John,
Since you bring this up (and I am on that page) the previously cited
book states:
"The fate of the SP250 was sealed as early as 1960 when Jaguar took over
the ailing Daimler concern to boost its production capacity. Sit
William Lyons never liked the Dart, because the styling offended him,
but also because it would also have been seen as low-level competition
for the E-Type. Jaguar made a half-hearted attempt to restyle the car,
but it was never really on and Lyons pulled the plug with no regrets in
1964. He was bright enough to see the potential in the SP250's
excellent engine however, and since 1962 had been offering it in a
highly successful Daimlerized version of the Mk2 called the 2 1/2 litre
V-eight."
Joe
John Macartney wrote:
>
> This is all rather interesting - for me, anyway. Clearly, the SP250 isn't
>everyone's cup
> of tea on the appearance stakes - and this is where a curious set of
>circumstances raises
> it's head.
> There is and has been a popular belief circulating in England for many years
>(and probably
> further afield) that Sir William Lyons (Jaguar founder) bought Daimler
>because they were
> about to launch a sports car using a 4.5litre V8 with many similarities to
>the 250 - but
> larger. Feedback I've had over the years suggests this larger car was not too
>far removed
> from the 250 in many aspects of its appearance.I suspect it was probably
>pretty fast and
> too close for comfort for Lyons with his soon to appear E type. For him, the
>only solution
> was to buy the company and kill the car so the E Type might live. About eight
>years later,
> he did a similar thing when Rover planned the Rover P6BS. While Lyons
>couldn't buy out
> British Leyland as his company was part of it, he did make it very clear to
>the Main board
> that if the P6BS went into production, he would recommend to his Board that
>Jaguar should
> uncouple from BL - and quick. As Jaguar was very much the jewel in BL's
>crown,the Rover
> died pretty well overnight - and for good and Lyons was happy(er)
> Jonmac
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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