A few days ago, I mentioned that the SP250 roadster was the last independently designed Daimler before the company was taken over by Jaguar. But in 1962, its 2.5-litre V8 engine was combined with the Jag Mk2 body to produce the Daimler 2.5 V8 saloon. Note the Daimler badging and special fluted grille. The lighter Daimler engine was said to improve the Mk2’s handling. Pics taken - British Motor Museum, 2023. (1/2)
In 1959, the Jaguar 2.4/3.4-litre saloon featured yesterday was replaced by the revamped Mk2 saloon. The 2.4 and 3.4 XK straight six engines were carried over but joined by a larger 3.8. The glass area was significantly increased. Favoured by bank robbers - at least by reputation. I saw this magnificent 3.8 at the British Motor Museum in 2023.
I’ll return to the subject of Daimler’s integration into Jaguar in a couple of days’ time but first I need to set the scene with some Jags. First, this 1958 3.4-litre saloon, an upgrade of the 1955 2.4-litre saloon, which, like yesterday’s E-Type, used Jaguar’s legendary twin-cam straight-six XK engine (third photo). This car, seen at the British Motor Museum, once belonged to the father of the racing driver and journalist Paul Frère.
Yesterday’s Daimler SP250 was a fascinating machine but never a big hit. One reason was that in 1960, Daimler was sold by its then owner Birmingham Small Arms to Jaguar, bringing the SP250 under the same corporate roof as the impossibly glamorous 1961 E-Type, seen here in early Series 1 form at the British Motor Museum. The SP250, the last independently developed Daimler, bowed out in 1964.
Today, a car with an interesting connection to the recently featured Reliant Scimitars. This is a 1959 prototype for the Daimler SP250, a GRP-bodied roadster with a 2.5-litre V8. In 1962, the design house Ogle proposed a new body for the SP250, the SX250 concept. This was instead taken up by Reliant, using the chassis of its Sabre model, to produce the Scimitar SE4 I posted recently. This SP250 was snapped at the British Motor Museum in 2023.
For #Caturday, a Kitten. I thought I’d round off this week of Reliants with this, the Kitten, a four-wheeled version of the famous Robin three-wheeler, which was introduced in 1975. I saw this one at last month’s Practical Classics resto show.
Today, we see the Reliant Scimitar GTE in its final and most familiar form, the SE6 (more specifically, in this case, a slightly updated SE6A). Compared with the SE5, there were a number of visual tweaks and so on, especially at the front, but the basic recipe remained the same. Snapped this 1977 car at the NEC Classic Motor Show last year.
Yesterday, I posted a photo of a car that I described as a Reliant Scimitar SE5. That description was entirely accurate, but for the true car geek, not quite complete. Yesterday’s car was in fact an SE5A, a variant of the SE5 incorporating some mid-life refinements that was introduced in 1972. This car is a ‘pre-A’ SE5, but if I am being honest, externally, I cannot tell them apart. Snapped at the Practical Classics resto show last month.
Yesterday, I posted the first Reliant Scimitar, the SE4. This is its successor, the SE5, introduced in 1968. As well as a new frontal design, the SE5 also featured the elongated ‘sporty estate’ GTE rear bodywork employed by the Scimitar for the rest of its life. The SE5 used the Ford Essex V6 engine, already seen in late SE4s. This 1974 car, seen at the recent Practical Classics resto show, has apparently had one owner from new. (1/2)
Today, a much more stylish Reliant in the form of this early Scimitar, a rare SE4 model. The SE4 (1964-70) didn’t have the long hatchback body normally seen on the Scimitar from the SE5 models onwards but was instead a notchback coupé. This convertible is a one-off conversion by an enthusiast, and has the old Ford 2.6-litre straight six engine, not the later ‘Essex’ Ford V6 seen in most Scimitars. Pics taken at the Practical Classics resto show.
David Wilkins