90.5 x 85.7 INCH bore and stroke - how on earth did they fit such a behomoth? Or should that have been millimeters? I had a 1966 P6, cost me about £1300 brand new, on the road. One of the best cars I ever owned. Later versions were ruined by British Leyland's cost cutting bean counters - replacing aluminium with cheap and nasty plastic for example. I loved the individual touches such as switches being differently shaped for easy recognition in the dark.
Yes. I picked that up too. Maybe bore & stroke for an engine for a liner bringing used cars from Japan !!! I followed a V8 version on twisty road with my Yamaha 175 in 1973. Surely could not keep up with the Rover ! Trinidad & Tobago. West Indies.
Having owned a Rover P6 2000TC in the eighties, I can confirm they were one of the finest cars ever committed to tarmac. Absolutely loved it, would love to own one again.
From a British perspective, the P6 Rover is certainly not a forgotten masterpiece. It has 2 very active enthusiast clubs in the UK, with many 100's of cars still on the roads today. You can guarantee to see at least one or two P6's at any classic car show. It was in production from 1964 up to 1977 and is a mainstay within the UK classic car movement.
@@Arltratlodue to the EEC British cars were not very popular in mainland Europe, especially large ones. They sold very well in Scandinavia, Portugal, the Low countries and Greece though. BMW were not popular at all in the UK until the mid 70s but I'd wager that Mercedes sold at least an equal amount of cars in the UK than Rover sold in the EEC.
Many years ago we a had a lecture at a Rover club meeting by one of the designers. He told us they made a mistake, and the drive train was slightly too long, and they had to angle it, to fit it in. They later claimed it was a "design feature" to deflect the propshaft in a crash. He was quite proud that they won a safety award for their "mistake"!
@sailormanoyster1849 slack in the drive train is easily solved. There is a rubber support which deteriorates, and is near the rear of the gearbox, and gives a clunk sound. Quite easy to replace.
I bought my first P6 ,a 2000TC in 1969, travelling to Germany,Spain/ Portugal as well as all over the U.K. in it. I bought the car because because having trained as an aeronautical design engineer l liked the engineering in the car. I sold it in 1973 when l moved to South Africa and soon after in early 1974 bought a P6B (which was assembled here). I still have the car today,almost 51 years later,& still drive it on occasion. The assembly quality here was appalling,but myself working in the motor industry was able after about 20 years of fault fixing & modifications to suit local climate & topography got it to a satisfactory state to enjoy it thoroughly.
@@paulbriggs3072 It was the British motoring industry after all. Britain was a nation of engineers, so they came up with all sorts of clever ideas. But Britain was also a nation of unions, which meant those ideas were almost always implemented in a half-assed way. Apparently one of the stories that came out of that era involved a British manufacturer ordering electronic components from a Japanese company. The Brits, used to Lucas electrics, told the Japanese that they knew these components had a 10% failure rate, so they'd order 10% more than they'd actually need. The Japanese sent them the components, with the faulty ones in a separate bag and a letter saying, "We're not sure why you want these, but we do check them before they leave the factory so you don't get faulty components." The Brits had their minds blown by the concept of quality control. But it's not just the British. I recently traded in my BMW 120i for a similar era Nissan Fugo. The BMW was nothing but trouble. Frankly I think a 1960s P6B would actually have been more reliable, and probably a lot cheaper to get work done on.
My dad was scared to own one of these, because he felt it was too complicated to service and maintain. But it was a great car. Never heard anybody speak badly of it...
The only bad thing I remember about it was Rover attached the hood/bonnet release and safety with the same bolt. When that worked loose you lost the hood and windshield together 😢
No, it isn't forgotten. In the patches of Australia I lived in, they were everywhere. And having owned two Triumphs, I would see plenty more of them when I dropped them off for a service.
Dumfries & Galloway’s Traffic Department operated the Rover 3.5 litre on the fast A74 from Lockerbie in the 1970s. As burgh police, we often teamed up with them on the night shift, and I can say it was an incredible vehicle - very fast and very comfortable. You could tell that the traffic guys really enjoyed driving this vehicle. They took a great pride in it, power-washing it on quiet Sunday mornings, drying it off with a fast zip along the A74, then buffing it up to a high shine.
@@stevedickson5853 SD1 in massive numbers?? 196169 got build, between 1972 and 1980, 473.035 S-Class Mercedes got build! from the Mercedes W123, 2.7 million cars been produced, also in 10 years... i think you need to learn, what massive numbers mean...the beetle sold over 20 million times and the golf is over 30 million... most sold UK car been the Marina, with 1.2 million cars!
As a child, I grew up with old Rovers - a 1963 P4 110, added a 1960 P4 90 then built a 1957 P4 90 from two scrappies which was my first car in the late 80's. But my Mother had a 1965 P6 2000 and the difference was chalk and cheese - a great car. I wellied them all but the handling and particularly the suspension of the P6 was superb. Dad was an old-school mechanic so we tinkered regularly.
As fu as Rover was, I don't think it's fair to call it a small British car company. The p6 is my favorite Rover. I would have liked to say it's SD1 but it isn't better that the P6
Ooh do I miss my 1969 Rover TC 2000! While in college. Me and my friends enjoyed this car! Able to pack about 5 friends in the car. Going thru tunnels was a blast to hear the dual carburetors road! Miss her so much! Peter Satori motors, was a rover dealer in Pasadena, California. They sold spares and the cars.
During the development phase of the P6, some of the engineers expressed doubt in all the sophisticated details Spen King wanted on the production car citing that "simple is king" The management turned them down with the words: "Simple is not king - Spen is king!" And so did the P6 become reality.
Rover's engineering team before Spen King had only just been persuaded to adopt hydraulic brakes - they liked IOE cylinder heads and big chassis. King must have felt he was wading through treacle, which makes the P6 even more of a milestone in car design.
Not quite right to say these cars are forgotten. All British car enthusiast know what a Rover P6 is and they are well respected in the vintage car market here.
