DAIMLER 2.5 V8

Produced by Jaguar between 1962 and 1969, the 2.5 V8 was the first Jaguar to carry the Daimler moniker. Daimler had gone to considerable efforts to create the small 2.5-litre V8 initially used in its SP250 sports car. The engine was also intended to provide the power for a new saloon being developed to replace the company’s outdated Daimler Conquest. But, based on the Vauxhall Cresta PA, the project had already been abandoned before Jaguar took over.

Jaguar had taken Daimler over mainly to increase its own production capacity and did not intend to develop a new Daimler saloon. However, pressure from the dealer network convinced Jaguar to try the small V8 in the Mk2 shell and thus the Daimler V8 250 born. Jaguar had inherited the new engine, which was smaller and considerably lighter than its own Xk-series engine and with more power than the 2.8 version of that. By the time Jaguar had attached the Borgwarner automatic transmission to it, the company had a car that was considerably lighter than the six-cylinder Jaguar. The Daimler had a top speed of 180kph.

Apart from the motor and drivetrain, the Daimler was very similar to the Mk2 Jaguar — only small details like the fluted grille and other minor design details differentiated it. Over 17,600 of the cars were produced, but the eventual merger of Jaguar with British Leyland sounded the model’s death knell. It is a graphic reminder today of what the British car industry once was.

This particular example is the very car that featured in Issue No. 296 of this magazine in August 2015. Ah, just so much walnut and so much leather!

Call Robert on 021 634 456.