‘Had I seen it I’d have negotiated the price’

Your tales of the latest classic car deals. This week, how one reader plans to Dart over to France in his Daimler

What made you want a Daimler SP250?

I finished my last project and I had nothing to do. I retired too early and I need to keep busy, and with my hobby being classic cars, it was logical to get another. The lockdown gave me plenty of time to do some thorough research and make plans. I have been looking for one for many many years but it’s not often they come up for sale, and they have a certain charm about them.

Tell us about this one.

I got talking to a guy on the Daimler SP250 Owners club stand and the conversation got around to me saying I had been looking for one. He told me he had one in a barn that was taken apart over 30 years ago but he wasn’t keen to sell it. I had to sell an Austin-healey Sprite MKI and once I had the money and had convinced him to sell it to me, lockdown kicked-in so I had no project to work on until I picked it up last spring.

Why did you pick this specific example? Did you see any others?

I have never owned one before, so I wanted a new experience. On top of that it has a fibreglass body, another thing I’ve never worked on. I love two seater convertibles so this fitted the bill so well. I didn’t see any others and because of COVID I couldn’t go to see the car.

Has it been a joy to own?

When lockdown was lifted I just went and handed over my money for an unknown, so-called complete but dismantled car and I found that parts were missing and mega damage to the engine, which is going to cost me. But I am actually pleased with the car and it has been very interesting working on it. If I’d have seen the car I would have negotiated the price, but I am enjoying the project.

What are your plans for it now?

My plans are to fully restore the car. While doing this I will incorporate some improvement modifications such as rack and pinion steering, overdrive, stainless steel exhaust, a wire wheel conversion, electronic ignition, and converting it to negative earth to name a few. When I’m finished, we’ll be off to the Champagne region of France. My wife is looking to retire in July so I have a date to aim for.

But Trevor isn’t new to a project or two, and there a few better things to keep busy on than resurrecting a Dart, and one which will have very sensible upgrades. Having a goal will help Trevor to keep this project on track, and when he pulls into the vineyard in summer, the sound of corks popping will only be eclipsed by his newly re-built V8’.