Thankyou.....One of the most undervalued and amazing cars ever made . People who have saved these cars should be rewarded with a valuation that reflects this cars excellence... Oh and no sadly I am not a custodian of one but have a history with them..
a British car undervalued, not really, we knew its been crap, we had plenty of French, Italian and Swedish cars in my town, even some DAF. but i cant remember if i ever saw a UK build car before the SD1... wait, my math teacher had a Spitfire...right hand steering, too... she wrecked it in an accident after around 2 months, after that she drove a Renault 5! i myself owned 3 French cars, German and Korean cars, but i never thought to get me a UK car, not even in the time BMW run Rover!
First car I owned after passing my test in 1974. A 1968 2000 TC. Had 2 3500 V8's and a 2200 in subsequent years. It was also produced in Cape Town South Africa and at one time was the fastest saloon in that country.
I was lucky enough to own an immaculate 1965 Rover 2000 as my first car. It was my fathers car and was handed down the family for £100. It was a lovely car to drive but needed the large steering wheel it was heavy to manoeuvre when parking. My father had a P5 coupe which I learnt to drive in, a fantastic car with the 3.5 V8 engine.
Had a 3.5s P6 in the early eighties, was the best car I had, if I could get another one I would, very comfortable and a relaxed drive, and who can forget the Gaffer with his full of parking tickets
The engine size of the 2200 model sounds very impressive still today. 90.5 in bore by 85.7 in stroke in four cylinders makes this engine a 35,386 liters powerhouse like otherwise only used in the largest cruise ships. It should easily deliver more than 100,000 horsepower. As said in the video, the Rover engineers designed an engine bay wide enough to accomodate future engines.😛
Can these so called creators get their facts right. It wasn't a small company also has not disappeared it's common on the classic car scene. Also pronounce Jag u ar correctly.
@Tourist1967 it's actually Not and as for the original Gurani, you are very wrong. I lived in Brazil for more than a decade and I still have a lot of family there.
I was fortunate enough to experience the Rover 3.5V8 S in 1974. This car's performance with it's manual gear-box was phenomenal. I took it up to 130mph at which speed it handled very well with only a slight wallow. With hindsight the damping could have been improved but the suspension was an obvious compromise between that of a luxury road car and a sports car.
I've driven one of these exactly once and I was amazed by how modern it felt to drive. It honestly felt 20 years newer than it was. An amazing bit of engineering.
During the 1960s & 70s, there was a British weekly newspaper called Reveille. It had a win a car competition, and the top prize was always a Rover 2000 (P6). My Mum entered the competition religiously until the newspaper's demise in 1979. She even wrote in to complain it was about time she won something 😊 However, my Dad liked the Rover's main rival, the Triumph 2000 which had a nicer dashboard than the original P6. We had two Triumph 2000s.
i never knew there been a Triumph 2000 up to the moment its got mentioned at Topgear... not been to the UK before 2015 in my life, and their cars none existing in my country besides a few Jags and Range Rovers! i can tell you every car made in France, Italy and Germany by looking at them since the early 70s, but UK cars... i even found out just a few years ago, that the Roots group existed or what an Imp is! UK cars never played a role in our car culture.... i i see a Citröen DS parked, i will stop and look at a car of my youth! if you park an Austin next to it, i am not paying attention! maybe a land crab, i would wonder who build such an ugly car!
@Arltratlo French cars were rare beasts in the UK back in the 1960s when I was a kid. They were weird we thought. Back in the 1950s, the UK was the world's largest road vehicle producer. We still had an Empire to provide ! The Austin 1800 (land crab) series isn't ugly, but boring or bland maybe. Truly British car designs didn't necessarily follow the American bling designs the US owned Ford and Vauxhall's (GM) had to. However, the big version, the Austin 3 litre, didn't sell at all well when introduced, but now looks very elegant, looking like a mini limousine (Google it). What country are you from then ?
A timeline design. It looks as good today as it did in the 1960s. The bolt on panels are revolutionary. An aerospace mate of restored a V8 one. He said even the roof panel unbolted, making restoration much easier.
the Citröen DS build in 1955.... and been produced into the 70s.... and its a real historic car.... unlike the crap P6, because everyone here knows the DS and many never heard about Rover and even less the P6!
These arent forgotten at all they are well known amongst the classic community in Britain. Calling them forgotten is like calling a Oldsmobile 442 forgotten. Rover also wasn't a small company.
Rover made great cars until it fell into the hands of British Leyland and Michael Edwards, who only cared about the bottom line and didn't give a stuff about the products.
My rich uncle bought one of the first Rover 2000's ever sold in London in 1963. A beautiful car, I remember a drive from London to Liverpool (which took all day back then). He opened it up on the only stretch of motorway available at the time (M1) and it was impressive. Just before the 70 mph limit came in, it was also scary. My uncle had been a landing craft commander during WW2 and I think that informed his style of driving.
@Intelli-Car at1:10 you say "the astronomical running costs of a jaguar" given that jaguars were considered reliable for the period, proven by thing like the jag engines having some of the longest production runs for automotive engines, what astronomical running costs are you referring too?
I owned 2 Rover P6 V8s in the seventies one was a manual it was the most comfortable car I think I have ever owned, you could drive for hours and get out feeling fresh and not aching. It would still beat lots of new cars built today. A friend of mine was a manager at Rover in the seventies and he said to me it's the only car I have seen being built that I would buy. I would love to have one today it's one of the only cars I owned that I would have today without question.
👍Thanks for video. Nice summary of Rover P6 history and key design features. Around 5min 50sec, sates series 2 2200 had 90.5 inch bore and 85.7 inch stroke? Guessing this should be millimeters?
