ROVER 200

The Rover 200 is an interesting example of `badge-engineering’. The car started out as the Honda Ballade and evolved during the period when there was a strong relationship between Austin-Rover and Honda. The Triumph Acclaim was another `badge-engineered’ car from this relationship. In the early 1980s the British company did not have the funds to develop a wider range of models to make it more competitive and Honda was looking for a way of entering the British and European markets when the most obvious way was blocked due to a… Read more

ROVER P4

Rover’s Managing Director in the 1930s, Spencer Wilks, was determined to produce cars of high quality and refinement with a measure of dignity. He had no interest in building high performance vehicles. For some years prior to the arrival of Wilks, Rover’s approach to building cars had been along these same lines and Wilks ensured that they continued in this manner. The P4 was part of a design philosophy commenced by Wilks’ predecessors but it had a more modern look and also incorporated mechanical improvements developed by Rover engineers. The… Read more

ROVER P5

1958 Rover 3.0-litre P5

The Rover P5 was first introduced in the late 1950s as post-war design No. 5 and when production was ceased in 1973 there was nothing to replace it as a car so ideally suited for ferrying around highly paid public servants. The Rover P5 was a Rolls-Royce for the middle classes and, had the air of a solid means of transport and a self-effacing dignity not replicated in any other car built in the 1970s. In fact they were still used by the British public service’s high-ranking officials well into… Read more

ROVER 2600

1977 Rover 2600

The Rover 2600 was marketed in two model forms. The base S was a 4+1 door saloon which also came as an up-market Vanden Plas version. Unlike the popular Rover 2000, which used a four-cylinder engine, both models used the same six-cylinder OHV engine first developed for the Rover 2300. However its capacity was increased from 2350 cc which developed 88kW to 2957cc increasing its power to 97 kW at 5000 rpm and a torque of 206 Nm at 3750 rpm driving the rear wheels. The engine had a seven-bearing… Read more