Always watch this channel. Iain's knowledge is encyclopaedic, he just makes everything interesting and clearly loves what he does for a living. I particularly relish the mechanical and bodywork rebuild and restoration content, the piece on the yellow Miura was nothing short of fascinating. It's the best car oriented channel (although Harry Metcalfe and M539 Restorations come quite close)
I had a van den Plas 3500 for 10 years. My friend took it apart and completely rebuild it. Had to sell it moving to Canada. I still miss it. I loved the roar of the engine. The manual transmission was great. Tuning the two carburetors was lots of fun. I drove it on propane and found out that the hoses to the carburetors had to be of equal length after 8 years.. than it had as much power as on gasoline. Thanks for this great video.
Really enjoyed this video 👍 My older brother had one back in the 1990’s - a fantastic car - brought back a stream of fond memories - Thank you 😊 👍 - Warmest wishes from South Wales 🏴 - Jonathan 😊 👍
The other issue was that Americans were used to iron engines without worrying so much about the maintenance required with alloy motors (ie proper coolant and overheating issues that would warp alloy motors vs huge low spec iron ones). GM also couldn’t get the reliability up to standards so they abandoned the project. Rover succeeded by devising wet liners for the cylinders and voila! Reliable and dependable motor for the British car industry….. until they didn’t update the tooling for 30+ years and after Range Rover bored them out to 4.6, the blocks finally gave because of irreparable cavitation …..
My Dad was a Traffic Officer in Merseyside Police in the 1980s and these were his favourite cars to drive, he absolutely loved them - even more than the RS2000s they had! "Imagine being paid to drive these all day, best job in the world Son!"
Just as an aside, the "blood groove" is really just a fuller that allows you a long stiff blade with less material to make it cheaper/lighter. A similar principle to an H section beam.
And I thought Mercedes’ “plank” with all the instruments was a new idea. Thank you Ian for for your lovely cars and presentation, your beautiful English not the least. 👍
I think the Met police used a version of this from what I remember, also used to see MGCs in the countryside used by the local constabularies. Love all Rovers.
*Borrowed one for the weekend back in 1981 & took some friends for a late night jaunt to James Hunt's Disco in Marbella.* *"on a Dark Deserted Highway", indeed.* *On a long straight l was quite surprised we were 'only' doing 115km/h.* *Then l took a closer look at the speedo.* Ha! Nice car: lots of fun.
The "Jam Sandwich" police car of my youth. It still looks fantastic now, huge presence and impression of power even when it's sitting still. I'm envious of the owner.
The metropolitan police purchased the last 200 built. 50 went straight in to service, while the other 150 were stored and drip fed into service as older units were retired.
In the 70s I was on my 500 Kawasaki H1 going South through spaghetti junction Birmingham UK at 1am and I ran out of fuel (as I always did). Rolled to a stop on the hard shoulder when from no where a blue light in my face. The window rolled down and in a Brummi accent "You cant push a vehicle on the motorway" I says "OK ill leave it here". "You cant park a vehicle on the motorway" "Well what do do want me to do carry it!" I said in desperation. "Were only kidding get in we will take you to get petrol" On the journey of 10 miles they said "We saw you tanking down the Southbound do you wanna see how fast we can go?" And they did it......140mph! "She will go quicker and she handles". Learnt a few things that night. Brummi coppers love their jam sandwich Rovers, The M6 has a network of tiny side access roads the police use to get between North and South M6. Dont try outrun a Rover on a 500 Kawasaki and I want an SD1. I worked with Rover at the time on the wiring (not responsible for the gaffs) and despite this went and looked at a used twin plenum Vitesse but it got sold and I went for V12 Jag XJS. The Rover was my first choice, so adaptable 5 door hatch and fun. My modern day equivalent is my 2014 Tesla Model S. Lets say I prioritise fun over build quality, 125,000 miles of free fun, the Tesla a good choice.
Thanks for this. Nostalgia for me. I drove an uprated Vitesse with fuel injection (maybe the twin plenum), at pace in the Police at 23 years old. To say it made me smile is an understatement. I couldn't wait to get to work... out of my 1.3 Ford Escort into this V8 supercar, my reward for completing the Police panda, then advanced training with a first. At the time, not much on the road could compete with the Police specials and once AR called time, we bought a lot of the parts and kept ours going for several years in Carcroft, SYP. Even when we had the 4WD Sierra Cosworth turbo later, it didn't have the grunt, responsiveness or RWD heroics of the Rover.
I served in the police from 1997 until 2014. I worked with a guy who joined in the late 70's, and he drove the SD1 V8 extensively and he loved it. I knew some people in Traffic who by the late 90's, were using the superb Senator 24V. Aside from the Senator, which is still widely regarded as the best patrol vehicle the police have used, the SD1 is a favourite and it's reputation endures. In terms of sheer physical presence, the SD1 is Top Dog I think. They did look superb back in the 80's, and on the rare occasion you see one of the road today, it's a real head turner. It's a shame Rover went out of business, imagine if they had created a retro design heavily based on the SD1?
I drove an SD1 for 3 years. A 3500 Vandenplas built 1983. It had the standard 2 SU carburettors and a manual gear box. I bought it second hand in 1988 with 150.000km on the counter and drove another 100.000 problemless km with it. It had the same silver grey exterior coulour and a light bourgondie velours interior. A beautiful combination. The engine was a delight. It had power and strong torque from low revs onwards. Its 4th gear could be used from 40 km/h onwards all the way up to 200. But in those 3 years, I got married and we bought a house, with a loan of course. And the car became too expensive to keep. Fuel consumption was on average over these 100.000km 11,5l/100km. Very good for a 3,5 V8. But still. And specifically road tax was very high. Here in BE road tax is based on engine capacity and a 3,5 litre is considered to be a luxury only for the rich. So I decided to change the car and bought a second hand Ford Sierra 2,3D. It handled pretty well actually but of course it was slow. On the other hand road tax was low and fuel consumption was only 7l/100km. Much better for the budget. I keep the Rover in my memory as a very pleasant car. Probably not the best built car ever, but a very nice looking car and what a fine engine. For pleasure I sometimes started it up, opened the bonnet and put my hands on the engine just to feel how almost vibration free it ran on idle.
This engine wasn't just a Buick transplant, as insinuated. It was thoroughly re-designed by Rover for sand-casting and with proper steel liners to make it more robust and prevent the cracking and wear to which the Buick design was prone. Changes to oil routing and cooling were also made, as well as better carburation and, of course, later adding the electronic fuel injection we see in the series II SD1s and subsequent Land Rover products. By 1980 It's barely recognisable as having Buick ancestry. JRT (Jaguar Rover Triumph, later Austin Rover) had the potential use of the Triumph V8 as well by the 70's, so wasn't reliant on this engine although it clearly preferred to develop it so much so that it ended up with a 4.6L capacity and modern electronic injection & engine management. It is interesting to imagine the original powerplant plans for Rover: a jet turbine-powered sedan... Vitesse, indeed...
I see everywhere that engine is "a Buick engine that Buick didn't want any more" but that is only the start of the story. What you said is the reason it was in everything from the P5b, P6, RR, TVR, etc etc. Rover engineering was what made it successful. And then the British govt. sold off Rover at a bargain basement price, the traitorous scum. I'm still annoyed!
@@Daijyobanai The government was a faceless administrator of a disaster caused by blood thirsty union leaders and ideologues and a hapless incompetent management. Meanwhile the engineers toiled on, sadly to no avail. Hope this makes you feel better….
Well said C J. In the final analysis, the Rover V8 was a lot like "Trigger's Broom"... Completely reworked. Forty years ago, a less experienced me took a ride in my Boss's 3500 Vitesse. Typical ... lets see what this baby can do ... got into a massive sideways drift at speed on a loosened surface and really worried for a few seconds. Worried what I'd tell my Boss about his new car .. somehow my limited experience and probably a lot of luck, back on track and smooth as silk, continued on my way. Great cars, great days gorn forever sadly. What's triggers broom ...enjoy this :~ th-cam.com/video/LAh8HryVaeY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=MarkAlzano
@@szymeklawik7636 I’ve seen it, light blue, looks really nice Unfortunately looking to buy my first home in the next year or so. Don’t think the mrs would be pleased If I bought it. Hopefully at some point in the future
@@MrTitaniumBG Bloody wives.. I had the opportunity to buy an immaculately restored Opel Kadett Rallye Coupe, she torpedoed my plans.. We're still married, she's happy, but I'm filled with bitter regret every time I look at her face and think about that car. 😢
Go for the highest spec V8 series 2 you can find as they're better trimmed and built, unless you prefer the early series 1 look. Preferably a manual V8 of either series, they can be more economical, you'll get over 30mpg on a run if you maintain and drive it carefully. The V8 is well proven, and they have less mechanical issues than the 4/6 cylinder petrol or diesel engined models.