My grandparents next door neighbours had a Rover 3.5l. The owner seemed to spend most of their weekends between the front wheels or under the bonnet fixing leaks or tweaking knobs that had rattled loose
My first road legal car in 1979 was a 1971 Rover P6 V8, it was nice to drive, hard to beat that V8 feel, but was by far my least reliable vehicle, giving more trouble than all the cars I've owned over the past 45 years combined. Almost everything apart from the automatic gearbox gave trouble. In addition to numerous minor repairs, the major failures were; the cam followers mushroomed meaning a complete engine strip-down and rebuild, the cylinder heads warped, the valve covers leaked oil despite all attempts to seal them, and the differential broke a output shaft, twice. As an apprentice with very little money, I sure learned a lot about cars fixing all that. Having owned the Rover, it was easy to understand the death of British domestic car brands, and the worldwide dominance of German and Japanese automobiles. Due to never having to do any repairs I have no idea how to fix modern cars.
In the early 70s, my mum had the 3500 in white. It was a lovely car, and I wish she had it for a longer time because it was so good. I remember it being very reliable. Manufactured before the Marxist unions got their stupid hands on all of the British motorcar industry and drove it over a cliff.
I have always regarded the P6 as the last "true" Rover. Styling wise, l don't think it would look out of place today. I had an acquaintance who rallied a V8 version back in the late 60s early 70s. He had one arm, so he used an automatic version. Unheard of in rallying at the time, and the cause of some hairy moments. Later on, after crawling my way up the greasy pole, l was allowed a Rover SD1 2300. Wasn't too bad, but the engine destroyed itself at 35,000 miles. In the late 60s a boss had a P4 90. Forget aerodynamics, it was built like a tank but very quiet and very comfortable.
I learnt to drive in one in 1982, it was my fathers car, a 3500 auto with webasto roof and denevo tyres, dark green with tan leather. Wonderful car, sounded great too.😊.
My dad imported one of these into the US in 1970. It was indeed a truly fantastic car -- when it was running. Finding parts and someone who could service it was an absolute nightmare. He replaced it with a Toyota Corolla which ran flawlessly for 100k miles. Then I drove that Corolla for another 100k miles. The car only met its end when I was rear-ended on the highway. No idea whatever happened to the Rover.
A nostalgia trip back to 1960's for me I built them on the track. Unfortunately the workforce were not proud of their efforts, and were hard pressed to do quality results, we had 44 strikes in 6 months, I left. in 69.
A correction. The original V8 engine was actually a BMW engine and Buick bought the rights to make it in the USA and Rover found the engine via Buick and bought the rights to make it.
@. I worked for BMW as a technician in England for many years and I have visited all of the BMW factories in Germany and the BMW museum in Munich and there was an old BMW but I can’t remember the model and it had a V8 engine in it and the museum guide told us that Buick had bought the license to build it in America and I have read further details about this in books about BMWs.
I had a P6 B 2nd series, automatic transmission, an excellent car that I still regret selling to this day. Today it is no longer easy to find one in good condition. It gave me great pleasure to drive this car, apart from its class.
My godmother and her husband bought one in around 1965. It spent more time in the shop than on the road from what I can remember. It was pretty plush on the inside.
My late mother drove one of the first Rover 2000's sold in Hong Kong from 1966 to 1972. In 1966, there were very few people in Hong Kong that actually _drove_ a Rover 2000, so it was a very rare car indeed.
I have one. My TC became an SC when it was combined with a bunch of previous cars. The Borg Warner automatic is excellent, but the earlier Borg Warner Rollstart was even better. The 2000SC is almost as simple as a VW Beetle and it's a bit low geared. The Rear Girling brakes will stump some mechanics. British cars reused many parts, and the accessories are simple, smooth, and maintainable. Nobody copied the P6 body.
The Rover turbine cars T3 and T4 still exist and are on display at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Oxfordshire area. I believe the T4 (P6 looking one) still drives, however I think there is asbestos lining in the engine bay, of I recall correctly
In those days, Volvo and Mercedes were applauded for their safety features, at a time when safety did not sell cars. However, not much covered in the video, the P6 lead the way in significant safety innovation. Rover's design team worked closely with RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) to research and develop the car's pioneering safety features. For example, it introduced the very strong passenger shell, with relatively soft crumple zones front and rear, which all cars have today. It had an angled bulkhead between the passenger shell and the engine bay to deflect the engine under the shell in a collision. It had headrests, not for passenger comfort, but to prevent whiplash injuries. And more, which I can't remember off the top of my head. It was also a really nice car to drive - handled well and very comfortable. The fact that I don't believe it achieved the success it deserved could have been due to the brand's sensible, boring cars for old people reputation!
It was a good effort, but you chaps are too kind to it. A real fault was the excessive noise level, partially due to the unusual front suspension. On one long trip I just had to stop at a pharmacy and buy some ear-plugs. Also, there was always some mechanical matter needing attention.
I passed my test in my brother’s ‘74 2.2tc in 1982 , it was a lovely car but no power steering, no electric windows and it just rusted away, lovely looking car though
Well done video, I've heard of the P6 before but could never get information on them. Its surprising that they didn't do better in the 70's, gas crunch and all.
In Australia, my step-Grand father loved Rovers and and had a P4, P5 3-litre, and then, when he wanted a P6, he believed the locally assembled cars were of poor quality, and traveled to the UK, where he bought a British built one, and had it shipped to Australia. There were countless red- tape problems, strikes at docks, strikes in the UK, it took him so, so long to finally arrive in Australia. I loved the power and the interia, but I didn’t like the body shape. It reminded me of the high walled Pinanfarina BMC cars which were old and ancient to by (then) 11-year-old eyes. It had a lovely smooth rumble, and accelerated so nicely. The seats were comfortable and it had a tach, with a cool little red stamp.
Not forgotten at all. Even in Australia. the New Zealand assembled cars were available here right up until 1980! My dad had one, I had 3. Fabulous cars, generally fitted with AC.
Rover went from the sophisticated De Dion rear suspension with inboard disc brakes in the P6, to a live axle and drum brakes in the SD1. So much for progress…
I owned a 2000TC P6 for a year, such a lovely car to drive, except in 1984 I had trouble finding octane booster as it needed 5 star petrol, so retarded the ignition to reduce pinking. Sailed through the next MOT, was very reliable.
