1963 Rover P4 95 “Meets The Love Bug”

[calebaaront]

6 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

What is it with people collecting these in horrendous weather?  I picked mine up in the middle of a horrible bloody storm as well!  

Cracking cars though, hope you enjoy it.

Funny that mine has honestly left far more of an impression on me than the P6 has.  The P6 is a cracking car, don't get me wrong...The fact it's so modern-like in many ways I think is just testament to how way ahead of their time they were.  It just doesn't have the same wow factor for me that the P4 had.  Definitely one of the cars that I've bought more or less on a whim that I've enjoyed the most.  I'd say it's pretty much definite that at some point I'll end up with another one.  Howling past people in the outside lane on the M1 and watching their complete befuddlement I think was probably the best just for the sheer cognitive dissonance that it could cause for other motorists.

Something I did notice though when I was driving mine though was that *nobody* messed with you.  Even the taxi drives would stop and let you through between parked cars and stuff like that.  The fact that it was scruffy as heck yet still looked like it would drive through their plastic SUVs like they were tissue paper may have had something to do with it...

We're going to need to form an Autoshite P4 register soon at this rate!

As soon as I sold your old one early this year I instantly regretted it and had to buy another. They’re fabulous. Suprisingly I don’t miss the Trabant as much as I thought. I agree, the amount of positive attention a P4 gets is amazing. I’ve already had a few comments on this one and as you said people are very courteous to you on the road. I would say I defo prefer the P4 over the P6 or even P5

[calebaaront]

Nice drive to work yesterday, fired straight up in the morning without any hassle. Then another trip to the shops on the way home. 

[2flags]

These are great cars. It is one that excels at just being 'a car'. It keeps up with modern traffic, doesn't cost a fortune and has a style that simply cannot be replicated by a modern vehicle. 

[calebaaront]

Took it to work again today as the weather is nice. Coolant and oil checked and it’s hardly burnt or lost any! Still just over half on the dipstick and coolant level is all good. When I get a chance I’ll look at sorting out the lights and some other bits. 

[2flags]

What a choice you have there! The Rolls or the Rover? Decisions, decisions. 

[calebaaront]

4 minutes ago, 2flags said:

What a choice you have there! The Rolls or the Rover? Decisions, decisions. 

Unfortunately the Roller belongs to @Weird Car she just stores it at my compound! 

[Weird Car]

20 minutes ago, 2flags said:

What a choice you have there! The Rolls or the Rover? Decisions, decisions. 

16 minutes ago, calebaaront said:

Unfortunately the Roller belongs to @Weird Car she just stores it at my compound! 

Tis indeed my Choice Royce, ironically it’s also an EX @HMC Car as well as my Acclaim 😆

[brandersnatch]

Rolls Royce. The rich man’s Rover P4. 

[Zelandeth]

I'd heard more than one case of the P4 being described as the poor man's Rolls-Royce.  I'd come to feel that's really not fair on the car - and that "The thinking man's Rolls-Royce" would in fact have been far more appropriate based on my  observations.

[calebaaront]

I may be biased but having driven both of them I actually prefer the P4. Nothing on the Roller works anymore mainly due to the fact everything is over engineered  whereas with the Rover the majority  of things still work. I wouldn’t of trusted the Roller to drive over 200 miles in a storm but it’s just my opinion. They’re still both gorgeous automobiles 

[Lankytim]

I’ve got a mate who sold his P4 to get a mid 70s  Shadow and he recons there’s no difference in the refinement between the two, his Roller is a pretty nice example too. 

[Justwatching]

On 25/11/2024 at 08:43, calebaaront said:

 

Does anyone know why P4s squat like that? Do they all have suspension failure? I can't imagine Rover sold them like it. 

[lesapandre]

16 minutes ago, Justwatching said:

Does anyone know why P4s squat like that? Do they all have suspension failure? I can't imagine Rover sold them like it. 

Yes the rear leaf springs sag. They ideally need retempering to correct the ride height. They do look much better once done.

[Zelandeth]

16 minutes ago, Justwatching said:

Does anyone know why P4s squat like that? Do they all have suspension failure? I can't imagine Rover sold them like it. 

The rear springs really need to be re-tempered or replaced.  They do sag over time, which does really impact the ride quality too.  Finding anyone who has the foggiest idea how to re-temper leaf springs these days is probably the biggest headache.

I think this one has had new springs on the front too so is sitting a bit higher than many at the front too which makes it even more obvious.