Another amazing British Leyland "If only". So many wasted opportunities. As soon as we invent time travel someone needs to go back to the 1970's and bang some heads together at BL.
Great video for a great car. The shape is absolutely timeless. At the moment I am restoring a 3500 from 1978 (in normal case I restore clocks and watches, but I love british cars). One day a friend called me, and asked if I want an old Rover. I said no because I had too many projects. Then he said, that if I dont take it, it will be scrapped, so I had to save it and am now very happy to own it. I hope, that it will be back on the road next year, after 30 years of standing in a barn. I can´t wait for your next video. It is always a joy. It would be great to see a video from you of a Scimitar in the future. Many thanks for your work!
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@@johnsmith1474 So forgettable that everyone remembers it... you dope.
If Britain could be summed up in a car this would be it, talented, classy, a little old fashioned, surprisingly powerful with a splash of help from our American friends, quite thirsty, and don't forget appallingly managed.
That's a little idealistic. They trashed the Uk motor industry and got rid of manufacturing to replace it with the oil money from Scotland. Here's how I would sum up Britain: 'it all could have been so great.' -Just like the Rover.
such a great representer! i simply love the way he describes all the details, great man. A salute from germany, where guys like him dont exist. By the way, what the rover is capable of, has been shown from chris harris in a classic race...
Always loved this car- especially with the 3.5 power plant in it. Only ever drove my mate’s 2.6 automatic. I can’t comment on Longbridge during the 70s, but worked at Land Rover all through the 90s. The workers in the British car industry get a lot of flack over quality, but I remember it quite differently. If we stopped the track for any quality/parts defect issues, we were rounded on by managers who told us to send it through, thus meeting their targets. Our competitors in Europe, especially in the luxury car market, would have addressed the issue with the suppliers and probably sought recompense for lost production, rather than sending the work through, to be reworked on overtime- on THEIR insistence. Don’t believe everything you read!
I completely agree, i think a video of the history of the Jaguar V12 engine would be an interesting watch, there always seems to be a plentiful supply of Jaguar's in Ian's workshop.
When I was a kid, this was the most beautiful shape of a car ever. Later I learned that they were slapped together by striking workers in the factory with poor quality. But the shape and design.....just epic.
@@johnsmith1474 Fair points, but the construction of those substandard bit and pieces was shockingly shoddy. No matter how good the parts are, if the guy screwing them together doesn't care you end up with a crap car. And those guys didn't care!
@@1776-r4j the workers didn't care, management didn't care. Management made no effort to improve design, construction or service support. Along came the Japanese, with a completely different philosophy. They gave service, support and a willingness to listen to all staff. To listen to buyers, to listen to those that sold the cars. To listen to the people that fixed the faults. They didn't assume that the worker, owner or the seller didn't know anything. They didn't assume that management was some type of superior being. And the union bosses at the Japanese plants also took an interest in the well being of the company. See the philosophy of the person that made Toyota vehicles. The failure of the British car industry falls firmly on the shoulders of both management AND workers. And Australia inherited the same attitude and went the same way. If you want to experience build and service buy a Lexus, a Hyundai or KIA. If it breaks, they are there to support you.
theyre very rare now, dont see many on the roads as they all rusted into oblivion. The bonnet scoop, HUGE bumper air intake and the massive spoiler on the back give this one away as something a bit special ;)
My mate bought one in the mid eighties with some compensation he got from a bike accident, we went out in it one night for a kebab, Stockport to Birmingham and back flat out. Brilliant 😃
@@hughoxford8735 He was knocked off his Yamaha RD 250 by a car doing a U turn in the road. He bought the Rover with the compensation he received for his injuries.
I had this car for several years until Gemany introduced the catalytic converter regulation. Of all the cars I had, my Rover Vitesse was my great love and will remain in my memory. PS. Many laps on the Nürburgring with the Rover Vitesse were a real pleasure. Greetings from Germany.
Haha.. Over here in the UK, car nuts like me watch Chasing Classic Cars .. presented by American Wayne Carini. One in the series he visited a car collector and all around his property, parked up in the woodland, a shed load of Rover SD1s. Some under tarpaulin covers. Yes, quite a few made it to the USA.
Actually, Rover did try to sell them here. Unfortunately, early SD1's were, let's face it, complete bodge jobs. Awful quality and reliability, coupled with the reputation Rover had already suffered in the US over the reputation of the P6, spelled doom. There were unsold SD1's sitting up to two years after it's only sales year, 1980. Later versions were much improved, but far too late. The Sterling debacle was the last time Rover tried selling in the US.
I'd seen this car in the background of your last couple of videos and thought of asking if you'd feature it. But when you look around at the other machinery in your place, at any one time, didn't think there would be any chance, so thank you. I love these cars, and growing up a couple of miles away from Cowley, in Oxfordshire, there were BL products everywhere, many of which owned by people who worked at the plant, so you could see how far they were up the food chain. One of my friends dad's had an oporto red Vitesse, which I thought was fantastic, especially as I really hated almost everything else that company made at the time. I managed to get a 1983 Vitesse, single "plenum", when I was 19. It was £550, so you can imagine it wasn't exactly mint, but it was solid, had a good strong motor, and, surprisingly, all the electrical items worked. I loved this car, and still miss it today, but alas, after six months of crippling, foot permanently welded to the floor, single digit fuel consumption, it had to go. I'd never let anyone drive it before, so had never heard it from the outside, and when the guy who bought it pulled off the driveway and floored it, I felt like crying, as I really hadn't wanted to sell it. I did get another SD1 a couple of years later, this time an 85 Vanden Plas, as it was far too cheap not to buy it, and although I still really liked it, it had the automatic box, and softer suspension, so it wasn't as fun, although still just as greedy when it came to fuel! Unfortunately, the engine let go whilst racing a 205 GTI on the A40, so that was the end of that. I would love to have another Vitesse one day, this time a TP, but like you said, they are getting very rare now, and don't often come up for sale. Besides, the last one I saw they were asking £15k!!Back in the mid 90's when I had mine, a really nice one was only about £2-2.5k.
Great to see you back Iain. I'm in Melbourne in isolation and it's late at night. I noticed the new episode had been uploaded 10 Mins earlier and bloody hell you've already got 30 comments. You'll be up to 3 million in no time.- Well done - keep up the good work.
Love it! What a cracking bit of kit! And it does what it says on the tin (vitesse). Rover/Leyland was an enigma - brilliant engineers vs rubbish management
I had 6 SD1`s, I loved all of them. My favourite was my Vitesse, which was identical to the one in this video........Why did I sell it????? :-((( I was a real pleasure to drive, understeer, oversteer you could make it do whatever you wanted... I now have a 4.6 Range Rover P38 with basically the same engine.
I personally follow these: - This - Harry's Garage - Jay Leno - Doug Demuro - Hagerty - Goodwood Road & Racing - 19Bozzy92, Italiansupercarvideo, MattyB727 (three dudes doing recordings from same events) - VHS Rallies - The Fastlane Basically, the best of the best.
@@d-d-i Good list. I will follow up with mine in no particular order - Alex on Autos - Ratarossa - ISSIMI Official - SpeedKar99 -19Bozzy92 _ Harry's Garage _ PeterBjorck _ Speed Academy _Hagerty _ Leno _ Big Car _Sloppy Mechanics _ Robert DIY ( a little Volvo help and instruction) _Regular Car Review _ Edd China ( he is stopped again after a few starts on YT when things expired for him on wheeler dealer) _ Jay Emm on Cars _ Savage Geese . . . A few local ones that are of personal interest but now that I see my listing, it appears I might have an obsession issue after all. I would rank this at minimum Top 5 at this point. Very much stop what I am doing to view Tyrells latest offerings.
