The Rover P6

[Palmer]

Feb 27, 2022 22:20:44 GMT Cartman said:

Rover had some interesting designs under development at the time of the British Leyland merger, one was the P8, which was a replacement for the P5, and also a mid engined sports car code named P6BS, both were dropped when Rover went into Leyland, the P8 as it was felt that it could take sales off the then new Jag XJ6, not sure what the reasoning behind dropping the sports car was.

The P6BS (which was to be badged as an Alvis if it was to be produced) was halted because the top brass at Jaguar didn't want something else muscling in on the E-type market...  Look what happened to the lovely little Daimler sports car when Jaguar took ownership of that company!!

The Jaguar folk carried a lot of weight on the Leyland board to say the very least!!!

With regards to the P8 (a gloriously brutal looking machine) poor crash testing put that one to bed...  A great shame/scandal really as tooling had already been produced and the car was only months away from production.

[Del Boy]

Such a shame this wasn't built. The shape is very continental to my mind,  a bit Mercedes bit Lancia perhaps? 

[Palmer]

And that was just a rough prototype...

The design drawings produced whilst this was undergoing testing show something even more sleek and menacing!!

[Dirty Epic]

It's a shame at least one of the prototype 70's Rover's never made it into production.

Some were lightyears better than some of the crap BL did make back then.

[Three Litre]

The P6 was European Car of the Year in '64 and the SD1 in '77.

[Palmer]

Feb 28, 2022 19:44:09 GMT Dirty Epic said:

It's a shame at least one of the prototype 70's Rover's never made it into production.

Some were lightyears better than some of the crap BL did make back then.

Most of the time the BL prototypes looked amazing (some did not of course)...!!!

It's just when cost cutting and parts bin sharing prevailed that the designs had to be adapted and they were very rarely adapted for the better!

With regards to the P6 though I think the finished product looked even better than what was originally envisaged and with each little update (be it styling or mechanics) it just got better and better...

[Villain]

Nice idea for a thread Mr.Templar and your P6 is a lovely example  .

My three are all still very much missed and they were all used as my daily transport at the time....

First one - bought in February 2006 / sold June 2007 : a 1973 2000TC 'WCW 375M', one of the very last 2000s built before the 2200 was launched, in Almond Yellow with a nicely worn tan leather interior that had been swapped from a 3500, and a power steering conversion fitted by a Rover specialist in Faringdon (Oxon) at the request of the then owner, a chain smoking Cotswold based vicar. When I bought it it had the standard plain wheel trims but I fitted a set of 'Ed Straker' 3500S trims. It was very enjoyable to drive thanks to the added power steering kit and never let me down, the only bad experience I had in it was being rear ended by a Vauxhall Carlton at a T-junction in Wiltshire, thankfully the tow bar took the brunt of the impact but the poor Vauxhall was a write off!

Second one - bought June 2007 / sold late 2008 : a 1971 3500 Auto 'GGN 588J' in Arden Green with an immaculate saddletan interior, it had 3500S 'Ed Straker' wheel trims and the full boot mounted spare wheel kit but strangely not the factory optioned power steering which made it a bit of a bicep builder in traffic. It went like stink though, I think the previous owner (a serial Rover P5 and P6 man from High Wycombe) had had the V8 engine breathed on slightly and always felt like it would keep on going forever, the only time it let me down was when one of the fuel lines became blocked in rush hour traffic right next to Rugby School. I only sold it as I had just bought my first P5B Coupe and needed the space.

Third one - bought in April 2010 / sold December 2013 : a 1972 3500 Auto 'DEG 911K' in Monza Red with a beautiful ebony leather interior and factory fitted power steering, an aftermarket Mountney leather rimmed steering wheel and once again a set of 'Ed Straker' 3500S wheel trims. Because of the PAS and smaller steering wheel combo it felt very chuckable and was the best of the three I owned. It let me down once when a power steering hose burst on the way home from work one evening, I managed to limp home and one of the chaps from the owner's club kindly came up to my house to fix it for me the following week. Like the green one, I sold it to buy a P5B Coupe and had to let it go, however a couple of years ago it came up for sale again and I was very tempted but sadly didn't have the space to keep it, oddly the lovely black interior had been replaced with a saddletan one for some reason which was a shame. Still, I had my fun with it in my ownership which included a Sweeney meet and a Villain one which were both very memorable.

Villain 

[The Saint]

My latest purchase, a 1974 Rover P6 3500 V8. 

I knew this particular Rover P6 and it’s very long-term owner back in the mid to late 1990s when I owned my original Rover P6. The then owner was a fellow member of the Rover club, he bought the car in 1978 and I believe it was retained until just a few years ago, so when I saw it for sale last week I couldn’t resist.

It’s incredibly original throughout, the engine was prepared to concours standard in the mid 1990s and it won multiple awards, the whole car is still in incredible condition today and even retains it’s original Henlys supplying dealer number plates!

Use the arrow to scroll through the photos, you will see on the 4th photo that I have removed the badges from the badge bar - I think it looks less cluttered without them. 

The Saint

http://instagr.am/p/CcOlx2XKyR-

[Gene Hunt]

That is an incredible car ST. Certainly one of the best I've seen. Marvellous colour combo. A great purchase 

Gene.

[Cartman]

What a fantastic car Saint, like the colour and agree with removing the badges, it looks better without them