The Rover P5 & P5B...

[Villain]

Now that I've finally manage to outfox photo-bucket by using Village.photos instead (with a big thanks to Gene for the much needed and appreciated push  ) I was going to start reposting some of the P5 / P5B Saloon and Coupe material I've gathered together in the various threads which already contain the relavant images, but I thought it would be much better idea to keep all the worthwhile stuff in one place and add some newer stuff I've found recently, so here goes - I'll start off with a few period shots for now just to make sure the uploading process works ok...

First up is Her Maj with one of her two P5B Saloons which she still owns, one is in her private collection while the other ('JGY 280') lives in the motor museum at Gaydon. They're both painted in a special order dark green with bespoke olive coloured cloth interiors rather than the standard leather, and as a nice added touch the glass in the wing mirrors is tinted light green...


Before it entered the museum Liz liked to go for a waft in it occasionally around Windsor...


From 1968 to 1983 a large fleet of modified P5B Saloons was in use for Ministerial transport at Downing Street, in this shot Harold Wilson's car is being readied for him to depart from No.10 for the last time before collection Jim Callaghan...


In this c.1970 / 71 shot you can see the extra radio antennas on the rear wings and the rear end is quite low due the extra weight of the transmitter gubbins in the boot...


A 1973 shot of one the Downing Street fleet... when P5B production came to an end in June '73 the last batch of saloons were all sidelined for Government use, some of which went into storage and weren't registered until 1974 and 75, which explains why there are still a handful around today on 'M' and 'N' plates...



More Solihull crafted goodness to come, fingers crossed...

Villain 

[Ministrone]

Great photo's Villain. 
The Rover P5B certainly has "Something of the Knight about it".

I love this snap of Her Majesty in full catalogue pose.



Just a little tip. When you post links from Village photos, click the button at the top which looks like a landscape photo then delete the http:/ that's already there. Paste the link and the photo will appear in the post.

[Gene Hunt]

Great photos Villain 

I recall seeing JGY many years ago at the BMM with your good self. In fact, it's given me the desire to go again for another little visit.

Gene.

[Del Boy]

Great shots of the Rover P5B moving in such high circles Villain. 
I had heard about the government being really impressed with the car and decided to stockpile a fleet when production ended.
They certainly had good taste.(For once)

I've inserted the pic links above 

[Villain]

Cheers gents and thanks for the tips on posting pics, duly noted - wasn't sure what I'd done wrong last night before I switched off the PC!

More to come, with some info about production numbers, design etc.

As it happens by chance I was offered first dibs on another P5B Coupe yesterday, haven't discussed price yet but we'll see.

Villain 

[Cartman]

Superb cars. I remember seeing them in government use the first time I went to London in 74

[The Saint]

Thanks for posting these photos Villain, the P5 is certainly an iconic British motor

The Saint

[Villain]

Cheers Mr.Templar - more to come when I've edited them. It's been a funny week as far as P5Bs are concerned, not only have I been offered first refusal on a 1971 'Villain' lookalike Coupe, but my old blue Coupe 'ELC 941J' is up for sale by the old boy I sold it to three years ago,... sadly there's not enough in the kitty to buy it back off him otherwise I'd bite his arm off. I know he's spent a bit more on it too, he's fitted a new steering box, new starter motor and a new stainless steel exhaust system.


Villain 

[Gene Hunt]

ELC941J 5 years ago....





Gene.

[Villain]

Thanks for those Gene - some of my smudges from that memorable day have been lost somehow..! 

Bit of info on P5B production numbers, which ran from the first production car made ready for the press around Easter 1967, to the very last batch of cars built on the final day, 22nd June 1973 :

Home market P5B Saloons = 10,341

Export market P5B Saloons = 1,160

Home Market P5B Coupes = 8,195

Export market Coupes = 823

Total build of all the V8 Saloons and Coupes = 20,519, so in relative terms a very low volume / high prestige car when you think about it, and considering this small total number there are a still lot of survivors out there. I suspect this is because of the nature of the people who bought them knew and could afford to run them, a lot were bought as 'retirement cars' by executives, or passed on from company to private ownership. With the oil crisis of 1973 and 1979, a large number of these cars were left in garages to moulder for several years well into the 1980s, luckily most of them were rescued once the P5B had become a true classic in the eyes of enthusiasts and motoring journalists alike. I'm not sure about the production numbers for the earlier 3 litre cars which were built for much longer, from 1958 to 1967, but the survival rate seems very low compared to the later V8 models.


Villain