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Skizzer's SD1: Tomorrow's Car, Yesterday. Fixerations, with mixed results


Skizzer

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It's home now  8)

 

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That 70s House by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

Right, the collection saga.

 

Funny how a story about one product of a 1970s nationalised industry begins with trouble from that other staple of the Two Ronnies' scriptwriters, British Rail.  Should have been simple - one change of trains from Swansea to Weston Sur Mer, and the seller was happy to meet me at the station.  But they were digging up the track somewhere, so to get there Sunday daytime would mean spending the night on a bench at Bristol Parkway, so we arranged that I'd drive there in my Rover 75, bring the 3500 home, then go back again on Monday by train to fetch the 75.  (Yes, I probably could just have picked up the SD1 on Monday instead, but then there was every chance of missing the seller himself and I wanted a proper chat.)

 

The drive up was serenely uneventful, as most journeys in the Rover 75 are, and probably will be right up until the point where the timing belt lets go.  It's a good relaxed cruiser at 65-70 (which the speedo claims is 75-80) and naturally I find myself wondering how the 34-year-old SD1 will compare: a bit wheezy and juddery, perhaps?  Bound to be a lot of wind noise; probably lots of rattly plastics and squeaking vinyl.  I'm a bit nervous.

 

I pull up outside the seller's industrial unit, where UCX 536T lives, and we exchange hellos.  'You're a Rover man, then?'  he says.  I've never thought of myself that way, so explain that the 75 is supposed to be a tool not a toy but I've grown fond of it because of its fine wafting qualities and the dignity with which it bears its utter scruffiness.  He quite fancies a cheap V6, so we even talk about a swapsie for some SD1 panels - although he later, sensibly, decides this might lead to divorce).  Enough of this jibber-jabber - time to look at the 3500.

 

Except hang on, what's this?  I thought I'd spotted something lurking in the eBay shots, and I was right: a 7cwt Marina van in Harvest Gold.  Well, mostly Harvest Gold - there's quite a lot of filler and primer and some panels are various shades of blue.  He explains: his first car (in 1986) was a Marina van, and he and a mate went on holiday in it to the south of France.  He has a photo of it in Monte Carlo surrounded by Ferraris, Maseratis and Rolls-Royces - winner.  They've hatched a plan to do the same thing again for their 50th birthdays in a few years, so he's sourced this super-early 1972 A-series example for the purpose.  It's very low mileage but one part metal to three parts hole, and he'd devoting God knows what proportion of his spare time to welding it up.  Top man.

 

And so, finally, to the Three Thousand Five.

 

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Untitled by Skizzer, on Flickr
 

Oh it's that colour.  For some reason I thought it was grey from the eBay pictures - in fact it's much more beige than that, and is actually the same colour as one a neighbour had from new (also on a T-plate).  It's almost exactly the same colour as my Yeti, which both Skoda and the DVLA call beige.  BL called it Platinum, which is nonsense - even Nickel would have been a stretch. 

 

From 5 yards away the car looks great.  Up close, the paint finish overall is still pretty good, but there are a few obvious temporary* repairs, mainly to the door bottoms and the base of the rear screen.  Underneath looks pretty good though, with fresh underseal but not so much it's hiding a world of horror.  There's no actual rust visible anywhere - it's all been attacked with Kurust and protected, and the seller shows me where he's injected wax into every cavity he can find.  It should do at least another season or maybe two before it needs the next round of work, which is all I'm after at this price.

 

The interior is, basically, immaculate.  It may never be this clean again while it's in my care.  And boy is it brown:

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We chat some more, about this car and autoshite generally.  We swap cash for paperwork: the car comes with a 3-inch lever arch file packed with invoices, MOTs, tax discs and even letters and photographs from its past lives in Huddersfield, Sutton Coldfield and the Isle of Man.  Cracking stuff.

 

Time to go: time to drive it.  The choke lever is intact!  (Only because it's just been replaced, mind.)  The starter sounds like it's not quite up to the task, but in fact the engine fires first time with a pleasing roar that settles to a modest burble.  The seller warns me that the gearbox might be a bit stiff until the oil warms up, but actually it's not at all bad: a firm positive throw that's just the right side of notchy.  Reverse is left and up, so unlike the 75 I won't find it when I forget there's no sixth on the motorway.

 

But of course there's no need for sixth on the motorway: it's only ticking over in fifth at 70 (and I'm certainly going no faster in an unknown 34-year-old car in this rain).  There's a bottomless pit of torque to draw on, too, which I love - the whole point of an unstressed V8.  There's some wind noise, most likely from the wing-mounted radio aerial and the drip rails, but actually it's no noisier in here than the 75 or the Yeti.  Nothing rattles or squeaks.  It's stable, tight, smooth and very, very comfortable - a great cruiser that just begs to be driven to Marbella and back for a long weekend.  I love it.

