SP 250 from 1963 all round disc brakes, and optional auto.
2½-Litre is a MkII Jaguar fitted with excellent 2.5 litre V8 engine and with slightly up graded interior. Top speed is 115 mph. Fluted grille and rear number plate light distinguish it from MkII.
DISCONTINUATION of the normal six-cylinder Majestic makes the 1963 Daimler range an all-V8 line. The Major, like the SP 250, carries through without change. Offering a highly unusual combination of luxury and performance, the Majestic Major in its two forms-saloon and limousine -eats up the miles in uncanny silence at speeds that make it a hard nut for many sports cars to crack. Engine layout, with a single camshaft serving banks of cylinders angled at go degrees, and hemispherical combustion chambers, is common to all modern Daimlers. Cylinder heads are light alloy, the main block cast iron. Good taste and unostentatious luxury are the keynotes of the Major's interior appointments, which include easy-to-read and comprehensive instruments, fine-quality leather upholstery and polished wood facia and door trim. For back-seat passengers' convenience, let-down picnic tables are recessed into the rear of the front seat squabs.
UNIQUE among British sports cars in offering the combination of a V8 engine and a fibreglass body, the SP250 still retains its original Daimler character, in spite of coming under the Jaguar wing. Lookswise, this car may not be everybody's cup of tea, but its brilliant engine is unanimously acclaimed as a masterpiece among British power units. An advantage of fibre-glass bodies is that the effects of "shunts" can be repaired relatively cheaply. With a top speed of a "ton and a quarter", the SP250 is one of the fastest cars of its capacity class on the market. Specimen acceleration figures: Zero to 100 m.p.h., 25 ½ secs.; 50 to 70 m.p.h. in top, 8 ¼ secs.; standing-start quarter-mile, 17 secs. Available extras include centre-lock wire wheels and an attractive hard top. Except for out-and-out maximum performance, the little V8 engine runs satisfactorily on ordinary premium-grade petrol.
EVER since Jaguar absorbed Daimler, the motoring World has been wondering how long it would be before Sir William Lyons cross-grafted the two strains. Now he has done so, and here's the first-fruit ... in effect a Mk. II Jaguar saloon powered by the Daimler SP250's superb 2½-litre V8 engine. How will it compare in performance with its nearest Mk. II kin-the 2.4litre? Pretty well, to judge by the relevant statistics, for it weighs about the same and develops 20 b.h.p. more -140 as against 120 b.h.p. This, on the face of it, may seem a big difference in power, considering that the V8 is only 65 c.c. bigger than the six, and that the latter has overhead camshafts whereas the V8 is a push rodder. Remember, though, that the V8's cylinder multiple and oversquare dimensions give it a marked advantage in piston area. A notable difference between the new Daimler and the 2.4 Jaguar is that the former has automatic transmission as standard equipment and a manual gearbox isn't available for it; the 2.4, of course, normally has four lever-shifted speeds and automatic transmission is an extra. Elsewhere, the 2 ½-litre Daimler saloon closely follows the 2.4 Jaguar blueprint ... disc brakes all round, cantilever rear springing and wishbone-and-coil i.f.s. in front, integral body and chassis, typically Jaguar/ Daimler interior trim with fine hide upholstery and figured walnut facia.
(London report, September'62)