Set the ignition back a bit and you'll have no problem running regular. The other ignition problem is mechanics want to use resistor HT wires. Use copper 7 MM ignition, and it won't skip a beat. Carbon cores will burn out in a few weeks.
I miss my 70 3500s. The only thing that kept breaking were the stub axles in the differential. My family had the 70 3500s, a 2000sc, 4 2000tc, 2 Austin America's, a series 2a 109 2.6 and a series 3 88 Santana 2.25 both odd versions that were Hetcho in Guatamala so all the placards were in Spanish. Its likely the 2 land rovers still live on in the pacific northwest. My sister complained that her college books would slide back and forth on the package trays when she cornered. Show me I said. She turned right and headed down the hill. When she got to the corner she spun the 2000tc steering wheel and whipped around the corner never touching the brake. She must have been going 30mph the body roll and the cornering forces were sliding the books. I then realized that her boyfriends had taught her to drive. One learned to drive on an atari grand prix arcade driving game and her other bf was a Lebanese Benz mechanic. A family friend ended up with the America's. He stripped all but the drivers seats out and declared they were bigger on the inside than they were on the outside. He hauled all kinds of stuff around in them.
I had 4 P6's..A 2000sc......2000tc..........2200sc.(my favourite car to date)..and a 3500s model.. Apart from the 3500 I loved them dearly. They are not a forgotten car!
Very interesting. Rover were a very innovative company and the P6 a very desirable car. Those prisms on the wings also allow you to see if the sidelights are working from the driver's seat. My 1946 Riley had tell-tales on the side lights. A friend of mine had a P6 but it succumbed to the tin-worm.
Nice image of Dovehouse Parade shops in Solihull. The road on the right is called Dovehouse Lane and about a mile or so down at the other end is the Land Rover plant.
90.5 x 85.7 INCH bore and stroke - how on earth did they fit such a behomoth? Or should that have been millimeters?
I had a 1966 P6, cost me about £1300 brand new, on the road. One of the best cars I ever owned. Later versions were ruined by British Leyland's cost cutting bean counters - replacing aluminium with cheap and nasty plastic for example. I loved the individual touches such as switches being differently shaped for easy recognition in the dark.
Its Millimeters. Mistake by me. Sorry😞
With this figures, it would have been a great ship engine... 😀
Yes.
I picked that up too. Maybe bore & stroke for an engine for a liner bringing used cars from Japan !!!
I followed a V8 version on twisty road with my Yamaha 175 in 1973. Surely could not keep up with the Rover !
Trinidad & Tobago.
West Indies.
The 36135 (and change) Litre engine was my favourite version of the P6
still a good looking car today, i had a SD1 V8
Having owned a Rover P6 2000TC in the eighties, I can confirm they were one of the finest cars ever committed to tarmac. Absolutely loved it, would love to own one again.
and having a 2000tc in 2025 , i can confirm they still are .
I miss mine as well. The memory-smell connection takes me to the interior - a scent like leather-bound books in an airy cabin.
Yes, but they are a pig to work on.
A much better car than the SD1 that replaced it
Ha ha, had same car, loved it, always messing withe carbs, balancing etc with a oldskool vacuum gauge, great days!
From a British perspective, the P6 Rover is certainly not a forgotten masterpiece. It has 2 very active enthusiast clubs in the UK, with many 100's of cars still on the roads today. You can guarantee to see at least one or two P6's at any classic car show. It was in production from 1964 up to 1977 and is a mainstay within the UK classic car movement.
i wonder how many they sold in Europe and how many Mercedes or BMW been sold in the UK in the same time frame!
The bean counters and the unions killed P6 . should have been like the VW beetle.
@@Arltratlodue to the EEC British cars were not very popular in mainland Europe, especially large ones. They sold very well in Scandinavia, Portugal, the Low countries and Greece though. BMW were not popular at all in the UK until the mid 70s but I'd wager that Mercedes sold at least an equal amount of cars in the UK than Rover sold in the EEC.
Many years ago we a had a lecture at a Rover club meeting by one of the designers. He told us they made a mistake, and the drive train was slightly too long, and they had to angle it, to fit it in. They later claimed it was a "design feature" to deflect the propshaft in a crash. He was quite proud that they won a safety award for their "mistake"!
@@davidboult4143 did he mention the "clunk" whe. It took up the slack
@sailormanoyster1849 slack in the drive train is easily solved. There is a rubber support which deteriorates, and is near the rear of the gearbox, and gives a clunk sound. Quite easy to replace.
@davidboult4143 the sd1 I long gone
We made some great and beautiful cars; such a shame that British Leyland and the unions killed it all off.
Incompetent Brit management killed the Brit car industry The unions were a symptom management was the disease same as today
Let's not overlook Clarkson's 2d. worth, which was pretty much the final nail in Rover's coffin.
Let's not overlook Clarkson's 2d. worth, which was pretty much the final nail in Rover's coffin.
@@TheHoveHeretic Don't give too much weight to Clarkson's knee jerk statements.
you need to see the benefits, you are not forced to buy junk fresh from the factory anymore!
My 3.5 was luxurious, fast, comfortable and did what it needed to do - one of my best cars ever
I bought my first P6 ,a 2000TC in 1969, travelling to Germany,Spain/ Portugal as well as all over the U.K. in it. I bought the car because because having trained as an aeronautical design engineer l liked the engineering in the car. I sold it in 1973 when l moved to South Africa and soon after in early 1974 bought a P6B (which was assembled here). I still have the car today,almost 51 years later,& still drive it on occasion. The assembly quality here was appalling,but myself working in the motor industry was able after about 20 years of fault fixing & modifications to suit local climate & topography got it to a satisfactory state to enjoy it thoroughly.
So after 20 years of fault fixing effort by an engineer, it got to be satisfactory? That's quite the ringing endorsement.
@@paulbriggs3072
It was the British motoring industry after all.
Britain was a nation of engineers, so they came up with all sorts of clever ideas.
But Britain was also a nation of unions, which meant those ideas were almost always implemented in a half-assed way.
