Rover P6 1971 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover P6 1971

The Rover P6 series was produced from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull and was the sixth and the last of the 'P' designated Rover designs to reach production. The vehicle was marketed first as the Rover 2000 and with a completely new design, was intended to appeal to a larger number of buyers; the P5 was sold alongside the P6 until 1973. The 3500 was advanced for the time with a De Dion tube suspension at the rear and four-wheel disc brakes (inboard on the rear). The unibody design featured non-stressed panels bolted to a unitry frame, similar to the Citroën DS and won industry awards for safety when it was introduced. The car featured all-round seat belts and a carefully designed 'safety' interior. One innovative feature was the prism of glass on the top of the front side lights. This allowed the driver to see the front corner of the car in low light conditions. The Rover P6 series was voted European Car of the Year in 1964; the very first winner of this title. Rover made an attempt to break into the North American market with the P6 beginning with the Rover 2000TC.

Rover P5B Coupé 1970 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover P5B Coupé 1970

In 1965, Rover's Managing Director, William Martin-Hurst, secured the tooling and production rights to the '215' V8 engine from Buick. Rover redeveloped the engineering and launched it at the end of 1967 which, along with some other modifications, transformed their already highly regarded and successful P5 flagship into the P5B. The new aluminium V8 was significantly lighter and considerably more powerful than its predecessor, delivering 160bhp and a massive leap in torque to 210lb per ft. at 2600rpm, vastly improving pace, comfort, balance, handling, economy and reliability. Rover's only gearbox capable of handling such power was the Borg Warner Typre-35 automatic. Rover now possessed a formidable sporting saloon to take on the finest from Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. Solihull production soon doubled to keep up with orders.

Rover 16 P2 1946 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover 16 P2 1946

The first Rover was a tricycle manufactured by Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry, England in 1883. The company developed and produced the Rover Imperial motorcycle in November 1902, it was a 3.5hp diamond-framed motorcycle with the engine in the centre and 'springer' front forks which was ahead of its time. Three years after Starley's death in 1901 and H. J. Lawson's subsequent takeover, the Rover company began producing cars with the two-seater Rover Eight engine to the designs of Edmund Lewis who came from Daimler. Lewis left the company to join Deasy in late 1905 and was eventually replaced by Owen Clegg who joined from Wolseley in 1910 and set about reforming the product range. The business was not very successful during the 1920s and did not pay a dividend from 1923 until the mid 1930s. After the Second World War, Solihull became the new factory for vehicles with production resuming in 1947 with the three pre-war models, the 12, 14 and 16 models. The Rover 16 saloon returned to production almost unchanged after the war although the cabriolet version was no longer listed. The car, with its mildly streamlined form, resembled the existing Rover 10 and the Rover 12 but was slightly longer and featured a more rounded back end. The six-cylinder ohv engine had a capacity of 2,147cc and a top speed of 77mph was claimed. The Rover 14 saloon combined the same body with the Rover 16 but used a 1,901cc six-cylinder engine from 1938.

Rover P6 3500S Nada 1969 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover P6 3500S Nada 1969

The Rover P6 series was produced from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull and was voted European Car of the Year in 1964; the very first winner of this title. Rover made an attempt to break into the North American market with the P6 beginning with the Rover 2000TC; one version of the P6 that was exported was the NADA (North American Dealer Association) model, equipped to a higher standard than UK cars. Notable differences outside the car were wraparound bumpers, three air scoops on the bonnet, front and rear wing reflectors and the 'Icelert' on the front grill. It was also equipped with electric windows, power steering and air conditioning - all of which are extremely unusual in UK market P6 cars. Despite being badged as '3500S' cars, the export models were all fitted with the Borg Warner 35 automatic transmission.

Rover 75 V8 2006 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover 75 V8 2006

The Rover 75 was manufactured by Rover Group and later by MG Rover. The Rover 75 was available with front-wheel drive in either a saloon or estate body style and latterly, in long-wheelbase form and a rear-wheel drive, V8-engined specification.  Rover 75's were built at Cowley, Oxfordshire, for just a year when the owners at the time, BMW, divested its interests in Rover and the 75 was built by the new MG Rover Group at their Longbridge site in Birmingham. Production of the Rover and later MG badged models ceased on 8th April 2005 when manufacturer MG Rover Group entered administration. The Rover 75 V8 was created as a means of proving MG Rover's engineering expertise and to attract a development partner to the company. The car was extensively re-engineered to accommodate Ford's Modular V8 in 4.6 litre capacity, driving the rear wheels to give a car with much higher performance, taking advantage of the stiffening tunnel in the body structure. These cars were built on the standard production line and then removed to allow the necessary structural modifications to be carried out. The cars were then returned to the trimming lines for completion. Less than 900 models in the V8 format were produced in both saloon and tourer body styles.

Rover P5B Coupé 1970 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover P5B Coupé 1970

In 1965, Rover's Managing Director, William Martin-Hurst, secured the tooling and production rights to '215' V8 engine from Buick. Rover redeveloped the engineering and launched it at the end of 1967 which, along with some other modifications, transformed their already highly regarded and successful P5 flagship into the P5B. The new aluminium V8 was significantly lighter and considerably more powerful than its predecessor, delivering 160bhp and a massive leap in torque to 210lb per ft. at 2600rpm, vastly improving pace, comfort, balance, handling, economy and reliability. Rover's only gearbox capable of handling such power was the Borg Warner Typre-35 automatic. Rover now possessed a formidable sporting saloon to take on the finest from Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. Solihull production soon doubled to keep up with orders but the creation of British Leyland in 1968 however had the long term effect of thwarting Rover's impressive growth and image-building. A strategic decision was taken to market Jaguar, now sitting alongside Rover in the British Leyland stable, to the luxury audience. The impressive V8 engine flourished for decades afterwards within the Rover, Land Rover and Range Rover stable, as well as other marques such as TVR, Morgan and MG.

Rover SD1 1978 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover SD1 1978

The British Leyland (BL) Group, began developing a new car to replace both the Rover P6 and Triumph 2000/2500 in 1971. The design team, headed by David Bache, was inspired by exotic machinery such as the Ferrari Daytona and the late 1960s design study by Pinninfarina for the BMC 1800. Spen King was responsible for the engineering aspects of the design; Bache and King having previously collaborated on the Range Rover. The project was first code-named RT1 (for Rover Triumph Number 1) but then soon changed to SD1 (for Specialist Division Number 1) as Rover and Triumph were put in the new "Specialist Division" of British Leyland.