Now, when you think of UK police cars, you’ll likely think of the Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, or, if you’re from a slightly older generation, the Rover SD1. Now, these all seem very boring cars, maybe except the SD1, but that’s not to say that the UK police haven’t had some very exciting cars too. South Yorkshire police, for a time, had a fleet of  Mitsubishi Evo 10s; other police forces famously had Lotus Evora Ss, but one of the most interesting cars the police have ever owned is the Daimler SP250.

Also known as the Daimler Dart, it was launched in 1959 at the New York Motor Show, where it received possibly the worst reception possible, being voted the ugliest car at the event.

It was after this awful debut that the Metropolitan Police force turned around about 26 of them. They bought it because it was fitted with a 2.5-litre V8 engine producing 140 brake horsepower, and its lightweight fibreglass body made it quick. 

The police force claimed they needed them to chase down cafe racers because their older cars weren’t fast enough. But I think they wanted them for intimidation, because when the ugliest car from the 1959 New York Motor Show is chasing you down, and you look behind you to see a car with a frog’s face on ketamine, you would likely pull over or crash your car out of fear.

It didn’t just look like a monster begging to be put out of its misery; it seemed like a skeleton without any of the car’s optional extras. Its potential extras included whitewall wheels, adjustable steering columns, a hard top, front and rear bumpers, windscreen washers, a heater, fog lights, an override and seatbelts.

It also had issues with its design beyond its looks. Due to its very heavy steel chassis and fibreglass body, the body would actually flex, and the chassis would rust, leading to the doors and boot to randomly pop open at any time. Perfect for when you find yourself in a high-speed road chase.

Top speed	120 mph
0-60	8.9 seconds
How many units were sold	2,654
Cost when new	£1,539
How many nightmares have I had of the SP250?	8 a week

Therefore, the Daimler SP250 is our car of the week because my gran’s friend has just traded out an old Aston Martin Vantage so he could do up one of these. Which is a decision which honestly frightened me, but not nearly as much as how much the car itself scares me.

“Daimler SP250 / 1962” by Ruud Onos is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Tags

dan, boland, dan boland, daimler, sp250, dart, police, vauxhall, astra, ford, focus, rover, sd1, mitsubishi, evo, lotus, evora, ugly, frog, ketamine, skeleton, seatbelt, road chase, cafe racer, car of the week, cotw, gran, aston martin, vantage, scary