Apparently one of the stories that came out of that era involved a British manufacturer ordering electronic components from a Japanese company. The Brits, used to Lucas electrics, told the Japanese that they knew these components had a 10% failure rate, so they'd order 10% more than they'd actually need.
The Japanese sent them the components, with the faulty ones in a separate bag and a letter saying, "We're not sure why you want these, but we do check them before they leave the factory so you don't get faulty components." The Brits had their minds blown by the concept of quality control.
But it's not just the British. I recently traded in my BMW 120i for a similar era Nissan Fugo. The BMW was nothing but trouble. Frankly I think a 1960s P6B would actually have been more reliable, and probably a lot cheaper to get work done on.
@@freman007 Thanks for the interesting story.
In my younger days I owned and drove 3 Rover P6 cars and they were some of the best and most pleasant to drive cars I have ever owned.
90 inch bore. 84 inch stroke. Wow. That’s incredible.
More like a ship's engine
Go big or go home brother. :)
😂yes in credible at 7560 cu inches no matter where they hid the engine but what happened to all the horses.......
Millimeters?
Ocean liner engine 🙈🤣🤣🤣
The car is not forgotten at all 😊
My dad was scared to own one of these, because he felt it was too complicated to service and maintain. But it was a great car. Never heard anybody speak badly of it...
A friend had one. While a good car it was indeed a nightmare to work on.
The only bad thing I remember about it was Rover attached the hood/bonnet release and safety with the same bolt.
When that worked loose you lost the hood and windshield together 😢
The p6 isn't forgotten.
No, it isn't forgotten. In the patches of Australia I lived in, they were everywhere. And having owned two Triumphs, I would see plenty more of them when I dropped them off for a service.
I had a 3.5 V8 Rover P6 in the mid 70's , Zirconic blue and interior was luxury in itself. Nice seating for a good driving position. Great car!
Dumfries & Galloway’s Traffic Department operated the Rover 3.5 litre on the fast A74 from Lockerbie in the 1970s. As burgh police, we often teamed up with them on the night shift, and I can say it was an incredible vehicle - very fast and very comfortable. You could tell that the traffic guys really enjoyed driving this vehicle. They took a great pride in it, power-washing it on quiet Sunday mornings, drying it off with a fast zip along the A74, then buffing it up to a high shine.
You could set your watch by Met R Division's CID's eastbound coffee dash past Plumstead Bridge.
Rover cars been so good,
that the UK police bought Volvo and BMW as replacements, somehow Rover and BL went bankrupt....
i wonder why??
@Arltratlo BMW and volvo came much later, the Rover SD1 replaced the Rover P6 in massive numbers, just saying
@@stevedickson5853 SD1 in massive numbers??
196169 got build,
between 1972 and 1980, 473.035 S-Class Mercedes got build!
from the Mercedes W123, 2.7 million cars been produced, also in 10 years...
i think you need to learn, what massive numbers mean...the beetle sold over 20 million times and the golf is over 30 million...
most sold UK car been the Marina, with 1.2 million cars!
@@Arltratlo I was talking about UK police cars.. and they were well liked , hope the info helps..
As a child, I grew up with old Rovers - a 1963 P4 110, added a 1960 P4 90 then built a 1957 P4 90 from two scrappies which was my first car in the late 80's. But my Mother had a 1965
P6 2000 and the difference was chalk and cheese - a great car. I wellied them all but the handling and particularly the suspension of the P6 was superb. Dad was an old-school mechanic so we tinkered regularly.
When looking at an article on scrappage scheme a while ago. I couldn't believe people traded these in... So sad.
As fu as Rover was, I don't think it's fair to call it a small British car company. The p6 is my favorite Rover. I would have liked to say it's SD1 but it isn't better that the P6
I still have my P2
Ooh do I miss my 1969 Rover TC 2000! While in college. Me and my friends enjoyed this car! Able to pack about 5 friends in the car. Going thru tunnels was a blast to hear the dual carburetors road! Miss her so much! Peter Satori motors, was a rover dealer in Pasadena, California. They sold spares and the cars.
During the development phase of the P6, some of the engineers expressed doubt in all the sophisticated details Spen King wanted on the production car citing that "simple is king"
The management turned them down with the words:
"Simple is not king - Spen is king!"
And so did the P6 become reality.
KISS comes to mind.
Rover's engineering team before Spen King had only just been persuaded to adopt hydraulic brakes - they liked IOE cylinder heads and big chassis. King must have felt he was wading through treacle, which makes the P6 even more of a milestone in car design.
Not quite right to say these cars are forgotten. All British car enthusiast know what a Rover P6 is and they are well respected in the vintage car market here.
Thankyou.....One of the most undervalued and amazing cars ever made . People who have saved these cars should be rewarded with a valuation that reflects this cars excellence... Oh and no sadly I am not a custodian of one but have a history with them..
a British car undervalued,
not really, we knew its been crap,
we had plenty of French, Italian and Swedish cars in my town, even some DAF.
but i cant remember if i ever saw a UK build car before the SD1...
wait, my math teacher had a Spitfire...right hand steering, too...
she wrecked it in an accident after around 2 months, after that she drove a Renault 5!
i myself owned 3 French cars, German and Korean cars, but i never thought to get me a UK car,
not even in the time BMW run Rover!
Absolutely loved that Car❤
First car I owned after passing my test in 1974. A 1968 2000 TC. Had 2 3500 V8's and a 2200 in subsequent years.
It was also produced in Cape Town South Africa and at one time was the fastest saloon in that country.
The p6 was a brilliant car
The P6 won the first " European Car of the Award"
My father had one, he loved it and us kids loved riding in it.
I was lucky enough to own an immaculate 1965 Rover 2000 as my first car.
It was my fathers car and was handed down the family for £100.
It was a lovely car to drive but needed the large steering wheel it was heavy to manoeuvre when parking.
My father had a P5 coupe which I learnt to drive in, a fantastic car with the 3.5 V8 engine.
