MGA and Daimler SP250: high-speed policing

By Andrew Roberts

| 11 Mar 2024

Classic & Sports Car – MGA vs Daimler SP250: high-speed policing

The venue is West Sussex’s Amberley Museum, where all Teds and spivs have apparently gone into hiding.

The reason is clear: the presence of Jon Dorsett’s 1961 ex-London Metropolitan Police Service Daimler SP250 and Simon Dwyer’s 1959 Lancashire Constabulary MGA 1600 MkI.

Both represented new developments in post-war traffic policing, and the sight of either of these cars would have struck fear into any bold Hillman Minx owner contemplating exceeding 30mph in a built-up area.

This MGA 1600 MkI police car was used by Lancashire Constabulary

Lancashire, then with the UK’s largest police force outside London, acquired its first MGA in November 1955, only two months after the model’s launch.

Its first MG had been commissioned 23 years earlier, and the fact that female officers crewed its latest two-seater patrol cars inevitably attracted press curiosity.

One particularly enthusiastic journalist wrote in 1957: ‘It is no reflection on their character to say that these women of the Lancashire County Force are ‘fast’.

‘They are equipped with MG sports cars, capable of 100mph, as the first women drivers in the traffic patrol branch.’

The ex-police MGA’s loudhailer is a mock-up

Officers who had passed their Class B driving exam piloted the black MGA area cars, while the traffic cars were the province of drivers who had completed the ‘Standard A’ advanced driving course.

These officers wore distinctive white uniform caps and, very unusually for British police cars in the late 1950s, the traffic patrol MGs were also finished in white.

Lancashire’s chief constable, Colonel Sir Thomas Eric St Johnston, thought this hue helped the MGs to stand out on the road.

The MGA’s B-series engine makes 79bhp. More than enough to catch sedate 1950s saloon cars

The force ordered around 50 MGAs for traffic duties and commissioned 592 KTB, chassis number GHN70453, on 8 July 1959 as one of a batch of 12.

The force saved £17 7s 1d per car by not specifying the optional heater; instead, there was a blanket for the use of crews, but this proved ineffective during the big winter of 1962-’63.

In terms of special equipment, Lancashire’s police workshop fitted the A with a public address system, flashing beacons fore and aft (another innovation for the late 1950s), a Pye radio system with twin aerials, and a more accurate Jaeger speedometer in place of the standard Smiths instrument.

Police MGAs substituted Smiths dials for more accurate Jaeger instruments

Two 12V batteries coped with the extra kit, while the boot held a wireless transmitter, white coats, hurricane lamps, flares, first aid and incident boxes, a fire extinguisher and ‘Accident’ signs.

The police removed the rear bulkhead to create more space, but the spare wheel still had to be sacrificed.

One unusual feature of 592 KTB is the extra sidelight atop each front wing, fitted by the Lancashire force to its patrol cars from October 1957.

Lancashire’s police workshop modified the Constabulary’s MGAs with Pye radio systems

Simon is still researching the A’s history in service, and he wonders if his car was one of the MGs that maintained order on the Preston Bypass: it is fitted with twin-tone horns and a bell that could have summoned errant Vauxhall Victor drivers on Britain’s first motorway.

In 1958, Col St Johnston told The Guardian: ‘Motorists are advised on correct driving techniques by public address systems from police patrol cars when this can be done safely.’

However, the tannoy on this particular MG is actually a converted dish, so it would be of little use when dissuading motorists from making a U-turn over the central reservation.

The MGA’s 1588cc four-cylinder engine isn’t the loudest thing under the bonnet

MGA production ended in 1962, and Lancashire went on to use its MGB successor.

It sold ‘our’ car on 29 May 1964, and there are no records until 1975 when a Mr Woodhead of Woking was recorded as the owner.

In 1978, the DVLA listed the MG as green; by 1985, the latest owner had painted it blue.

Nine years later, David Cox restored the MGA to its correct police colour scheme and specification, with Lancashire Constabulary kindly donating the original boxes.

The MGA police car’s twin-tone horns shamed misbehaving drivers

Simon became the MG’s custodian in December 2003 and a decade later he decided it needed a respray and a cosmetic rebuild.

Today, his A is best known as the clerk of the course’s car at the Goodwood Revival, a role from which members of the public often recognise the MG.

“It has been doing this for 25 years, ever since the previous owner was first asked to take part,” says Simon.

When this MGA was restored to its police specification, the Lancashire Constabulary donated some of the missing accessories

The Daimler’s police career is inextricably associated with the Ace Cafe, which opened in 1938.

