Classic for under £10K

[NewcastleFalcon]

Brightwells have a classic sale at Leominster on 21st September. Not a great list of under £5k vehicles, but a very interesting P6 Rover 2000 SC Automatic (£8,000 to £12,000 Estimate)



Rather than a musty old leather smell, I would hope that with only 11,900 miles from new, it may still have a bit of "New Car" aroma!





That's got to be Tobacco Leaf with Buckskin interior.

Regards Neil

[white exec]

Lovely to look at, but the most leisurely of all the P6's: single carb, 2-litre and automatic.
The condition of the interior is extraordinarily good.
Rover's claim for the hotch-potch of dash switches was that you could tell them apart, by touch, and in the dark.
Pity no head-restraints until 1975 or so.
Heck of a price tag for it - makes you wonder what a 3500S in the same condition might fetch!

[CitroJim]

Nice but too late. I want a very early one where the reversing lights are reflectors...

[white exec]

Never sure about the fascination with the early Series 1's. Actually, I feel the same about XM...

But, given the choice between these two, what would you choose?


Series 1


Series 2 facelift
- ignoring the rather nasty audio bits

Like the similar Jaeger/Smiths dash that Jaguar used, I think the latter is simply one of the clearest and best-presented set of instruments. Citroen adopted similar for XM and Xantia, and from the Jaeger too.

The view of the instruments for the driver is unsurpassed, except for Citroen's single-spoke. XM view doesn't come close, unless you have eyes in your chin, and the thicker, smaller steering wheels don't help.

Rover ditched the small switch toggles, in favour of internally illuminated green ones, but kept the tactile differences, so you knew you had reached for the right switch. The XM/Jaguar/605 endless row of identical push-buttons is in stark contrast.

The dash, shin-bin, central radio and tunnel top finishers were all made by Rolinx, by the way, fairly famous among schoolkids of the 60s and 70s for plastic rulers are protractors. Somewhere, I have a P6 launch magazine, in which most of the principal components suppliers to Solihull send Rover their congratulations in the form of large advertisements.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Nice but too late. I want a very early one where the reversing lights are reflectors...

Simon Cars does a pretty good job of illustrating rear-ends Nice gallery of the P6.....is this the type of rear you would like?



Reversing lights as far as I can work out emerged in 1966 ish, when the red reflectors moved to the boot lid.

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Nice but too late. I want a very early one where the reversing lights are reflectors...

Simon Cars does a pretty good job of illustrating rear-ends Nice gallery of the P6.....is this the type of rear you would like?



Reversing lights as far as I can work out emerged in 1966 ish, when the red reflectors moved to the boot lid.

Regards Neil

That's exactly the one Neil.... Just lovely... So pure and no reflector tagged on as an afterthought as in the later P6s...

Thanks for finding that one out

S1 all the way for me in anything - Original and Best

[NewcastleFalcon]

...I also came across this cuiosity in my meanderings. This example was sold by Bonhams in 2011 for £3,240.

Its a Rover Chair. But its not just a Rover chair its a

Ron Arad for One Off Ltd, 'Rover' chair, designed 1981 with tubular steel kee-klamp frame and adjustable leather seat,

I do believe his "original" could well have been a distressed mango.



Regards Neil

[white exec]

Nothing worse (Oops...more valuable...) than a Distressed Mango.
£3,240 is about three times the cost of the original cars.
Those seats were designed in conjunction with an orthopedic consultant, apparently, and were Connolly leather.
Will also fit an original Mini... I kid you not.
Better with the later headrest/restraint - there were a choice of two designs.

[CitroJim]

You know, for all my P6 love, I've never even sat in one but those seats look gorgeous... Even in mango - distressed or otherwise!

[NewcastleFalcon]

... those seats look gorgeous... Even in mango - distressed or otherwise!

I like the look of them too, and subsequently I have found out that the 2011 auction one went cheap compared to some of his originals.

Its the apparent and actual simplicity of the design, and the use of standard bits and pieces of key-clamp tubing and fittings reserved normally for mundane handrails, fencing, playground equipment, shop fittings and milking parlours! Looking at it you would think that looks easy to make. The seat itself is also beautifully simple.

Ron Araf was the designer...here's another of his designs....now I do like a stretch-out on a sofa for a nice nap from time to time and this looks absolutely made for that



Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Now that sofa looks just about perfect All my life I've been searching for a perfect sofa but never found one.. I don't have one at all, just IKEA chairs which I find very comfy but I'd love that sofa!!!

[lexi]

Well I did the usual with my P6's. Camped and fished with 'em pulling boats and caravans. No real boot in them of course but the ride was excellent.
Hitting bumps was like they were out there, but not really coming through the car. Can still smell the hide as you jumped in.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Well I did the usual with my P6's. Camped and fished with 'em pulling boats and caravans. No real boot in them of course but the ride was excellent.

Did you have the "spare tyre on the boot" or "Continental Touring Kit" as Rover liked to call it, on any of your P6's, quite a characteristic "look" for many P6's you see?



Regards Neil

[lexi]

My tyres were in the boot Neil. That car in pic was colour of my 2000 SC. It could do 38mpg on a run. It suffered pre ignition until I de-coked it. The duplex chain on the OHC could have lifted the mot ramp .

[CitroJim]

I think the spare wheel on the boot of the P6 is a beautiful finishing touch... An excellent place for it