Rover P6
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The Rover P6 series (named 2000, 2200, and 3500 for their engine displacement) was a group of saloon cars produced from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. It was replaced by the Rover SD1.
2000
The P6 was sixth and the last of the 'P' (Post War) designated Rover designs to reach production. The vehicle was marketed first as the Rover 2000 and was a complete 'clean sheet' design intended to appeal to a larger number of buyers than earlier models by replacing the P4. The P5 was sold alongside the P6 until 1972.
The first P6 used a 2.0 L (1978 cc/120 in³) engine designed for the P6. Original output was in the order of 104 BHP. Rover later developed a derivative of the engine by fitting twin SU carburettors and a re-designed top end and marketed the revised specification vehicles as the 2000TC. The power output of the 2000TC engine was around 124 BHP. The standard specification engines continued in production in vehicles designated as 2000SC models. These featured the original single SU carburettor.
The 2000 was advanced for the time with a semi-independent suspension (a de Dion tube) at the rear, four wheel disc brakes (inboard in back), and a fully-synchromesh transmission. The unibody design featured non-stressed panels bolted to a unit frame.
The Rover 2000 won industry awards for Safety when it was introduced. The car featured all-round seat belts and a carefully designed 'safety' interior. One innovative feature was the prism of glass on the top of the front side lights. This allowed the driver to see the front corner of the car in low light conditions.
One unique feature of the Rover 2000 was the unusual design of the front suspension system. The front suspension was designed to allow as much width for the engine compartment as possible so that Rover's Gas Turbine engine could be fitted. In the event, the Gas Turbine engine was never used for the production vehicle, but the engine compartment width helped the accommodation of the V8 engine adopted years after the cars initial launch.
The luggage compartment was limited in terms of usable space. This was due to the 'base unit' construction, complex rear suspension and the battery location (for series II versions). Lack of luggage space (and hence the need to re-locate the spare tyre)lead to innovative options for spare tyre provision including boot lid mountings and optional run-flat technology.
All P6 variants were revised for 1970 (Series II), with new exterior fixtures such as a plastic front air intake (to replace the alloy version), new bonnet pressing (with V8 blips - even for the 4 cyl versions) and new rear lights. The interior of the 3500, and 2000TC versions was updated with new instrumentation. The old style instrumentation continued on the 2000SC versions. The battery was moved to the boot for all Series II versions.
3500
Rover saw Buick's compact 3.5 L (3528 cc/215 in³) V8 from the Buick Special as a way to differentiate the P6 from its chief rival, the Triumph 2000. They purchased the rights to the innovative aluminium engine, and it became an instant hit. The Rover V8 engine, as it became known, outlived its original host by more than three decades (the original host being the P5B not the P6).
The 3500 was produced from 1968 (one year after the Rover company was purchased by Triumph's owner, Leyland) until 1977. An automatic transmission was the only option until the 1971 addition of the manual 3500S. The last Rover P6 off the production line was on 19th March 1977 and was a 3500S which Rover kept in the Heritage collection until 2003. The Rover Archives held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, UK, list the car as the 'Last of Line' and there is a link to a site which has more details about this car at http://groups.msn.com/TheRoverP6EstateAlbum/thelastv8.msnw
2200
The 2200SC and 2200TC replaced the 2000 and 2000TC. Produced from 1973 through to the early part of 1977, they used a 2.2 L (2205 cc/134 in³) version of the 2000s engine. The last 2200 also came off the production line on 19th March 1977 and was a Left Hand Drive Export version, which was converted back to right hand drive by Tourist Trophy Garage, Farnham.
Estates
There was also an Estate version to the Rover P6 known as the Estoura. These were all conversions of a saloon P6 and there were between 160 to 170 produced. The first estate was not an approved conversion but all subsequent conversions were of a Rover Approved type and therefore warrantees were carried forward. The conversions were completed by H.R. Owen and Crayford and used panels supplied by FLM Panelcraft and they conversions could be carried out at anytime in the cars life, (due to tax reasons in the UK, most conversions appear to have been carried out when the cars were 12 months old or older because if a car was converted when new, the conversion would be liable for Purchase Tax like the car itself). Also due to the cost of the conversion about £800GBP it would appear that most were carried out on the 3500 rather than on the 2000 or 2200.
Clubs
There are two clubs for the Rover P6 cars,
The Rover P6 Club at http://www.p6club.com
and
the Rover P6 Owners Club at http://www.p6roc.co.uk
| Automobiles made by BMC, BL and Rover Group companies | ||
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| Austin-Healey models: 100 | 3000 | Sprite | ||
| British Leyland models: Princess | P76 (Australia only) | ||
| Jaguar models: XJ6 | XJ12 | XJS | ||
| Morris models: Minor | Oxford | Cowley | Mini | 1100/1300 | 1800 | Marina/Ital | ||
| MG models: MG A | Magnette | Midget | Montego | MG B | MG C | 1100/1300 | MG RV8 | MG F/TF | MG ZT | MG ZR | MG ZS | MG SV | ||
| Riley models: Pathfinder | 2.6 | 1.5 | 4/68 | Elf | Kestrel | ||
| Rover models: P4 | P5 | P6 | SD1 | 25 | 75 | 45 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 800 | 600 | CityRover | Estoura | ||
| Triumph models: Herald | Spitfire | Vitesse | GT6 | Stag | TR7 | Toledo | 1300 |1500 | 2000 | 2.5 & 2500 |Dolomite | Acclaim | ||
| Vanden Plas models: Princess | 3-Litre | 1100/1300 | ||
| Wolseley models: 4/44 | 6/90 | 15/50 | 1500 | 16/60 | 6/99 | 6/110 | Hornet | 1100/1300 | 18/85 | ||
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