P6 Appreciation Thread

[forddeliveryboy]

They've definitely a timeless quality to them, the simple elegance of the body, sumptuous interior with something magic underneath to make for French quantities of grip, stability and braking. I learned to drive in a 2200SC, the engine was a little slow for my liking once I'd passed my test, but the red strip often stretched right out so it can't have been so bad.

 

Until the Rover 2000, anything vaguely up-market had a body the size of a whale and a wheezing six cylinder engine powering it. Together with the more family-friendly Triumph 2000, surely it defined the luxury saloon of the decade to follow and which the Bavarians cottoned onto so effectively, but replaced faithful handling with engines which only came on cam at 4000rpm. 

 

I'm pleased people are waking up to their British, under-stated qualities. 

[Junkman]

Those British understated qualities were always cherished outside Britain, at least by some. Then again, looking at how many are still kicking about on ye olde Continente,

they weren't that few and far between after all.

The P6es had a bit of a renaissance in the Eighties there, when everything British was considered 'cool' and thus they were often driven by twenty-something hipsters for a while.

I came very close in 1984, but ultimately decided to give it a pass and bought another yank, I still don't really know why, but being a stubborn dolt might have something to do with it.

 

Somehow they then managed to get off the radar of the mainstream collectors and went into some kind of hibernation during the Nineties and Naughties.

It's only in this very present decade, that they enjoy some kind of resurgence in popularity, but again, more in an underdog sort of way.

Fact is, that despite the newest ones are 40 years old now, they are among the easiest to live with cars from that era. Parts support is second to none.

 

I finally bought my first one at the ripe age of 43, thus seemingly ending a quarter century long succession of yanks to apparently never look back.

Not only am I unable to answer the question why, but also what took me so long, so please don't ask. I have no idea what I should buy instead, which is probably

a situation many P6 owners found themselves in after 1975. Yes, there is always the SD1, but despite being a superb car in its own right, it's a completely different

kettle of fish and not really a successor. Looking at the P6's contemporaries, it is a standalone as well, especially the V8. Nothing in its class, be it British or European,

has either the understated qualities, or the inherent "Britishness" many people inside and especially outside the UK love, nor are they nearly as technically interesting,

maybe with the exception of something often leaving green puddles on one's driveway, but those then have hardly a British understated aura.

 

P6es do have their shortcomings too, there is no denial. Interior and boot space never were something to write home about and the engineering is so on the edge, that they

do not respond well to bodging. Fuel vaporisation on V8s is now so commonplace (due to 'modern' petrol no longer having additives to prevent it), that they are barely

driveable without an electric fuel pump upgrade. Correct tyres for the V8s cost a fortune, so do front shocks for all of them. Chromed pieces in good nick are practically

unobtainium. If you cherish bling as much as I do, start saving up a lot of money. A non fucked rear number plate plinth alone will set you back in the 'hood of 150 quid,

regardless whether you buy a new one, or have yours rechromed. A complete round of new tinsel will leave you with little change out of a Gorilla, if any.

Also, good panels are just about still available, but supply is drying up at a rapid rate.

Then there is the brakes thing. I did the brakes on four of them now and I swear, I would rather travel to one of those posh ski resorts, you know, where they have those

natural stone fireplaces with logs smoldering in them and an animal fur on the floor in front of them, and have sex with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on that,

than going through the ordeal of overhauling P6 brakes one more time.

 

I also gather from this thread, that a lot of people are hankering for a Series 1. I hope they are aware, that all of them, and the early Series 2s, are thirsting for high grade

petrol, so 99 octane Tesco's premium plus octane boosters are the order. Post 1973 examples run on ordinary camel piss, which is a serious advantage, if you really want

to drive yours daily. I can't wait for the e85 to become available in the UK, which would put that annoying petrol alchemy to rest once and for all.

 

Like with all old cars, condition will determine future values. Right now is still a good time to start investing, just. I think by the end of this decade, it's going to be difficult.

[barrett]

This one looks like a nice car for the money, though it's not what I'd want from a P6 in terms of looks. Happy to go and collect this and waft about in it for a week if anyone in the North buys it...

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C805802

[vulgalour]

That looks very affordable just a shame about the colour being the same inside and out.

[Ghosty]

There's a couple of good value ones on C&C, the yellow 2200 looks good too.

 

This though...

 

 

Phwoar.

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C665451

[Junkman]

Avocado/Mango wasn't available from the factory but sure does look ace. A P6 with power steering can't possibly have an optional leather steering wheel, it was standard.

NND 864P has repeatedly crept up over the past few years, always way down Southshire, IIRC it was last for sale about 4-5 years ago. It's stunningly beautiful.

The asking price now is actually lower than it was back then. Anything starting with a four is very fair for a tidy 'S'.

Swap the roof for an unholed one and be happy ever after.

[Inspector Morose]

Avocado/Mango wasn't available from the factory but sure does look ace

Erm my 2200TC was and it was as out of the factory.

So is/was the last P6

 

And, yes, it does look ace.

[Junkman]

According to Rüdiger's Website, it wasn't available. But this doesn't necessarily mean none were made.