Loved this video! My father also had one in Canada, a 3500... He bought it from his English boss and loved it. Also, did its job and saved him from a drunk driver when he was T-boned... Thankfully everything was ok, otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this :)
Wow brings back memories. I had a twin plenum vitesse, for a year or so. Also fitted one to a Triumph TR7 convertible and twin turbocharged it using Janspeed manifolds (another name from the past ey😉) This was years before the internet so it was down to studying books like David Hardcastles book on the Rover V8. My engine even had a girdle and was stroked for a bigger capacity, the turbos were T0-4Bs🤔 Miss both cars🤗 Great channel this, thanks🤗
@Ouroboros unfortunately, his history lesson, while broadly correct, is full of inaccuracies. I do wish he'd done a bit more research before regurgitating common myths.
@@ianh9696 Mercury Marine was never owned by General Motors. It was, as of 1961, part of the Brunswick Corporation, a company that had made its fortune supplying equipment for bowling and billiards, but was still run by its founder, Carl Kiekhaefer. Also, the Buick/Olds engine wasn't discarded because it was undersized but because it was hopelessly unreliable - the die casting was the main reason why, as it resulted in porous castings. As a result, Rover did *NOT* buy the casting dies, which had been set up by an individual by then deceased. They (or rather Birmingham Aluminium) used sand casting, which produced non-porous blocks! Also, the LT77 gearbox did not originate in the SD1. It had been around for a decade by then in the Jaguar XJ. Also, the fuller on swords and daggers is absolutely nothing to do with channelling blood and everything to do with structural rigidity.
@@richardharrold9736 I used to work at a GM dealer (17 years) and I had lots of people asking for parts for their GM marine engine. I had to tell them I had no catalogues and couldn't guarantee interchangeability. Sent them on their way. I learned my lesson when working for a Volvo car dealer. Boaters would try to fool me by ordering parts for a car to use on their boats, thinking they would be cheaper. I remember selling a water pump for a B20 engine to one of these people. He was back a short time later with pump in hand, melted by the salt water. The cars used aluminum pumps, and the boats use cast iron.
Always loved SD1`s , TVR used the engines too and love the dash design where the the passenger vent is the sterring column hole for left hand drive , so it all "just" swaps over , great idea
Quality car, thanks for sharing. I love the sound of those old V8s! It's such a shame that the build quality with British Leyland wasn't consistent. Most needed rebuilding/attention after a short time because of circumstances already mentioned. It's nice to see that some people have managed to keep them tickin' over
@voice of reason The Mustang was overdubbed with the sound of a GT40 because they thought it sounded better. Hollywood! If you watch carefully you'll notice that the sound doesn't entirely match the motion (rates of acceleration and so on)
Just opened TH-cam with my first coffee of the Sunday morning as a South African in Kansas USA.. Good memories of my Dad's six cylinder 2600. Great start of the day.
Just to say one of best videos I've seen on youtube. Not the V8 but I had a 2.3 straight 6 SD1 on a V plate 1980 the car was 5 yrs old when I bought it and had heard all types of horror stories about the 2.3 engine, but, it never missed a beat, all you said about that car was true, a great trip down memory lane, thank you.
@@stewartsteinecke7301 i had the straight six manual.,no electric windows or even power steering but with all those things missing,was even lighter and went like a rocket.3.0S Capris had no chance.
Although they are sometimes called “blood grooves,” the fuller (its proper name) on a blade has nothing to do with blood. It is just to make the blade lighter.
Yeah but it definitely helps when you are stabbing people. I used to use a dagger without a fuller and moved over to one with a fuller a few years ago and it's saved me hours.
Tom Walkinshaw was working for HSV ,Holden special Vehicles which he developed the 1988 VL: commodore Group A for racing ,one of its new tech was a twin throttle intake set up maybe from his p[ast experiance racing Rovers lol
Rover was a fine Car Company before British Leyland acquired it. I owned 2 Rover 2000s & a Tuned 3500 SD1. It was a toss up whether I preferred the uverall quality of the TC and its moderate outright performance or the stronger power, and practicality of the SD1. I habitually cruised the TC at 3 figure speeds safely on wet roads. Brother, a Petrol head also owned an SD1 amongst a ggarage history of 1980s-1990s TVRs (Chimeras & Tuscan) and a good looking DB7. (My garage can be viewed at "RPrior Autocar") The SD1 combined practicality of a family car with strong sporting aspirations. Great Aunt Alice set our hearts on Rover with a fine example of a 1949 Rover 75.
My brother had an SD1 back in the eighties, such a lovely car to look at. I remember he had some horrible electrical problems with it, lol. I Particularly remember a trip we did from Geraldton to Perth in West Aus at night. It was about 360km and I drove most of it. It was my first experience driving a European car On an empty dark highway and it was fantastic, yep we broke the speed limit a few times that night... You didn’t mention that the same engine was used in a bunch of other British car brands. I had the pleasure to own a Triumph TR7 V8 in the mid nineties, a 1982 model I think. Fantastic car with such an awesome V8 exhaust note! I really wish I still had that car now... sigh.
I used to go to the drive- in cinema as a kid in South Africa in that model.I remember the the interior lights for the passengers in the rear.For that I thought it was such a cool car. Now I see it has much more than cool interior lighting ? lol
Thank u 4 an amazing vid . I'm 55 now and I remember these beasts! Reminds of mad max interceptor! I think a true muscle car of it's time back in the day especially in this guise. I can c u r a true enthusiast of great cars . God bless u son.
Ah yes.... the British Motor Bungling Consortium. Everybody had a fireproof job and the movers-and-shakers behind all that assumed that top-notch products would just keep rolling off the production lines. I wonder if those involved ever acknowledged the real-world consequences of their actions. Anyway, here in the U.S. the car was known as the Rover 3500. I nearly bought one off a used lot when I was young and immortal. What threw me off was seeing most of the car's electrical system piled up on the front seats. However they looked great even with the idiotic Federal 5mph bumpers and equally idiotic sealed-beam headlights. These days I'd love one. Swap in the later 4.6 version and a T-56 trans behind it, with a lot of tuning elsewhere, and even more fun would be had from one methinks! I just realized I'll have to win the Lottery now thanks to all the ideas I'm getting from this channel. Thanks a lot. :-P
I bought one in/around 1992 for about £300 at a Car Auction . . . . . it didn't even get me all the way home, before it broke down - Ha ha ha ha Still, I fixed it, and then enjoyed about 2-3 good years in that wet, damp-smelling, rusty car driving from Preston, to Cleveleys every day at 5.00am on almost empty roads - I even fabricated a side exit exhaust that exited just in front of the rear wheel arch - lovely A Great tail-happy, easy to control, car, in wet conditions - big, Big, BIG, fun for a young lad in his late 20's & for embarrassingly cheap money (except for the running costs!)
I grew up a stone's throw from the old British Leyland factory on Drews Lane in Birmingham in the late 1970s as a little nipper walking to school looking at all the cars thru the fence railings and on occasion seeing these Rover Vitesse beasts in the vast carpark at the side of the main building. Loved how immensely powerful looking they were on the road amongst the Austin Princess' and the MG Montego's lol. Those were the days. Great video, brings back the fond memories.
IME, on a standard engine the "twin plenum" is worth nothing in terms of power or torque, simply because the throttle plate area is not the limiting factor (if it were, on a single plenum car, the manifold pressure would be below atmospheric at WOT peak power, ie the throttle would be a restriction). The port flow and cam / valve geo of the std RV8 is pretty terrible and is what limits the engines performance (190 bhp from 3.5 litres is just 54 bhp/litre.....) The lack of mapped ignition also meant that whilst the move to port fuel injection from twin carbs did indeed significantly improve the engine out emisisons (thanks to much better AFR control) it did nothing for power. The twin plenum made a tiny improvement to the full on race engines used for the touring cars because they have big valves, high lift cams and significantly reworked ports. What i would call "Modern" intake performance did not really come until the engine became "serpentine" in the late 1990's where it finally got a sensibel length intake runner that actually tuned within the (limited) working rev range of the engine
Very interesting. I must admit I always thought the SD1 V8 was pretty flat as standard. 150hp :-/ Seems a lazy engine- in keeping with the American underpinnings
That power/displacement ratio is mainly an indication of the engine’s low-revving nature… American engines have always been tuned in favor of low-end torque… especially in family car use cases. No doubt a specialist engine builder with a generous budget could tune the Rover engine to run happily at 8,000-odd RPM with equally high power output.
cerberus1981 makes me a tad skeptical about Iain’s claimed output. It doesn’t seem particularly cammy or revvy for nicely over 200hp. Might be running some increased displacement I guess....