London’s increasing reliance on road transport led to the Ace becoming possibly the UK’s best-known 1950s lorry-driver pull-in.

By the end of the decade it had started to attract ‘ton-up boys’, a late incarnation of the Teddy Boys who favoured Gene Vincent-style leather jackets and hire-purchased BSAs.

They quickly became the media’s folk devil of choice, and the Daily Mirror’s 9 February 1961 headline read: ‘Suicide Club! It devours 130,000 members EVERY YEAR!!’

The white MGA traffic cars were entrusted to police officers who had completed the ‘Standard A’ advanced driving course

The extensive article inside reported that, in 1959, some 128,614 riders had been injured and 1680 killed.

Some ton-up boys treated the report with derision, but the London Metropolitan Police was genuinely concerned about the accident rate.

A few, very foolish bikers would insert 6d in the jukebox at the Ace and then attempt to race to the Hanger Lane Junction and back before Vince Taylor and his Playboys had ceased playing Jet Black Machine.

Wearing crash helmets would not be mandatory until 1973, and the authorities recorded three fatalities per week.

‘Today this MGA is best known as the clerk of the course’s car at the Goodwood Revival’

Some parents would inform the police of their son’s registration number to apprehend him before he died in a crash.

In short, the Met required a traffic patrol vehicle that offered a visible deterrent, with greater road manners than a Wolseley 6/90 or 6/99 could provide.

The commissioner decided that the Daimler SP250 would offer the best combination of speed and a reasonable price.

The Coventry firm had unveiled its two-seater sports car at the 1959 New York motor show.

The Daimler (closest) has more of a plain-clothes air than the MGA

Its looks had attracted some controversy, but enthusiasts were more interested in its Edward Turner-designed 2.5-litre V8 engine.

The Motor recorded the SP250’s top speed as 125mph.

Full production began in 1960, and in April 1961 Daimler introduced the B-spec version with bumpers and an adjustable steering column as standard.

The upgraded SP250 also had a more rigid chassis to stop the doors from flying open when cornering.

The Daimler SP250’s gutsy Turner V8 makes 140bhp

The first batch of three Daimlers entered service on 20 August of that year.

Jon, who is a retired London Met officer, says: “The force only assigned specially selected drivers aged over 25, and who had passed their Class 1 course, to the Daimlers.”

To enhance vision – and the SP250’s profile – crews would patrol with the hoods lowered in virtually all weathers.

It was also common practice for the radio operator to give the driver the all-clear when about to negotiate a left turn.

Several police forces across the UK used Daimler SP250s

In late 1961, another Daily Mirror article employed a certain amount of hyperbole with a report noting how ‘hooligan motorcyclists who boast of doing “a ton” in built-up areas’ would now be quelled by ‘130mph speed cops’.

In their first month of service, the SP250s apprehended 140 speed violators, one of whom claimed he was just having “a spot of fun”.

Several forces employed the Daimler, but the Met was its best-known user, with 26 examples provided by the Stratstone dealerships and stationed at traffic garages throughout the capital.

Production ended in September 1964, although the factory produced two more special-order cars for the Australian police that October.

This ex-Met police Daimler SP250 was used to deter high-speed ’bikers

By the end of the year, the Met had taken delivery of its final patrol car, registered ALM 742B, and in 1966 the force decided to replace the Daimlers with Sunbeam Tigers.

The last SP250s finally left service in 1969.

Jon’s car featured in a great deal of the force’s publicity, including a Pathé newsreel entitled Look Out Bandits!

He explains that 551 CLU spent the first 12-18 months of its police career visiting notorious ’biker haunts to act as a preventative measure.

The Daimler SP250 police car’s cabin carries the patina of its many years in service

One of these was the Ace, where the cafe’s habitués did not always welcome the SP250’s presence.

“My car was then based at Thornton Heath and was finally decommissioned in late 1965,” Jon adds.

“I bought it in 2014 when its previous owner became too old to drive it; the car had been stored for 15 years.

“Apart from a rebuilt differential, I haven’t touched it since.”

The Daimler SP250’s Pye radio gave the police an extra advantage

Compared with the MG, the Daimler seems more genteel, with its winding windows and external doorhandles.

It is also more spacious, although the vestigial rear seat was not entirely suited to hosting even a reluctant passenger.

Jon notes: “I have heard of a Daimler carrying a police cadet behind the driver, but it would have been a tight squeeze.”