Had a 3.5s P6 in the early eighties, was the best car I had, if I could get another one I would, very comfortable and a relaxed drive, and who can forget the Gaffer with his full of parking tickets
5:38. Looks like they got inches and millimeter mixed up. 90.5" by 85.7" would be the dimensions of a tugboat engine
Lmao! I do antique engines for fun! My last runner was a 5 hp 180 cubic inch that weighed in at a modest 500 some pounds!
The engine size of the 2200 model sounds very impressive still today. 90.5 in bore by 85.7 in stroke in four cylinders makes this engine a 35,386 liters powerhouse like otherwise only used in the largest cruise ships. It should easily deliver more than 100,000 horsepower. As said in the video, the Rover engineers designed an engine bay wide enough to accomodate future engines.😛
🤣😂😂😂
I rent my spare engine out as a storage.
Can these so called creators get their facts right. It wasn't a small company also has not disappeared it's common on the classic car scene.
Also pronounce Jag u ar correctly.
Jaguar is not an English word ...
@Tourist1967 never said it was the car is British and it's pronounced the way it's spelt.
@chrisdorrell1 The American pronunciation is far closer to the Guarani original.
@Tourist1967 it's actually Not and as for the original Gurani, you are very wrong. I lived in Brazil for more than a decade and I still have a lot of family there.
@chrisdorrell1 You are untruthful. In any case, most Guarani live in Paraguay. Now go away. You are tedious.
I love this car , never had one
I was fortunate enough to experience the Rover 3.5V8 S in 1974. This car's performance with it's manual gear-box was phenomenal. I took it up to 130mph at which speed it handled very well with only a slight wallow. With hindsight the damping could have been improved but the suspension was an obvious compromise between that of a luxury road car and a sports car.
I've driven one of these exactly once and I was amazed by how modern it felt to drive. It honestly felt 20 years newer than it was.
An amazing bit of engineering.
My dad had one. I believe it had a 2.2 litre engine?
It was blue with ivory leather interior. Lovely car.
During the 1960s & 70s, there was a British weekly newspaper called Reveille. It had a win a car competition, and the top prize was always a Rover 2000 (P6). My Mum entered the competition religiously until the newspaper's demise in 1979. She even wrote in to complain it was about time she won something 😊
However, my Dad liked the Rover's main rival, the Triumph 2000 which had a nicer dashboard than the original P6. We had two Triumph 2000s.
i never knew there been a Triumph 2000 up to the moment its got mentioned at Topgear...
not been to the UK before 2015 in my life,
and their cars none existing in my country besides a few Jags and Range Rovers!
i can tell you every car made in France, Italy and Germany by looking at them since the early 70s, but UK cars...
i even found out just a few years ago, that the Roots group existed or what an Imp is!
UK cars never played a role in our car culture....
i i see a Citröen DS parked, i will stop and look at a car of my youth!
if you park an Austin next to it, i am not paying attention!
maybe a land crab, i would wonder who build such an ugly car!
@Arltratlo French cars were rare beasts in the UK back in the 1960s when I was a kid. They were weird we thought. Back in the 1950s, the UK was the world's largest road vehicle producer. We still had an Empire to provide !
The Austin 1800 (land crab) series isn't ugly, but boring or bland maybe. Truly British car designs didn't necessarily follow the American bling designs the US owned Ford and Vauxhall's (GM) had to. However, the big version, the Austin 3 litre, didn't sell at all well when introduced, but now looks very elegant, looking like a mini limousine (Google it).
What country are you from then ?
Reveille has stopped! I am shocked!!
My Nan and Granddad used to get it and I used to read it when we went over there for tea on a Sunday.
@@grolfe3210 You mean 45 years later, you hadn't noticed it's absence from the Newsagents shelves 😂
A timeline design. It looks as good today as it did in the 1960s.
The bolt on panels are revolutionary. An aerospace mate of restored a V8 one. He said even the roof panel unbolted, making restoration much easier.
Enjoyed driving a 2000 in the late '60s... quiet, comfortable with good handling and reasonable speed.
I owned a Rover P6 3.5, it was great! Loved it to bits.
We had a P6 3500 with the tinted fixed glass roof insert. Wonderful car. Thx for the memories!
It wouldn't be wonderful in Phoenix on a 41 degree day in July (that's the average, not the high).
The Rover was a forward design but it was no Citroen DS
No, thankfully!
the Citröen DS build in 1955....
and been produced into the 70s....
and its a real historic car....
unlike the crap P6,
because everyone here knows the DS and many never heard about Rover and even less the P6!
I MOT'd one of them DS things the other day, blimey. What an awful thing it is. A rubber ball for a brake pedal 😂😂 sooo French daaaling
Probably for the best, very little of what made the DS interesting is used today.
@@jonathanbowen3640 lol, there isnt any UK car industry left!
most Vauxhall cars are made in Belgium!
and its Stelantis anyway!
These arent forgotten at all they are well known amongst the classic community in Britain. Calling them forgotten is like calling a Oldsmobile 442 forgotten. Rover also wasn't a small company.
Rover made great cars until it fell into the hands of British Leyland and Michael Edwards, who only cared about the bottom line and didn't give a stuff about the products.
In the US, they are completely forgotten. How many Brits now would correctly identify a 442 on the high street?
My rich uncle bought one of the first Rover 2000's ever sold in London in 1963. A beautiful car, I remember a drive from London to Liverpool (which took all day back then). He opened it up on the only stretch of motorway available at the time (M1) and it was impressive. Just before the 70 mph limit came in, it was also scary. My uncle had been a landing craft commander during WW2 and I think that informed his style of driving.
I never got it. - I was in my early teens in the 1970ies and I always found the Rover one of the mostt beautiful cars on the streets.
@Intelli-Car at1:10 you say "the astronomical running costs of a jaguar" given that jaguars were considered reliable for the period, proven by thing like the jag engines having some of the longest production runs for automotive engines, what astronomical running costs are you referring too?
and because its proven in the past that UK cars and the Jaguars in particular are an insult to the automobil!
Jags just had a wee problem with low oil pressure😂 😂
@@thomascatford2627 If not properly maintained with recommended oil changes but no worse than other cars of the period.
