Although it’s not beautiful, you must respect the engineering.
Beauty is all in the eyes of the beholder. However, by conventional automotive standards, it is hard to call Daimler SP250 beautiful. The oddity of this version with a retractable roof is harder to find appealing, but the engineering behind lowering it deserves admiration.
Even the SP250 standard has an odd look. The catfish-like outward-poking grille reminds me of it. Bug eyes are present, and the large fins at the rear don’t match the exterior’s round styling.
The standard SP250 had a folding softtop. There was also an option for a removable hardtop. As a demonstration vehicle, this car received a retractable hardtop by the British company Antony H. Croucher Precision & Prototype Engineering Co Ltd.
At first glance, the SP250 looks like a hardtop. It has large windows on the sides and an odd design. The roof can be operated by electro-hydraulic power at the flick of a switch located in the cabin. The roof slides back onto the rear deck, then lowers onto its tail. The rear glass can still be seen from the back and allows you to see the trunk including the vehicle’s badge.
In 1959, the SP250 was introduced with a 2.5-liter V8 engine from Edward Turner, Triumph motorcycle engine design. The powerplant was hemispherical and produced 140 horsepower (104 kilowatts) as well as 155 pound-feet (220 Newton-meters). The standard disc brakes were used for all four wheels. This was a rare feature at that time.
The parent company of Mercedes-Benz is not the Daimler automaker that made the SP250. In 1896, a British businessman purchased the rights to the Daimler brand for England.
Jaguar took control in 1960. Over the years, Daimler evolved into something similar to Maybach-badged Mercedes models today. The Daimler would be almost identical to the Jaguar product, but it would have a more luxurious cabin.