 

I take the long way home from an errand on Monday morning:

 

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Most things work, so it's easier to list what doesn't:  

- the fuel gauge always reads three quarters full (a good point to stick - optimistic but not boastful);

- the central locking only works occasionally (it has central locking? Wow!)

- er, that's about it.

 

There's some bodywork to be done at some point.  Here are the bad bits:


 

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Sill repair by Skizzer, on Flickr
(this actually looks worse in the photo than in real life)
 

Did someone ask about wob?
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I spy filler by Skizzer, on Flickr
 
There's also some dampness getting into the boot: I'm not yet sure whether it's coming in from the rear screen seal (made of unobtainum) or up from below via a hole in the (patched) spare wheel well.  Quite possibly both, of course.  This will want sorting sooner rather than later, because I don't want mould on my gold nylon carpets, do I?
 
Anyway, I've agreed to buy four NOS doors and two front wings (inner and outer) at a decent price, to be collected and fitted in due course.  Meanwhile I've sorted out some proper dry storage so it doesn't dissolve before New Year.  Think I need to look after this one.
 
 
 
 
There's a postscript to the collection story as well.  You know how everyone* you deal with on eBay is a moron?  And remember how I left my Rover 75 in this chap's unit overnight?  Well - when I went back yesterday to collect it, not only did we have a cup of coffee and another really good chat, but he'd washed and fully valeted my shitty old car for me.  I was lost for words.  Total hero.
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Fricking class that and no mistaking. They certainly did come in that colour, my mate's dad had one in the late seventies in exactly the same shade. I know they're essentially the same car, but the S1 looks fabulous and the S2 just leaves me cold.

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Ha!  Funnily enough he does also have two front wings and a full set of doors that he's offered me a deal on...  I haven't seen it yet but not expecting too many horrors.  The door bottoms are all on their way, and one in particular appears to have had intimate relations with some Kurust and a rattle can.  I'm hoping it won't need anything major for another 12-18 months, as I've got a load of bodywork to pay for on the Jag this winter.

 

It's not an S but it does have the same alloys - didn't the S have the same engine, but with a load of options and some special (extra-shite) colours?

My old V8-S had factory aircon. Didn't work though. Dashtop was a kind of flock type cloth as well but that might of been aftermarket.

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Thanks for the comments!

 

tooSavvy - you weren't far off about collecting replacement panels... that patch on the bottom corner of the rear screen leaks water into the boot at a prodigious rate.  It's reached the point where bodgery is no longer enough, so the car has now gone to spend Christmas under cover at Glamorgan Classic Cars who are quoting me for a proper tailgate repair.  Sourcing a new window rubber could be the fun* part of this process, although the old one might just be reusable.

 

They had a rather saucy early XJ-S (R-plate) that looked like it had spend the last 20 years in a shed, but otherwise the workshop was mainly full of the usual classics (Healey, Mustang, Stag...) and several E-Types at various stages from bare tub to showroom shiny.  Wouldn't swap the SD1 for any of them though.  E-Types to me are like footballers' wives: they're all very pretty, but they all look the same and you know they are just trophies rather than interesting for their own sake.  Meh.

 

The SD1 is probably going to be a money pit but I miss it already.  So does Mrs Skizzer, which is a good sign.

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Looks great Skiz_lad. You've certainly done well. I would have thought it would have sold for more given the amount of SD1 lickers out there. Mind, it doesn't have those yawn-worthy cross spokes or a chin spoiler. Early cars are for WINNNNNNNAAAAAAZ.

 

I've often prefered early cars over later ones. The early 800 was a great car with a metric load more small, nice little touches until they got "project-driven" out.

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Looks great Siz_lad. You've certainly done well. I would have thought it would have sold for more given the amount of SD1 lickers out there. Mind, it doesnt have those yawn worthy cross spokes or a chin spoiler. Early cars are for WINNNNNNNAAAAAAZ.

 

I've often prefered early cars over later ones. The early 800 was a great car with a metric load more small, nice touches until the got "project-driven" out.

 

Thanks - I expected a flurry of late bidding, but it never happened.  Dunno whether people suspected a world of wob, or it's just a Christmas cashflow thing, or what.  The boss of Glamorgan Classics reckoned it was a billy bargain too (after he'd picked himself up off the floor at the mint condition of the interior).

 

These must have been from outer space in 1976.  I can remember the New Rover being a big event (I was about seven), but seriously - the interior design is like nothing else, and still works brilliantly well (for me) aesthetically and ergonomically; the exterior I think is a great balance between a slightly camp butchness and elegant detailing.

 

It's funny - someone asked me if people noticed it as I drive past: the thing is, hardly anyone does.  I think that's partly because, to your average punter, it doesn't look like an old car.

 

 

Brookjm - re number plates - what do you reckon?  Sercks?   Quite fancy an oversize acrylic on the back.

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