@@chrismc1977 I drive a P6 3500. A modern 1.0 Eco Ford is quicker. There was a "gentleman's" agreement in the 70s regarding bhp figures. The Ford Capri 3.0 first came out with 150hp but was reduced to 130hp at release as it was deemed too powerful. I have a feeling it was the suits keeping everything user friendly back then not the mechanics.
Awesome car and engine. One of the great tragedies of our times is how great designers, engineers in the entity called British Leyland were so let down by the far-left wing unions (who, in effect gave lots of jobs to the workers, er, in South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, etc) and by stupid and useless management. Rover SD1 3500 Vitesse, still looks great and sounds amazing!
When the 3500 Rover Vitesse was launched in 1982, I was working for a part of Rover at the time and fondly remember driving a metallic blue Vitesse from North Wales down to London (and back the same day) to attend a concert in 1986. What a fun car to drive and the sound it made was glorious.
Great episode. Have to admit could not get Clarkson out of my head talking about Rovers. Mercury Marine have made legendary motors for cars such as the Corvette ZR-1.
Clarkson was an arse. He and the Top Gear producers indiscriminately criticized and vilified mainstream British products from the 60s to the 00s - Rover, MG, Austin, Triumph, Lotus. Even when they were good. Sad, and stupid.
When you first started showing up on TH-cam there were always a ton of XJSs in the background... then it all went Lambo, Lambo, Lambo. Show us some XJS! This SD1 is a step in the right direction :)
I worked in a Rover dealership in the 80s remember driving them the clutch was heavy but they went well, I preferred the Vanden Plas auto versions an easier car to drive in traffic and super smooth but poor visibility thru the back window no parking sensors or rear view cameras back then most of them had a dent or two in the back bumper.
Ouch! Back down memory lane. I used to work for Rovercraft back in the day, so this became one of my favourite engines and cars to work on. So many things were different back then, and i was not a question of re mapping or bolting on goodies, it was down to the engineering talents of the Law brothers Simon and Nick. Watched many a V8 on the rolling road exceed demands. Great video as usual.
This was such a great car. A friend of mine used to have one of these in manual (a twin plenum), and we drove from the UK to Le Mans in France in it several times back in the day. It was so comfy and practical but looked awesome with a really staunch, low-slung stance on the road - and that assertive front end gave it real presence. For a big car, it never looked clumsy - unlike the Porsche Panamera of today, which I suppose is a similar sort of car. I remember driving the SD1 down "the road to Morley", a beautiful, curving, sweeping road that goes for miles and miles with barely any traffic - and although the steering was a bit light and uncommunicative, the car handled beautifully. Grippy, neutral, engaging and fast, with great punch from that V8. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
I'm surprised with a 110 inch wheelbase and a 185 inch length it was considered a large car. Over here in the US, most 'large cars' had wheelbases of 115 or more and a length 200 or more.
@@thebitlot Yes, that's Britain for you! Our roads and cars have always tended to be much smaller than those in the USA, I think the price of petrol also had something to do with it. I remember thinking that the 3.9 litre V8 in that SD1 was ENORMOUS - most "ordinary" cars in Britain at the time were 2 litres or less with only 4 cylinders usually.
@@joelsmith9311 It makes me wonder how it shaped the culture differently overseas than here. Like here, up until the oil crisis, the rule was 'no replacement for displacement.' We drove big bulky cars with pushrod engines that spat smog into the air with reckless abandon. We cruised on our motorized couches across hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles of land. And really, the SD1 looks so ahead of its time. Look at what the US was driving in the late 70s to early 80s. The SD1 looks like an early 90s GM W Body (Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal, et al), before the W body. The only way you can tell the thing is from the 70s is the overwhelming amount of BROWN.
I have been lucky to have owned many Rover SD1 V8s including mrk 1 SD1 V8S, VDP V8 single plenum, Vitesse V8 single plenum and stacks of SE V8 manuals. I enjoyed converting lots of non V8 SD1s to V8. Great car and design lines taken from the Ferrari Daytona, awesome! 👍
One of the best automotive channels, I came here via Harry's garage. This Tyrrell's channel is excellent, many thanks
Always watch this channel. Iain's knowledge is encyclopaedic, he just makes everything interesting and clearly loves what he does for a living. I particularly relish the mechanical and bodywork rebuild and restoration content, the piece on the yellow Miura was nothing short of fascinating. It's the best car oriented channel (although Harry Metcalfe and M539 Restorations come quite close)
I had a van den Plas 3500 for 10 years. My friend took it apart and completely rebuild it. Had to sell it moving to Canada. I still miss it. I loved the roar of the engine. The manual transmission was great. Tuning the two carburetors was lots of fun. I drove it on propane and found out that the hoses to the carburetors had to be of equal length after 8 years.. than it had as much power as on gasoline. Thanks for this great video.
Had one of these as a lad.....if I ever get rich I will have another ...lovely motor
Really enjoyed this video 👍 My older brother had one back in the 1990’s - a fantastic car - brought back a stream of fond memories - Thank you 😊 👍 - Warmest wishes from South Wales 🏴 - Jonathan 😊 👍
The other issue was that Americans were used to iron engines without worrying so much about the maintenance required with alloy motors (ie proper coolant and overheating issues that would warp alloy motors vs huge low spec iron ones). GM also couldn’t get the reliability up to standards so they abandoned the project. Rover succeeded by devising wet liners for the cylinders and voila! Reliable and dependable motor for the British car industry….. until they didn’t update the tooling for 30+ years and after Range Rover bored them out to 4.6, the blocks finally gave because of irreparable cavitation …..
My Dad was a Traffic Officer in Merseyside Police in the 1980s and these were his favourite cars to drive, he absolutely loved them - even more than the RS2000s they had! "Imagine being paid to drive these all day, best job in the world Son!"
Christ! And I thought Harry Metcalf knew his cars, this guys another level! Awesome 👏🏻
I had an '82 auto in Australia. Best car I ever owned including Jaguars.
Loooooooooooved these as a kid. Stunning.
Just as an aside, the "blood groove" is really just a fuller that allows you a long stiff blade with less material to make it cheaper/lighter. A similar principle to an H section beam.
And I thought Mercedes’ “plank” with all the instruments was a new idea.
Thank you Ian for for your lovely cars and presentation, your beautiful English not the least. 👍
Great video! As always really enjoyable to watch. I won’t look at the SD1 the same
I think the Met police used a version of this from what I remember, also used to see MGCs in the countryside used by the local constabularies. Love all Rovers.
*Borrowed one for the weekend back in 1981 & took some friends for a late night jaunt to James Hunt's Disco in Marbella.*
*"on a Dark Deserted Highway", indeed.*
*On a long straight l was quite surprised we were 'only' doing 115km/h.*
*Then l took a closer look at the speedo.*
Ha!
Nice car: lots of fun.
Beautiful car,incredible engine
Best noise ever. Love sd1 v8s
Owned a 2 litre petrol (4 cylinder) in the 80's & was still a fantastic motor for the time. Sadly missed
Top drawer video this, subscribed! Best of luck with Jack's Influenzo though 😉😉
In the 90's the local takeaway bloke used to deliver pizzas in a black River Vitesse! 😳
in the late 70's I was in Canda,wher it was also imported ,but in the US was not appreciated
great vid.
I've had two... the second one a silver 3500 vanden plas.
I remember my dad driving off in one with his new bit of fluff.
Wasn't called Bob was he?
The "Jam Sandwich" police car of my youth. It still looks fantastic now, huge presence and impression of power even when it's sitting still. I'm envious of the owner.
I remember the 'JamButty's' feeling old now :-)
The metropolitan police purchased the last 200 built. 50 went straight in to service, while the other 150 were stored and drip fed into service as older units were retired.
Got pulled up for speeding, not much maybe 40 in a 30... in 80s in Ickenham, W London. They were being me and had a headlight out!
I used to drive these, my boss owned them. I've always been a petrolhead. I loved driving them.
In the 70s I was on my 500 Kawasaki H1 going South through spaghetti junction Birmingham UK at 1am and I ran out of fuel (as I always did). Rolled to a stop on the hard shoulder when from no where a blue light in my face. The window rolled down and in a Brummi accent "You cant push a vehicle on the motorway" I says "OK ill leave it here". "You cant park a vehicle on the motorway" "Well what do do want me to do carry it!" I said in desperation. "Were only kidding get in we will take you to get petrol" On the journey of 10 miles they said "We saw you tanking down the Southbound do you wanna see how fast we can go?" And they did it......140mph! "She will go quicker and she handles".