@@Arltratlo OH show me that proof please? I like real evidence.
..also a really great, beautiful and outstanding design , funcitonwise and also aesthetically..
I owned 2 Rover P6 V8s in the seventies one was a manual it was the most comfortable car I think I have ever owned, you could drive for hours and get out feeling fresh and not aching. It would still beat lots of new cars built today. A friend of mine was a manager at Rover in the seventies and he said to me it's the only car I have seen being built that I would buy. I would love to have one today it's one of the only cars I owned that I would have today without question.
No. LITRE and ALUMINIUM.
The bonnet designed to go up and over the windshield in a front on collision was ground-breaking. 👍
👍Thanks for video. Nice summary of Rover P6 history and key design features. Around 5min 50sec, sates series 2 2200 had 90.5 inch bore and 85.7 inch stroke? Guessing this should be millimeters?
yes,, else bore would be over 2 meters, which is very, very large.
5:44 So, on scale that engine bay is 14-16feet wide?
A few weeks ago, I spotted a P6, the first one I've seen in decades. I was amazed how small it looked alongside the cars of today.
An older Gentleman down the road from me has 2 of them, one Brown and one Green. I often see them around our town.
My grandparents next door neighbours had a Rover 3.5l. The owner seemed to spend most of their weekends between the front wheels or under the bonnet fixing leaks or tweaking knobs that had rattled loose
The 3500 was a wonderfully quiet car.
Such a pleasure to travel in as you were wafted along.
My first road legal car in 1979 was a 1971 Rover P6 V8, it was nice to drive, hard to beat that V8 feel, but was by far my least reliable vehicle, giving more trouble than all the cars I've owned over the past 45 years combined. Almost everything apart from the automatic gearbox gave trouble. In addition to numerous minor repairs, the major failures were; the cam followers mushroomed meaning a complete engine strip-down and rebuild, the cylinder heads warped, the valve covers leaked oil despite all attempts to seal them, and the differential broke a output shaft, twice. As an apprentice with very little money, I sure learned a lot about cars fixing all that. Having owned the Rover, it was easy to understand the death of British domestic car brands, and the worldwide dominance of German and Japanese automobiles. Due to never having to do any repairs I have no idea how to fix modern cars.
Fascinating. Thank you.
Lovely car. Over the years I've owned two and the only problem with that is I'm now always moaning that today's cars are crap!
In the early 70s, my mum had the 3500 in white. It was a lovely car, and I wish she had it for a longer time because it was so good. I remember it being very reliable. Manufactured before the Marxist unions got their stupid hands on all of the British motorcar industry and drove it over a cliff.
Yeah, blame the unions 😂😂😂
I have always regarded the P6 as the last "true" Rover. Styling wise, l don't think it would look out of place today.
I had an acquaintance who rallied a V8 version back in the late 60s early 70s. He had one arm, so he used an automatic version. Unheard of in rallying at the time, and the cause of some hairy moments.
Later on, after crawling my way up the greasy pole, l was allowed a Rover SD1 2300. Wasn't too bad, but the engine destroyed itself at 35,000 miles.
In the late 60s a boss had a P4 90. Forget aerodynamics, it was built like a tank but very quiet and very comfortable.
I learnt to drive in one in 1982, it was my fathers car, a 3500 auto with webasto roof and denevo tyres, dark green with tan leather. Wonderful car, sounded great too.😊.
My dad imported one of these into the US in 1970. It was indeed a truly fantastic car -- when it was running. Finding parts and someone who could service it was an absolute nightmare. He replaced it with a Toyota Corolla which ran flawlessly for 100k miles. Then I drove that Corolla for another 100k miles. The car only met its end when I was rear-ended on the highway. No idea whatever happened to the Rover.
A nostalgia trip back to 1960's for me I built them on the track. Unfortunately the workforce were not proud of their efforts, and were hard pressed to do quality results, we had 44 strikes in 6 months, I left. in 69.
My old chef had one, 2000, i think. really comfortable, i loved it. By the time i could afford one it was long gone alas
A correction. The original V8 engine was actually a BMW engine and Buick bought the rights to make it in the USA and Rover found the engine via Buick and bought the rights to make it.
I didn't realise it was a BMW. What's your source?
@. I worked for BMW as a technician in England for many years and I have visited all of the BMW factories in Germany and the BMW museum in Munich and there was an old BMW but I can’t remember the model and it had a V8 engine in it and the museum guide told us that Buick had bought the license to build it in America and I have read further details about this in books about BMWs.
Looking forward to your future SD1 video
Amazing car
I've always loved the P6. Attractive, with excellent engineering.
Whatever led you to say "forgotten"? The P6 has never been anywhere near being forgotten - it was, as you mention, widely admired and still is.
I had a P6 B 2nd series, automatic transmission, an excellent car that I still regret selling to this day. Today it is no longer easy to find one in good condition. It gave me great pleasure to drive this car, apart from its class.
My godmother and her husband bought one in around 1965. It spent more time in the shop than on the road from what I can remember. It was pretty plush on the inside.
One of the best cars I owned in the seventies. Had a 2000TC, never experienced any issues with it other than the odd electrical problem.
Had one of these 3500 V 8,, very civilized and refined . Pity that British cars went almost only downhill since about that time.
My Uncle had a Rover P6 beautiful to sit in it and be driven around Glasgow with him and my aunty. It was aesthetically beautiful.🏴🏴
It would be great if these videos were narrated by humans
My late mother drove one of the first Rover 2000's sold in Hong Kong from 1966 to 1972. In 1966, there were very few people in Hong Kong that actually _drove_ a Rover 2000, so it was a very rare car indeed.
I have one. My TC became an SC when it was combined with a bunch of previous cars. The Borg Warner automatic is excellent, but the earlier Borg Warner Rollstart was even better. The 2000SC is almost as simple as a VW Beetle and it's a bit low geared. The Rear Girling brakes will stump some mechanics. British cars reused many parts, and the accessories are simple, smooth, and maintainable. Nobody copied the P6 body.