Rover did have a special order programme. This also explains the factory black and embassy blue ones.

[Inspector Morose]

Min was built in the last week and was a real bitsa as some parts must have run out on the production line and not ordered in due to the lines imminent closure.

Clutch hydraulics on mine was a mixture of princess and something else IIRC and caused a few scratching so of heads at my local parts emporium.

 

The avocado was an SD1 colour and the last P6s went down the SD1 paint lines but you already knew that. Also this means the last ones were not painted properly as they were painted with all the panels on instead of the panels being painted on a separate frame, apart from the car.

[Shep Shepherd]

I've always had a thing for the P6, possibly because I was almost born in a Cameron Green 3500S in November 1977. Fortunately, the family friend who was driving it got Mother Shepherd to the hospital just in time 

 

Put me down for a Lunar Grey or Paprika 2200TC manual with Mango box-pleat cloth upholstery, please 

[Asimo]

Swap the roof for an unholed one and be happy ever after.

Is swapping a roof panel practical? Are they readily separable from the base unit?

 

(I don't get sunroofs, especially those cloth ones. It was common to hear cars fitted with them whistling as they drove past)

[Junkman]

Yes, it's easily done within a day.

 

 

 

 

[anonymous user]

I don't know where that was, but it looks a bit like you did a crafty roof swap in a car park and someone else came back to an unexpected sunroof in their P6

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

It's a thing we do.

 

1970 Rover 2000 TC by Conrad Conelrad, on Flickr

[trigger]

There's not many cars that you can do this with!

 

 

 

[worldofceri]

[forddeliveryboy]

The general awareness of the P6 continues to be amazingly low given its sales success and how good a car it is, let alone its uniqueness.

 

I struggled to understand why Spen King's obituaries linked him primarily with the Range Rover, the Stag, Dolly Sprint engine head and TR7, especially when he'd described typical Range Rover drivers as 'deeply unattractive', 'pompous and self-important'.  I think he worked alongside Frank Whittle on the jet engine, having spent time at RR on the Spitfire's Merlin engine.

 

Surely the Rover 2000 should be the car he was known for?

 

[Junkman]

AFAIK Spen King apprenticed at Rolls Royce during the war and in 1945 joined Rover, which was then run by his uncles Maurice and Spencer Wilks.

He worked on the turbine car projects until he was promoted chief engineer in 1959 and then led the development teams for the P6 and the Range Rover.

After the BL takeover, he was assigned to the development teams of various cars and notably designed the first 16 valve cylinder head for a production car,

but frequently stated his dissatisfaction with how things went. He became increasingly frustrated with the design compromises they had to do, the bad

industrial relationship in antiquated factories and the shoddy quality of the products.

[forddeliveryboy]

I think it was his time working on gas turbine engines at RR (his apprenticeship) which marked him out for a job on the Rover gas turbine project (well, that and having his uncles at Rover). He must have grown unbelievably pissed off at BL will all the problems. 

 

Maurice Wilks led the (evacuated) Rover team at Barnoldswick then after quality complaints from Whittle, set up a parallel factory in Waterloo Mill, Clitheroe which improved on Whittle's jet engine, much to Whittle's irritation. The official Rover jet manufacturing base at Barnoldswick was swapped with RR's tank engine works (think it made the Meteor, basically an un-supercharged Merlin) in Nottingham over lunch in a local pub and RR continued the work of Whittle and Rover.

 

 

 

The Rover gas turbines were used in the APT-E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=W5285nt9kdk#t=83)

[Rowver]

Mine again, looking more stripped.

[cort16]

I seem to have lost interest in mine now it's no longer conking out and chucking all the coolant out the overflow.

[vulgalour]

@cort16: Well, if you're just going to throw it out I'd be happy to take it off your hands

 

@Rowver:  is that a spare estate pod on the top of your estate skeleton?

[I_am_Diesel]

 

 

Probably not quite what you had in mind.

[carlo]

Would love a P6, my favourite ever British car, by a country mile.  Assuming I'll never find a Graber coupe,

 

 

I'd happily settle for an Avocado Green TC Auto, with cloth trim, and automatic of course.

[eddyramrod]

TC auto would not be a factory issue.  I remember when they were new, thinking that it should be, for people who wanted extra power without having to work for it changing gears.  Of course the V8 solved that at a stroke!

[Rowver]

@cort16: Well, if you're just going to throw it out I'd be happy to take it off your hands

 

@Rowver:  is that a spare estate pod on the top of your estate skeleton?

Yes, it's a spare pod unit. The plan is to remove the existing rusty one (only a couple of welds and lots of pop rivets) and replace it with the slightly less rusty one after blasting, repairing and powder coating.

[Junkman]

How bad is it really?

[Rowver]

How bad is it really?

Its not beyond repair to be honest. The posts that run up the side of the hatchback are the worst bits but not completely beyond the bounds of possibility I guess. Had the other one not come up I'd have no choice but to use it. I was fortune that a guy I knew through a friend of a friend wanted shut of his p6 estate. It had sat outside for 30 odd years so the base unit was horrendous. The pod unit was far better than mine so I bought the car and stripped it.