Learnt a few things that night. Brummi coppers love their jam sandwich Rovers, The M6 has a network of tiny side access roads the police use to get between North and South M6. Dont try outrun a Rover on a 500 Kawasaki and I want an SD1.
I worked with Rover at the time on the wiring (not responsible for the gaffs) and despite this went and looked at a used twin plenum Vitesse but it got sold and I went for V12 Jag XJS. The Rover was my first choice, so adaptable 5 door hatch and fun. My modern day equivalent is my 2014 Tesla Model S. Lets say I prioritise fun over build quality, 125,000 miles of free fun, the Tesla a good choice.
Thanks for this. Nostalgia for me. I drove an uprated Vitesse with fuel injection (maybe the twin plenum), at pace in the Police at 23 years old. To say it made me smile is an understatement. I couldn't wait to get to work... out of my 1.3 Ford Escort into this V8 supercar, my reward for completing the Police panda, then advanced training with a first. At the time, not much on the road could compete with the Police specials and once AR called time, we bought a lot of the parts and kept ours going for several years in Carcroft, SYP. Even when we had the 4WD Sierra Cosworth turbo later, it didn't have the grunt, responsiveness or RWD heroics of the Rover.
I can imagine a lot of Coppers loving these to drive at the time🙂
I learned to drive in my dads diesel SD1, back then i only wished for the V8 but at 17 i think the diesel was the safer option.
@@ksynnott322.
I served in the police from 1997 until 2014. I worked with a guy who joined in the late 70's, and he drove the SD1 V8 extensively and he loved it. I knew some people in Traffic who by the late 90's, were using the superb Senator 24V. Aside from the Senator, which is still widely regarded as the best patrol vehicle the police have used, the SD1 is a favourite and it's reputation endures. In terms of sheer physical presence, the SD1 is Top Dog I think. They did look superb back in the 80's, and on the rare occasion you see one of the road today, it's a real head turner. It's a shame Rover went out of business, imagine if they had created a retro design heavily based on the SD1?
I have a US spec 3500 in Santa Barbara I am restoring. This video gives me so much inspiration! Thanks for sharing a wonderful car!
That's quite the undertaking in the United States, I imagine there as rare as hen's teeth.
I would rather have this than any of the other cars you've shown. The perfect mix. People can be snooty if they like but what a sound.
I drove an SD1 for 3 years. A 3500 Vandenplas built 1983. It had the standard 2 SU carburettors and a manual gear box. I bought it second hand in 1988 with 150.000km on the counter and drove another 100.000 problemless km with it. It had the same silver grey exterior coulour and a light bourgondie velours interior. A beautiful combination.
The engine was a delight. It had power and strong torque from low revs onwards. Its 4th gear could be used from 40 km/h onwards all the way up to 200.
But in those 3 years, I got married and we bought a house, with a loan of course. And the car became too expensive to keep.
Fuel consumption was on average over these 100.000km 11,5l/100km. Very good for a 3,5 V8. But still. And specifically road tax was very high. Here in BE road tax is based on engine capacity and a 3,5 litre is considered to be a luxury only for the rich.
So I decided to change the car and bought a second hand Ford Sierra 2,3D. It handled pretty well actually but of course it was slow. On the other hand road tax was low and fuel consumption was only 7l/100km. Much better for the budget.
I keep the Rover in my memory as a very pleasant car. Probably not the best built car ever, but a very nice looking car and what a fine engine. For pleasure I sometimes started it up, opened the bonnet and put my hands on the engine just to feel how almost vibration free it ran on idle.
This engine wasn't just a Buick transplant, as insinuated. It was thoroughly re-designed by Rover for sand-casting and with proper steel liners to make it more robust and prevent the cracking and wear to which the Buick design was prone. Changes to oil routing and cooling were also made, as well as better carburation and, of course, later adding the electronic fuel injection we see in the series II SD1s and subsequent Land Rover products. By 1980 It's barely recognisable as having Buick ancestry. JRT (Jaguar Rover Triumph, later Austin Rover) had the potential use of the Triumph V8 as well by the 70's, so wasn't reliant on this engine although it clearly preferred to develop it so much so that it ended up with a 4.6L capacity and modern electronic injection & engine management. It is interesting to imagine the original powerplant plans for Rover: a jet turbine-powered sedan... Vitesse, indeed...
Quite so. Remember reading this a while back. Would've made the Stag a great car for the US. They gave us plenty of support and got crap.
I see everywhere that engine is "a Buick engine that Buick didn't want any more" but that is only the start of the story. What you said is the reason it was in everything from the P5b, P6, RR, TVR, etc etc. Rover engineering was what made it successful.
And then the British govt. sold off Rover at a bargain basement price, the traitorous scum. I'm still annoyed!
@@Daijyobanai The government was a faceless administrator of a disaster caused by blood thirsty union leaders and ideologues and a hapless incompetent management. Meanwhile the engineers toiled on, sadly to no avail. Hope this makes you feel better….
Well said C J. In the final analysis, the Rover V8 was a lot like "Trigger's Broom"... Completely reworked. Forty years ago, a less experienced me took a ride in my Boss's 3500 Vitesse. Typical ... lets see what this baby can do ... got into a massive sideways drift at speed on a loosened surface and really worried for a few seconds. Worried what I'd tell my Boss about his new car .. somehow my limited experience and probably a lot of luck, back on track and smooth as silk, continued on my way. Great cars, great days gorn forever sadly. What's triggers broom ...enjoy this :~
th-cam.com/video/LAh8HryVaeY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=MarkAlzano
@@MrRea112 Too bluddy right! Only in the ... UK!
That Vitesse is something else with that performance exhaust 😍
definitely....
Dad had one talked about it all the time, he’s passed now but I’d love to be able to buy one and restore it
@Greenboff, there's a lovely one selling on eBay 6.5k
@@szymeklawik7636 I’ve seen it, light blue, looks really nice Unfortunately looking to buy my first home in the next year or so. Don’t think the mrs would be pleased If I bought it. Hopefully at some point in the future
@@MrTitaniumBG Bloody wives.. I had the opportunity to buy an immaculately restored Opel Kadett Rallye Coupe, she torpedoed my plans.. We're still married, she's happy, but I'm filled with bitter regret every time I look at her face and think about that car. 😢
Go for the highest spec V8 series 2 you can find as they're better trimmed and built, unless you prefer the early series 1 look. Preferably a manual V8 of either series, they can be more economical, you'll get over 30mpg on a run if you maintain and drive it carefully. The V8 is well proven, and they have less mechanical issues than the 4/6 cylinder petrol or diesel engined models.
@@nicklloyd9291 glad u keep her happy....hopefully u can keep ur dream alive and have it someday...
Another amazing British Leyland "If only". So many wasted opportunities. As soon as we invent time travel someone needs to go back to the 1970's and bang some heads together at BL.
And then bang them again. And again.
Trade unions at work to dismantle industry, so consumed with themselves, now where are the jobs...
The Rover Solihull Plant is still in operation under JLR so point about the unions and jobs is wrong
Right car built by the wrong people.
@@roberttaylor7462 Absolutely no thanks to the unions! They screwed everything up..
Great video for a great car. The shape is absolutely timeless. At the moment I am restoring a 3500 from 1978 (in normal case I restore clocks and watches, but I love british cars). One day a friend called me, and asked if I want an old Rover. I said no because I had too many projects. Then he said, that if I dont take it, it will be scrapped, so I had to save it and am now very happy to own it. I hope, that it will be back on the road next year, after 30 years of standing in a barn. I can´t wait for your next video. It is always a joy. It would be great to see a video from you of a Scimitar in the future. Many thanks for your work!
@@johnsmith1474
So forgettable that everyone remembers it... you dope.
@@johnsmith1474
Hahaha what are you smoking? What a numpty 😂😂😂
You just proved to all of us who know that you have never driven a tuned manual Vitesse...
If Britain could be summed up in a car this would be it, talented, classy, a little old fashioned, surprisingly powerful with a splash of help from our American friends, quite thirsty, and don't forget appallingly managed.
Spot on!!
That's a little idealistic. They trashed the Uk motor industry and got rid of manufacturing to replace it with the oil money from Scotland. Here's how I would sum up Britain: 'it all could have been so great.' -Just like the Rover.