I saw the Turbine engine running at a UK uni in the 70’s
The Rover turbine cars T3 and T4 still exist and are on display at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Oxfordshire area. I believe the T4 (P6 looking one) still drives, however I think there is asbestos lining in the engine bay, of I recall correctly
In those days, Volvo and Mercedes were applauded for their safety features, at a time when safety did not sell cars. However, not much covered in the video, the P6 lead the way in significant safety innovation. Rover's design team worked closely with RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) to research and develop the car's pioneering safety features.
For example, it introduced the very strong passenger shell, with relatively soft crumple zones front and rear, which all cars have today. It had an angled bulkhead between the passenger shell and the engine bay to deflect the engine under the shell in a collision. It had headrests, not for passenger comfort, but to prevent whiplash injuries. And more, which I can't remember off the top of my head.
It was also a really nice car to drive - handled well and very comfortable.
The fact that I don't believe it achieved the success it deserved could have been due to the brand's sensible, boring cars for old people reputation!
It's an interesting video, but the effects on the pictures are so quick that viewing is uncomfortable for me.
Poor you
Fantastic car, its only fault was a lack of luggage space. My uncle had a bottle green V8 with white vinyl top. Just beautiful.
It was a good effort, but you chaps are too kind to it. A real fault was the excessive noise level, partially due to the unusual front suspension. On one long trip I just had to stop at a pharmacy and buy some ear-plugs. Also, there was always some mechanical matter needing attention.
I had two Rover 3.5 P6BS’s: a ‘73 and an early ‘77 - the 10th last P6BS made. Loved them like a good woman!
I passed my test in my brother’s ‘74 2.2tc in 1982 , it was a lovely car but no power steering, no electric windows and it just rusted away, lovely looking car though
I like that mine has no power steering and no electric windows. More car companies should copy this advanced feature.
Well done video, I've heard of the P6 before but could never get information on them. Its surprising that they didn't do better in the 70's, gas crunch and all.
25 MPG stock
@stanleybest8833 I was referring to here in N.America, with the Land Yachts we had at the time that manages 12mpg, some only 8mpg!
@towgod7985 We had Hornets, Gremlins, Ramblers, Falcons. Your Vista Cruiser was self inflicted. Nobody made us buy a Fleetwood.
In Australia, my step-Grand father loved Rovers and and had a P4, P5 3-litre, and then, when he wanted a P6, he believed the locally assembled cars were of poor quality, and traveled to the UK, where he bought a British built one, and had it shipped to Australia. There were countless red- tape problems, strikes at docks, strikes in the UK, it took him so, so long to finally arrive in Australia. I loved the power and the interia, but I didn’t like the body shape. It reminded me of the high walled Pinanfarina BMC cars which were old and ancient to by (then) 11-year-old eyes. It had a lovely smooth rumble, and accelerated so nicely. The seats were comfortable and it had a tach, with a cool little red stamp.
Not forgotten at all. Even in Australia. the New Zealand assembled cars were available here right up until 1980! My dad had one, I had 3. Fabulous cars, generally fitted with AC.
Rover went from the sophisticated De Dion rear suspension with inboard disc brakes in the P6, to a live axle and drum brakes in the SD1. So much for progress…
I owned a 2000TC P6 for a year, such a lovely car to drive, except in 1984 I had trouble finding octane booster as it needed 5 star petrol, so retarded the ignition to reduce pinking. Sailed through the next MOT, was very reliable.
Set the ignition back a bit and you'll have no problem running regular. The other ignition problem is mechanics want to use resistor HT wires. Use copper 7 MM ignition, and it won't skip a beat. Carbon cores will burn out in a few weeks.
Well history might repeat itself, another famous masterpiece is on the brink of collapse..
a great car
I miss my 70 3500s. The only thing that kept breaking were the stub axles in the differential. My family had the 70 3500s, a 2000sc, 4 2000tc, 2 Austin America's, a series 2a 109 2.6 and a series 3 88 Santana 2.25 both odd versions that were Hetcho in Guatamala so all the placards were in Spanish. Its likely the 2 land rovers still live on in the pacific northwest. My sister complained that her college books would slide back and forth on the package trays when she cornered. Show me I said. She turned right and headed down the hill. When she got to the corner she spun the 2000tc steering wheel and whipped around the corner never touching the brake. She must have been going 30mph the body roll and the cornering forces were sliding the books. I then realized that her boyfriends had taught her to drive. One learned to drive on an atari grand prix arcade driving game and her other bf was a Lebanese Benz mechanic. A family friend ended up with the America's. He stripped all but the drivers seats out and declared they were bigger on the inside than they were on the outside. He hauled all kinds of stuff around in them.
I loved seeing these cars as a kid
I had 4 P6's..A 2000sc......2000tc..........2200sc.(my favourite car to date)..and a 3500s model.. Apart from the 3500 I loved them dearly. They are not a forgotten car!
90.5 inch bore and 85.7-inch stroke 4 cylinder is massive!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Maybe the American hasn't heard of millimetres
Give rubber in all three gears. Shut 'em down.
Very interesting.
Rover were a very innovative company and the P6 a very desirable car. Those prisms on the wings also allow you to see if the sidelights are working from the driver's seat. My 1946 Riley had tell-tales on the side lights.
A friend of mine had a P6 but it succumbed to the tin-worm.
1:33, the team developed an innovative front suspension, first picture when saying that is the rear.
Yep in sure the people who do these vid don't know the job
Nice image of Dovehouse Parade shops in Solihull. The road on the right is called Dovehouse Lane and about a mile or so down at the other end is the Land Rover plant.
It is worth pointing out that the previous Rover model (P5) was the first to be fitted with the V8.
I had a 1970 TC 2000. Very fun car to drive. Only problem was it essentially dissolved when exposed to the salt on Canadian winter roads.
WE had two, a red 2000 in red and then replaced with the 2200tc in brown. Wonderful memories with them.
2:44 We learn that the rear suspension employed a De Dion tube with a unique *twist*. Nearly split my sides.