In terms of looks, the SP250’s glassfibre bodywork is best described as a blend of the dramatic, with its fins, and the sober, due to its livery.

‘It must have felt like a Formula One car for any police driver transferring from a staid Wolseley’

Jon adds: “Black was the colour of choice for London police cars at that time.

“It looked imposing and was probably cheaper than other shades. The Tigers were the Met’s first white traffic cars.”

Simon describes his MG as light and precise on the move: “Compared with the A, the B feels a lot heavier.

“On the move, you feel every kind of bump and contour of the road. My car isn’t fitted with overdrive, and at times you miss a five-speed ’box.”

This Daimler SP250 police car has some subtle modifications

“The gearing is perfect up to 60mph,” he continues, “but above that speed it’s not happy.

“Despite its possible history, the A is also a car that was clearly designed in the pre-motorway age.

“Another challenge is the narrow doors: you develop a system of swivelling on the seat to make a reasonably elegant entry and exit.

“Once you are in place, the cockpit feels fine.”

The Daimler SP250 traffic car trumped the Met’s Wolseley 6/99 patrol cars for rapid response

The SP250’s cabin is more opulent than the MG’s, and Jon finds it a pleasant car to drive.

“That said, you cannot afford a lapse in your concentration,” he adds.

“This is a lightweight and highly responsive sports car that is ready for anything, not a comfortable cruiser.”

As with all Met SP250s, 551 CLU has the automatic Borg-Warner gearbox that became an option on home-market B-spec models; the force believed it was best-suited to urban roads.

The Daimler SP250 needs focus to get the best from it

Jon also points out the intermediate hold, allowing him to retain up to 100mph in second gear.

“You pull on the lever pretty hard, and the response is incredible,” he says.

As a result, the SP250 was able to pursue determined youths on their Norton-Villiers, the sound of its Winkworth bell blending with the V8’s engine note.

The Daimler’s pair of mirrors provides driver and passenger with an all-round view

Of our two patrol cars, the MGA is an example of a force adapting a familiar form of transport to new circumstances.

Lancashire had a long tradition of MG usage, and this one represented a fresh chapter in its traffic patrols.

The white livery and flashing beacons reflected not only increased private car ownership, but also the coming of the motorway age.

Some of the MGA’s detailing, such as the detachable sidescreens, dated from the 1930s, but it was a machine that anticipated the policing challenges of the 1960s.

The Winkworth bell sits atop the Daimler SP250’s front bumper

As for the Daimler, Jon thinks it must have felt like a Formula One car for any police driver transferring from a staid Wolseley.

“The SP250 represented a new form of preventative traffic policing in London,” he says.

“The 6/99 ‘Big Farina’ patrol cars entered service not long before the Daimlers, but they seemed to hail from another world; upholding a solid authority rather than being able to rapidly respond to an incident.

“The Met SP250s more than deserve the unofficial name ‘Dart’.”

Above all, both the MG and Daimler were responsible for saving countless lives, and for that they deserve to be celebrated.

Images: John Bradshaw

Thanks to: Steve Woodward, Police Car UK; Amberley Museum

Factfiles

MGA 1600 MkI

Sold/number built 1950-’60/31,501
Construction steel chassis, steel and aluminium panels
Engine all-iron, ohv 1588cc ‘four’, twin SU carburettors
Max power 79bhp @ 5600rpm
Max torque 78lb ft @ 5500rpm
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by coil springs, wishbones rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs; lever-arm dampers f/r
Steering rack and pinion
Brakes discs front, drums rear
Length 13ft (3962mm)
Width 4ft 10in (1473mm)
Height 4ft 2in (1270mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 10in (2388mm)
Weight 2044Ib (927kg)
Mpg 29.7
0-60mph 13.3 secs
Top speed 96mph
Price new £940
Price now £20-40,000*

Daimler SP250

Sold/number built 1959-’64/2654
Construction steel ladder chassis, glassfibre body
Engine iron-block, alloy-heads, ohv 2547cc V8, twin SU carburettors
Max power 140bhp @ 5800rpm
Max torque 155lb ft @ 3600rpm
Transmission Borg-Warner three-speed automatic, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, coil springs rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs; telescopic dampers f/r
Steering cam and peg
Brakes discs
Length 13ft 4½in (4077mm)
Width 5ft ½in (1537mm)
Height 4ft 2¼in (1276mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 8in (2337mm)
Weight 2218lb (1006kg)
Mpg 29
0-60mph 10.2 secs
Top speed 125mph
Price new £1539
Price now £30-50,000*