Brilliant comment mate I love it
Dont forget bad teeth😂
Bedlington it was futuristic when it came out. Look at what Mercedes and BMW were making then. Audi were up against the Princess, not the SD1.
such a great representer! i simply love the way he describes all the details, great man. A salute from germany, where guys like him dont exist. By the way, what the rover is capable of, has been shown from chris harris in a classic race...
Iain and Harry are two of a kind! We are lucky.
How many went straight to ebay to see if there was one for sale and how much.
I did, and then started crying
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I just did.
@@paulraymond3622
Same here. While the Vitesse was never super cheap the values of them now are too high if you just want one as a second car 😑
I'm in Aus and a bloke I know out the road picked up one for $800 and its a ripper.
TR8
Always loved this car- especially with the 3.5 power plant in it. Only ever drove my mate’s 2.6 automatic.
I can’t comment on Longbridge during the 70s, but worked at Land Rover all through the 90s. The workers in the British car industry get a lot of flack over quality, but I remember it quite differently. If we stopped the track for any quality/parts defect issues, we were rounded on by managers who told us to send it through, thus meeting their targets. Our competitors in Europe, especially in the luxury car market, would have addressed the issue with the suppliers and probably sought recompense for lost production, rather than sending the work through, to be reworked on overtime- on THEIR insistence. Don’t believe everything you read!
It's not just the wonderful cars, but your incredible knowledge of the cars and their history.
Many thanks.
This comment made me wonder- does he write and memorise a script? How can someone know soooo much???
What a fantastic car. Spacious, comfortable and great looking with a ripper engine. Would love to own one. 🤤
I'll have one of those. And also, at last a man who's not afraid to rev an engine.
Shmee150 is the worst. Never ever revs his engines. Hes such a dweeb
Bad for the engine's health to never use the full rev range :/
Especially a V8!
Let’s see the XJC in detail, please.
I agree 👍
Yesss...please!
I completely agree, i think a video of the history of the Jaguar V12 engine would be an interesting watch, there always seems to be a plentiful supply of Jaguar's in Ian's workshop.
From a boy, always loved the 3500 - seemed very modern at the time. Another vote for the XJC please!
XJC for me too. 👌
Absolutely no need for a stereo in the mightily SD1.
That sounds beautiful.
When I was a kid, this was the most beautiful shape of a car ever. Later I learned that they were slapped together by striking workers in the factory with poor quality. But the shape and design.....just epic.
And then the Japanese started selling cars in the UK
@@johnsmith1474 Fair points, but the construction of those substandard bit and pieces was shockingly shoddy. No matter how good the parts are, if the guy screwing them together doesn't care you end up with a crap car. And those guys didn't care!
@@1776-r4j the workers didn't care, management didn't care. Management made no effort to improve design, construction or service support. Along came the Japanese, with a completely different philosophy. They gave service, support and a willingness to listen to all staff. To listen to buyers, to listen to those that sold the cars. To listen to the people that fixed the faults. They didn't assume that the worker, owner or the seller didn't know anything. They didn't assume that management was some type of superior being. And the union bosses at the Japanese plants also took an interest in the well being of the company. See the philosophy of the person that made Toyota vehicles. The failure of the British car industry falls firmly on the shoulders of both management AND workers. And Australia inherited the same attitude and went the same way. If you want to experience build and service buy a Lexus, a Hyundai or KIA. If it breaks, they are there to support you.
Also it was poor management and militant unions that was the death sentence for Rover.
@@murrieteacher A great shame that it all wound up the way it did.
Back when cars still had personality.
Back when women still had personalty too...
This car is ugly
No cars after the 70s looks good
@ bruh
@ well people with no taste think this car looks good....
This must be one of the biggest sleepers in history.
theyre very rare now, dont see many on the roads as they all rusted into oblivion. The bonnet scoop, HUGE bumper air intake and the massive spoiler on the back give this one away as something a bit special ;)
The best thing about this car is that it's not a boring Ford.
Just happens to have a Daytona knocking about 😂
And a big cat (racing jag)
It knocks like a fat kit on Halloween. Great car.
My mate bought one in the mid eighties with some compensation he got from a bike accident, we went out in it one night for a kebab, Stockport to Birmingham and back flat out. Brilliant 😃
Kebabs in the eighties?...surprised...
First kebab shop opened in London in 1971 🌮
What compensation did he have to pay for the car accident?
@@hughoxford8735
He was knocked off his Yamaha RD 250 by a car doing a U turn in the road.
He bought the Rover with the compensation he received for his injuries.
@@truthseeker8483
I think the meat was better back then 🥩
I had this car for several years until Gemany introduced the catalytic converter regulation.
Of all the cars I had, my Rover Vitesse was my great love and will remain in my memory.
PS.
Many laps on the Nürburgring with the Rover Vitesse were a real pleasure. Greetings from Germany.
Wish more SD1s found their way to the States. The soundtrack is familiar, but the album cover would definitely turn heads on this side of the pond.
Haha.. Over here in the UK, car nuts like me watch Chasing Classic Cars .. presented by American Wayne Carini. One in the series he visited a car collector and all around his property, parked up in the woodland, a shed load of Rover SD1s. Some under tarpaulin covers. Yes, quite a few made it to the USA.
Actually, Rover did try to sell them here. Unfortunately, early SD1's were, let's face it, complete bodge jobs. Awful quality and reliability, coupled with the reputation Rover had already suffered in the US over the reputation of the P6, spelled doom. There were unsold SD1's sitting up to two years after it's only sales year, 1980. Later versions were much improved, but far too late. The Sterling debacle was the last time Rover tried selling in the US.
Wonderful video as always. Thanks!
Thanks! Enjoy yours too :-)
@@iain_tyrrell Love to do a collaboration sometime if you have an idea for a subject.
I’m up for that but Not quite sure what would fit! Any ideas or suggestions welcome
The dust in em vents is giving my ocd a worry
Some q-tips and 15 minutes will clear it up.
ya i want to get a paint brush on it
I spotted it too and wanted to poke my little finger in the gaps to remove the dust.
HA Ha! Thought it was just me...
seams there are a lot of us seeing that ! got an attachment for our vacuum that does well with them.
I'd seen this car in the background of your last couple of videos and thought of asking if you'd feature it. But when you look around at the other machinery in your place, at any one time, didn't think there would be any chance, so thank you. I love these cars, and growing up a couple of miles away from Cowley, in Oxfordshire, there were BL products everywhere, many of which owned by people who worked at the plant, so you could see how far they were up the food chain. One of my friends dad's had an oporto red Vitesse, which I thought was fantastic, especially as I really hated almost everything else that company made at the time. I managed to get a 1983 Vitesse, single "plenum", when I was 19. It was £550, so you can imagine it wasn't exactly mint, but it was solid, had a good strong motor, and, surprisingly, all the electrical items worked. I loved this car, and still miss it today, but alas, after six months of crippling, foot permanently welded to the floor, single digit fuel consumption, it had to go. I'd never let anyone drive it before, so had never heard it from the outside, and when the guy who bought it pulled off the driveway and floored it, I felt like crying, as I really hadn't wanted to sell it. I did get another SD1 a couple of years later, this time an 85 Vanden Plas, as it was far too cheap not to buy it, and although I still really liked it, it had the automatic box, and softer suspension, so it wasn't as fun, although still just as greedy when it came to fuel! Unfortunately, the engine let go whilst racing a 205 GTI on the A40, so that was the end of that. I would love to have another Vitesse one day, this time a TP, but like you said, they are getting very rare now, and don't often come up for sale. Besides, the last one I saw they were asking £15k!!Back in the mid 90's when I had mine, a really nice one was only about £2-2.5k.
Great to see you back Iain. I'm in Melbourne in isolation and it's late at night. I noticed the new episode had been uploaded 10 Mins earlier and bloody hell you've already got 30 comments. You'll be up to 3 million in no time.- Well done - keep up the good work.
Love it! What a cracking bit of kit! And it does what it says on the tin (vitesse). Rover/Leyland was an enigma - brilliant engineers vs rubbish management
And militant work force
The Triumph Dolomite was also a great car that was let down by everything else in BL.
I had 6 SD1`s, I loved all of them. My favourite was my Vitesse, which was identical to the one in this video........Why did I sell it????? :-((( I was a real pleasure to drive, understeer, oversteer you could make it do whatever you wanted... I now have a 4.6 Range Rover P38 with basically the same engine.
That lovely little V8 sounds delightful. I do remember the Vitesse being referred to as the poor man’s Aston. Poor is a relative term!