[Noel Tidybeard]

is this beginning to be another forum bike?🤣🚲

[ETCHY]

I quite like the looks when the back end sags , they look slightly snooty as if looking down their nose at other cars.

Cool P4, classy motorcars.

[tooSavvy]

Any 'meat', in the arse end, for Bagging... 🤔

C A Penguin Poo 👍

🚙💨

[Zelandeth]

Should have added to that last post of mine, that when the springs sag it means that the car sits on the wrong "bit" of the spring.  So it results in the ride becoming quite incredibly firm.  Wasn't helped by mine having seized shock absorbers, but replacing those didn't help as much as you'd think.  I still couldn't make the rear of the car give at all by pushing down on the rear corners, the only visible give was in the tyres.  So it really is worth sorting!

Apparently with the suspension in good order they float along really surprisingly well given how relatively basic the rear suspension is.  They are a pretty heavy old bus though so it's not surprising the springs sag a bit...plus they are getting on a bit now!

[calebaaront]

1 hour ago, ETCHY said:

I quite like the looks when the back end sags , they look slightly snooty as if looking down their nose at other cars.

Cool P4, classy motorcars.

Me too if I’m honest! With the rear end sag it looks like it should be wearing a monocle 🤣

[2flags]

The P4 and the SD1 are the two Rovers I have never owned. Do fancy the P4 mind.

[jonathan_dyane]

2 hours ago, Justwatching said:

Does anyone know why P4s squat like that? Do they all have suspension failure? I can't imagine Rover sold them like it. 

Oddly while the rear (coil) springs loose their temper and sag the front (coil) springs loose their temper and become longer!

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, jonathan_dyane said:

Oddly while the rear (coil) springs loose their temper and sag the front (coil) springs loose their temper and become longer!

Leaf springs on the rear!

Quite substantial ones at that.

[Spiny Norman]

6 hours ago, Lankytim said:

I’ve got a mate who sold his P4 to get a mid 70s  Shadow and he recons there’s no difference in the refinement between the two, his Roller is a pretty nice example too. 

Years ago I had a shot of what was a slightly dishevelled but mechanically sound Shadow 2 and then a few months later my mate blew an inheritance on a nice P5B and when I drove that there really was no comparison at all. The Rover was a far nicer car.
I love that P4, please keep it looking just like that.

[jonathan_dyane]

7 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Leaf springs on the rear!

Quite substantial ones at that.

This I know and what I meant to type, the pain killers I have been taking for my back must be interfering with my ability to communicate 😔

[artdjones]

7 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Leaf springs on the rear!

Quite substantial ones at that.

It used to be a big thing to protect leaf springs on expensive cars with gaiters after greasing them. I would think that rusty springs suffer from lots of friction, and the heat would affect the temper.

[tooSavvy]

Didn't someone here have a 'splitter/greaser' widget.... You wind it into the gap twixt leaves + inject grease @nipple...

🤔

🚙💨

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Leaf springs on the rear!

Thanks, for a minute I thought my memory was worse than it is!

[Six-cylinder]

21 hours ago, 2flags said:

What a choice you have there! The Rolls or the Rover? Decisions, decisions. 

I was lucky enough to be loaned @Zelandeth 110 at the same time as I had my Rolls Royce at home and the Rover was the better “car”. However the Rover is 30 years younger than my 20/25.   In truth, my vote goes to the Jaguar XJ6 as best car.

If only Jaguar had weighted the steering a little heavier it would have been perfect. Ironic the reason I did not ask to buy Zels Rover 110 was I found the steering too heavy!

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, artdjones said:

It used to be a big thing to protect leaf springs on expensive cars with gaiters after greasing them. I would think that rusty springs suffer from lots of friction, and the heat would affect the temper.

These did originally have gaiters around them, however they were in poor shape and had filled up with water/mud in this case rather than keeping the grease in and elements out.

2 hours ago, jonathan_dyane said:

This I know and what I meant to type, the pain killers I have been taking for my back must be interfering with my ability to communicate 😔

I can sympathise with that 100% as someone with a few spinal issues.  

Granted, I'm also entirely guilty of typing the exact opposite of what I mean on more than one occasion and said mistake still making it through the proof read without me having any mitigating circumstances!

[calebaaront]

26 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

  the steering too heavy!

I find this too, even with this one. Especially when trying to park! Not sure if Rover intended for it to be that heavy?