the company was shuttered after just 20 cars had been built, surviving Atalantas from this era are now highly sought after.

Atalanta – The Resurrection

After the Second World War the Atalanta name was purchased by Richard G. Shattock who then added his initials to the newly relaunched company’s first model – the RGS Atalanta.

Shattock was faithful to the engineering prowess that had gone into the first car to carry the company name back in 1937. He developed his own tubular steel chassis and he designed a fully independent suspension set up for the car just like its forebear.

When it came time to fit an engine Shattock choose a Jaguar XK120 straight-six for the car you see here – the XK120 had been the world’s fastest production car at the time of its launch in 1949, just four years before this car was built.

There were two ways to get yourself into an RGS Atalanta, one was to buy a completed car from the workshop and the other was to order just the parts you needed that you couldn’t make yourself – things like the body and suspension.

It’s generally believed that just 11 cars were built by Shattock and his team, though a slew of bodies and other components had been sold to buyers around the country, some of the resulting cars were powered by engines from Lea-Francis, Ford, Jaguar, and even Aston Martin.

The car you see here is thought to be just the third one ever built at the workshop, its early life is a bit of a mystery however it may have been used for racing. It was road registered in 1955, and fitted with a full windscreen, folding top, and side screens to make road use more manageable.

The car is powered by the above mentioned DOHC XK120 engine with a swept capacity of 3,442cc, it’s fitted with triple SU carburetors and sends its 160 bhp to the rear wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission. The weight isn’t listed however with its alloy body and lightweight construction it will doubtless be a featherweight.

The car is fitted with a 16 quart engine sump, Alfin aluminum brake drums, alloy rear differential, and a cylinder head with larger valves. The car has now been on static display for many years and will require a recommissioning before any driving is attempted. For the right buyer it could make an ideal classic addition to the garage that many won’t recognize and very few will have seen before.

If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Bonhams, it’s due to roll across the auction block in May with a price guide of $300,000 to $500,000 USD.