Well in Germany it was as expensive as a Jaguar XJ12
I have just watched this for the third time - what a brilliant video, great commentary. good history. My favourite TH-cam channel.
Another non Supercar, I think that is super like the Citroen CX a few months ago!
Carsten Weiland neither of which look out of place parked among the super cars.
@@Locost59 I think that is exactly the point I did not mention!
Tyrrell driving that Vitesse with some real finesse!
Hands down the best automotive channel on TH-cam followed by Harry and Jay lenos Garage . True top class gentleman 👍
I personally follow these:
- This
- Harry's Garage
- Jay Leno
- Doug Demuro
- Hagerty
- Goodwood Road & Racing
- 19Bozzy92, Italiansupercarvideo, MattyB727 (three dudes doing recordings from same events)
- VHS Rallies
- The Fastlane
Basically, the best of the best.
@@d-d-i - I'd recommend Bad Obsession Motorsport too!
After Goonzsquad!
@@d-d-i Good list. I will follow up with mine in no particular order
- Alex on Autos
- Ratarossa
- ISSIMI Official
- SpeedKar99
-19Bozzy92
_ Harry's Garage
_ PeterBjorck
_ Speed Academy
_Hagerty
_ Leno
_ Big Car
_Sloppy Mechanics
_ Robert DIY ( a little Volvo help and instruction)
_Regular Car Review
_ Edd China ( he is stopped again after a few starts on YT when things expired for him on wheeler dealer)
_ Jay Emm on Cars
_ Savage Geese
. . . A few local ones that are of personal interest but now that I see my listing, it appears I might have an obsession issue after all. I would rank this at minimum Top 5 at this point. Very much stop what I am doing to view Tyrells latest offerings.
Totally agree.
My friend’s Dad had one of these in the 80s and I remember being impressed with the interior and the acceleration.. It’s like a British muscle car!
Loved this video! My father also had one in Canada, a 3500... He bought it from his English boss and loved it. Also, did its job and saved him from a drunk driver when he was T-boned... Thankfully everything was ok, otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this :)
Wow brings back memories. I had a twin plenum vitesse, for a year or so.
Also fitted one to a Triumph TR7 convertible and twin turbocharged it using Janspeed manifolds (another name from the past ey😉) This was years before the internet so it was down to studying books like David Hardcastles book on the Rover V8. My engine even had a girdle and was stroked for a bigger capacity, the turbos were T0-4Bs🤔
Miss both cars🤗
Great channel this, thanks🤗
Clicked on this wanting to skip the talk and go straight to the driving bit but I couldn't stop listening to mr Tyrrell's presentation, fascinating.
@Ouroboros unfortunately, his history lesson, while broadly correct, is full of inaccuracies. I do wish he'd done a bit more research before regurgitating common myths.
@@richardharrold9736 What are those myths you are talking about?
Educate us please.
@@ianh9696 Mercury Marine was never owned by General Motors. It was, as of 1961, part of the Brunswick Corporation, a company that had made its fortune supplying equipment for bowling and billiards, but was still run by its founder, Carl Kiekhaefer. Also, the Buick/Olds engine wasn't discarded because it was undersized but because it was hopelessly unreliable - the die casting was the main reason why, as it resulted in porous castings. As a result, Rover did *NOT* buy the casting dies, which had been set up by an individual by then deceased. They (or rather Birmingham Aluminium) used sand casting, which produced non-porous blocks! Also, the LT77 gearbox did not originate in the SD1. It had been around for a decade by then in the Jaguar XJ.
Also, the fuller on swords and daggers is absolutely nothing to do with channelling blood and everything to do with structural rigidity.
@@richardharrold9736 I used to work at a GM dealer (17 years) and I had lots of people asking for parts for their GM marine engine. I had to tell them I had no catalogues and couldn't guarantee interchangeability. Sent them on their way.
I learned my lesson when working for a Volvo car dealer. Boaters would try to fool me by ordering parts for a car to use on their boats, thinking they would be cheaper. I remember selling a water pump for a B20 engine to one of these people. He was back a short time later with pump in hand, melted by the salt water. The cars used aluminum pumps, and the boats use cast iron.
Always loved SD1`s , TVR used the engines too and love the dash design where the the passenger vent is the sterring column hole for left hand drive , so it all "just" swaps over , great idea
I can't see one of these anymore without thinking about Rita, Sue and Bob Too.
What a film. 👍🏻
Proper classic. 😁
Classic i've got the dvd on the shelf
Smart car, great sound!!
Quality car, thanks for sharing. I love the sound of those old V8s! It's such a shame that the build quality with British Leyland wasn't consistent. Most needed rebuilding/attention after a short time because of circumstances already mentioned. It's nice to see that some people have managed to keep them tickin' over
Hi Iain. How do you respond to rumours that you have been offered the role of the next Bond? Have you issued a public statement?
.....I couldn’t possibly comment....😂
You get my vote Iain 👍
Hugh Oxford James Bond blasting around in a Rover Vitesse...I’d pay good money to see that 🤣
Isn’t Ian a performer in the arts world previously as it says on his personal website.
@@iain_tyrrell ...but you like your Martinis shaken not stirred.
Engine's soundtrack is uncannily similar to Steve McQueen's Mustang in Bullitt . . . just an observation.
Rover V8's always sounded nice, even with carbs and only 150bhp they still sounded strong.
@voice of reason The Mustang was overdubbed with the sound of a GT40 because they thought it sounded better. Hollywood! If you watch carefully you'll notice that the sound doesn't entirely match the motion (rates of acceleration and so on)
Just opened TH-cam with my first coffee of the Sunday morning as a South African in Kansas USA.. Good memories of my Dad's six cylinder 2600. Great start of the day.
Just to say one of best videos I've seen on youtube. Not the V8 but I had a 2.3 straight 6 SD1 on a V plate 1980 the car was 5 yrs old when I bought it and had heard all types of horror stories about the 2.3 engine, but, it never missed a beat, all you said about that car was true, a great trip down memory lane, thank you.
I had the straight 6 auto in my late teens. Such a fun car.
@@stewartsteinecke7301 i had the straight six manual.,no electric windows or even power steering but with all those things missing,was even lighter and went like a rocket.3.0S Capris had no chance.
4 minutes in and I have subscribed. I like this presenter.
Although they are sometimes called “blood grooves,” the fuller (its proper name) on a blade has nothing to do with blood. It is just to make the blade lighter.
Thanks, mate - I was hoping someone else had caught this. It's such a common misnomer.
Interesting. That makes sense. I suppose it's a bloody myth!
Yeah but it definitely helps when you are stabbing people. I used to use a dagger without a fuller and moved over to one with a fuller a few years ago and it's saved me hours.
@@Daniel-S1 That's been very much my experience.
@Daniel S That’s a myth.
I do love the sound of a Rover V8 - a particularly burbley quality (this one did sound a bit more feisty than usual!). A great video as always!!
Tom Walkinshaw was working for HSV ,Holden special Vehicles which he developed the 1988 VL: commodore Group A for racing ,one of its new tech was a twin throttle intake set up maybe from his p[ast experiance racing Rovers lol
Rover was a fine Car Company before British Leyland acquired it.
I owned 2 Rover 2000s & a Tuned 3500 SD1. It was a toss up whether I preferred the uverall quality of the TC and its moderate outright performance or the stronger power, and practicality of the SD1. I habitually cruised the TC at 3 figure speeds safely on wet roads.
Brother, a Petrol head also owned an SD1 amongst a ggarage history of 1980s-1990s TVRs (Chimeras & Tuscan) and a good looking DB7. (My garage can be viewed at "RPrior Autocar")
The SD1 combined practicality of a family car with strong sporting aspirations.
Great Aunt Alice set our hearts on Rover with a fine example of a 1949 Rover 75.
This is a wonderfully produced and presented story. Thank you.
My brother had an SD1 back in the eighties, such a lovely car to look at. I remember he had some horrible electrical problems with it, lol. I Particularly remember a trip we did from Geraldton to Perth in West Aus at night. It was about 360km and I drove most of it. It was my first experience driving a European car On an empty dark highway and it was fantastic, yep we broke the speed limit a few times that night...
You didn’t mention that the same engine was used in a bunch of other British car brands. I had the pleasure to own a Triumph TR7 V8 in the mid nineties, a 1982 model I think. Fantastic car with such an awesome V8 exhaust note! I really wish I still had that car now... sigh.
