Swallow Doretti | Classic-car-images

A collection of images of classic Swallow cars, and cars that are likely to become classics, taken at numerous visits to car shows, motoring museums, motoring events and on the road when the opportunity arises.

The Swallow Doretti is a British sports car built on Swallow's own custom chassis using Triumph TR2 mechanicals, made between 1954 and 1955. It was intended for the US market, as a more refined two-seater than what was available there at that time. The car was built by the Swallow Coachbuilding Company Ltd., a Tube Investments Group subsidiary bought for its 1935–1946 association with Jaguar's pre-war motorcycle sidecars.

The Doretti name was derived from Dorothy Deen, who managed the Western US distributorship California Sales. The Trade Mark logo and Doretti name are in the ownership of Canadian Peter Schömer. He is building a new limited edition sports car called the Doretti TR250 'Corsa Veloce' using the Ferrari TR 250 chassis and engine from 1957.

1950

1954 Swallow Doretti, 717 CRE

Image taken at the NEC Classic Motor Show on 9th November 2024.
Vehicle first registered in May 1954.
1991cc petrol engine.

The notice displayed with the vehicle states:
Swallow Dorettis are traditionally identified by their chassis number. Production cars commenced with 1001 and were left-hand drive destined for the American market, 1075 being the first right-hand drive production run. Originally the car was launched on 6th January 1954 in Los Angeles.
However, the first cars did not comply with this system of numbering; there were two prototypes, SKD146X1 and SKD146X7. plus the development car 100RH. In addition there was a silver car for Sir John Black written off on 3rd November 1953, a white car with red interior and a blue chassis which were displayed at the Ambassador Hotel, a light blue car was also in California but later exhibited at the New York launch in February 1954. The identities of these 4fouor re not known. Of these 7, only SKD146X7 and 100RH were right-hand drive.
The car displayed is the Development and works car, 100RH. It was the first Doretti to be registered in the UK in May 1954 as 717 CRE, a month before SKD146X7. Dave Flavell has owned it since 1972. It was fully rebuilt between 2020 and 22. during the rebuild, the steering box dated April 1953 was the oldest part, and the number 5 was found under the cill plate.

1954 Swallow Doretti, 717 CRE