I used to go to the drive- in cinema as a kid in South Africa in that model.I remember the the interior lights for the passengers in the rear.For that I thought it was such a cool car. Now I see it has much more than cool interior lighting ? lol
Thank u 4 an amazing vid . I'm 55 now and I remember these beasts! Reminds of mad max interceptor! I think a true muscle car of it's time back in the day especially in this guise. I can c u r a true enthusiast of great cars . God bless u son.
Ah yes.... the British Motor Bungling Consortium. Everybody had a fireproof job and the movers-and-shakers behind all that assumed that top-notch products would just keep rolling off the production lines. I wonder if those involved ever acknowledged the real-world consequences of their actions.
Anyway, here in the U.S. the car was known as the Rover 3500. I nearly bought one off a used lot when I was young and immortal. What threw me off was seeing most of the car's electrical system piled up on the front seats.
However they looked great even with the idiotic Federal 5mph bumpers and equally idiotic sealed-beam headlights. These days I'd love one. Swap in the later 4.6 version and a T-56 trans behind it, with a lot of tuning elsewhere, and even more fun would be had from one methinks!
I just realized I'll have to win the Lottery now thanks to all the ideas I'm getting from this channel. Thanks a lot. :-P
I bought one in/around 1992 for about £300 at a Car Auction . . . . . it didn't even get me all the way home, before it broke down - Ha ha ha ha
Still, I fixed it, and then enjoyed about 2-3 good years in that wet, damp-smelling, rusty car driving from Preston, to Cleveleys every day at 5.00am on almost empty roads - I even fabricated a side exit exhaust that exited just in front of the rear wheel arch - lovely
A Great tail-happy, easy to control, car, in wet conditions - big, Big, BIG, fun for a young lad in his late 20's & for embarrassingly cheap money (except for the running costs!)
I grew up a stone's throw from the old British Leyland factory on Drews Lane in Birmingham in the late 1970s as a little nipper walking to school looking at all the cars thru the fence railings and on occasion seeing these Rover Vitesse beasts in the vast carpark at the side of the main building. Loved how immensely powerful looking they were on the road amongst the Austin Princess' and the MG Montego's lol. Those were the days. Great video, brings back the fond memories.
Absolutely love Rover SD1, my dad bought brand new one in 1979
IME, on a standard engine the "twin plenum" is worth nothing in terms of power or torque, simply because the throttle plate area is not the limiting factor (if it were, on a single plenum car, the manifold pressure would be below atmospheric at WOT peak power, ie the throttle would be a restriction). The port flow and cam / valve geo of the std RV8 is pretty terrible and is what limits the engines performance (190 bhp from 3.5 litres is just 54 bhp/litre.....) The lack of mapped ignition also meant that whilst the move to port fuel injection from twin carbs did indeed significantly improve the engine out emisisons (thanks to much better AFR control) it did nothing for power. The twin plenum made a tiny improvement to the full on race engines used for the touring cars because they have big valves, high lift cams and significantly reworked ports. What i would call "Modern" intake performance did not really come until the engine became "serpentine" in the late 1990's where it finally got a sensibel length intake runner that actually tuned within the (limited) working rev range of the engine
Very interesting. I must admit I always thought the SD1 V8 was pretty flat as standard. 150hp :-/ Seems a lazy engine- in keeping with the American underpinnings
The 54 bhp/litre is shocking - 6.75bhp per cylinder !! My 2.0 litre MCS throws out just under 250 bhp, or 125 bhp/litre !
That power/displacement ratio is mainly an indication of the engine’s low-revving nature… American engines have always been tuned in favor of low-end torque… especially in family car use cases. No doubt a specialist engine builder with a generous budget could tune the Rover engine to run happily at 8,000-odd RPM with equally high power output.
cerberus1981 makes me a tad skeptical about Iain’s claimed output. It doesn’t seem particularly cammy or revvy for nicely over 200hp. Might be running some increased displacement I guess....
@@chrismc1977 I drive a P6 3500. A modern 1.0 Eco Ford is quicker. There was a "gentleman's" agreement in the 70s regarding bhp figures. The Ford Capri 3.0 first came out with 150hp but was reduced to 130hp at release as it was deemed too powerful. I have a feeling it was the suits keeping everything user friendly back then not the mechanics.
Awesome car and engine. One of the great tragedies of our times is how great designers, engineers in the entity called British Leyland were so let down by the far-left wing unions (who, in effect gave lots of jobs to the workers, er, in South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, etc) and by stupid and useless management.
Rover SD1 3500 Vitesse, still looks great and sounds amazing!
When the 3500 Rover Vitesse was launched in 1982, I was working for a part of Rover at the time and fondly remember driving a metallic blue Vitesse from North Wales down to London (and back the same day) to attend a concert in 1986. What a fun car to drive and the sound it made was glorious.
Great episode. Have to admit could not get Clarkson out of my head talking about Rovers. Mercury Marine have made legendary motors for cars such as the Corvette ZR-1.
Clarkson was an arse. He and the Top Gear producers indiscriminately criticized and vilified mainstream British products from the 60s to the 00s - Rover, MG, Austin, Triumph, Lotus. Even when they were good. Sad, and stupid.
Just love the sound of those Rover V8's. My friends Grandma had the Vitesse Auto.
Love old ladies with big cars, my Auntie Queenie had a V8 Stag ;-)
When you first started showing up on TH-cam there were always a ton of XJSs in the background... then it all went Lambo, Lambo, Lambo. Show us some XJS! This SD1 is a step in the right direction :)
☝yes!
I worked in a Rover dealership in the 80s remember driving them the clutch was heavy but they went well, I preferred the Vanden Plas auto versions an easier car to drive in traffic and super smooth but poor visibility thru the back window no parking sensors or rear view cameras back then most of them had a dent or two in the back bumper.
Another sad chapter in what the goddamn British unions have done to the island's economy. Unfortunately, Margaret Thatcher was twenty years too late.
Ouch! Back down memory lane. I used to work for Rovercraft back in the day, so this became one of my favourite engines and cars to work on. So many things were different back then, and i was not a question of re mapping or bolting on goodies, it was down to the engineering talents of the Law brothers Simon and Nick. Watched many a V8 on the rolling road exceed demands. Great video as usual.
Wonderful!! Brilliant as always. So interesting and engaging. The depth of your knowledge is phenomenal! Thank you Iain.
This was such a great car. A friend of mine used to have one of these in manual (a twin plenum), and we drove from the UK to Le Mans in France in it several times back in the day. It was so comfy and practical but looked awesome with a really staunch, low-slung stance on the road - and that assertive front end gave it real presence. For a big car, it never looked clumsy - unlike the Porsche Panamera of today, which I suppose is a similar sort of car. I remember driving the SD1 down "the road to Morley", a beautiful, curving, sweeping road that goes for miles and miles with barely any traffic - and although the steering was a bit light and uncommunicative, the car handled beautifully. Grippy, neutral, engaging and fast, with great punch from that V8. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
I'm surprised with a 110 inch wheelbase and a 185 inch length it was considered a large car. Over here in the US, most 'large cars' had wheelbases of 115 or more and a length 200 or more.
@@thebitlot Yes, that's Britain for you! Our roads and cars have always tended to be much smaller than those in the USA, I think the price of petrol also had something to do with it. I remember thinking that the 3.9 litre V8 in that SD1 was ENORMOUS - most "ordinary" cars in Britain at the time were 2 litres or less with only 4 cylinders usually.
@@joelsmith9311 It makes me wonder how it shaped the culture differently overseas than here. Like here, up until the oil crisis, the rule was 'no replacement for displacement.' We drove big bulky cars with pushrod engines that spat smog into the air with reckless abandon. We cruised on our motorized couches across hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles of land.
And really, the SD1 looks so ahead of its time. Look at what the US was driving in the late 70s to early 80s. The SD1 looks like an early 90s GM W Body (Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal, et al), before the W body. The only way you can tell the thing is from the 70s is the overwhelming amount of BROWN.
I have been lucky to have owned many Rover SD1 V8s including mrk 1 SD1 V8S, VDP V8 single plenum, Vitesse V8 single plenum and stacks of SE V8 manuals. I enjoyed converting lots of non V8 SD1s to V8. Great car and design lines taken from the Ferrari Daytona, awesome! 👍
My father had one in the 1980s......Most comfortable car I ever sat in.
I had an automatic one and the seats were like armchairs for comfort.