Gone mad

Lashout_UK

Lashout_UK

Lashout_UK

Soldato
Joined
2 Mar 2004
Posts
11,918
Location
SE England
New level of insanity reached. Purchased the oldest car I've ever owned today.

It's a P5B Coupe, silver roof and admiralty blue paintwork. It's one of the very early ones, 1968 (only started making the Bs in '67) so has all the fantastic little period touches you'd expect - like slideout, removable lunch trays that inexplicably have a toolkit in them...

Been in a garage for 19 years.......reputedly done 19,000 miles.

Bit ahead of myself here because it won't be delivered until early next week but I thought I'd start the shenanigans early, so you can all mentally prepare yourself for the horrors that I may be about to uncover.

On the flipside though, it runs beautifully and has been moved regularly, so, bizarrely, everything works perfectly. I just don't get how it's survived so well with so little care! It sounds great and the engine bay is immaculate. Even got power steering!

The final iteration of the P5 appeared in 1967. Now powered by the 3.5 L (3528 cc, 215 cu in) Rover V8 engine also used in the 3500, the car was commonly known as the 3½ Litre. The final letter in the "P5B" model name came from Buick, the engine's originator. Rover did not have the budget or time to develop such engines hence they chose to redevelop the lightweight aluminium concept Buick could not make successful. They made it considerably stronger which added some weight but still maintained the engines light and compact features. The Borg Warner Type-35 automatic transmission and power steering were now standard.

The exterior was mostly unchanged, apart from bold '3.5 Litre' badging, a pair of fog lights which were added below the head lights, creating a striking 4 light array, additionally chrome Rostyle wheels with black painted inserts were fitted. The P5B existed as both the 4-door coupe and saloon body style until end of production. 9,099 coupés and 11,501 saloons had been built when the P5 series ended in 1973.

The 3½ Litre saloon variant was a favourite of high-ranking Government Ministers, and served as Prime-Ministerial transport for Wilson, Heath, Callaghan and Thatcher. As testament to their value, the last batch of P5Bs to roll off the Rover line were reserved for government use, and they were still familiar sights in Westminster for more than a decade after production had ended.

When Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street in 1979 after her election victory, she was driven in a 1972 model- and it was during Thatcher's eleven year tenure that the P5 was eventually phased out as a Prime-Ministerial car, in favour of the Jaguar XJ. During Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister, she ordered a dozen black Rover P5s, so that no-one in the government would be driven around in the new Rover SD1.

The Queen also used to own an Arden Green Rover P5B Saloon 'JGY 280K' which is on display at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire and was seen in the May 18th, 2003 episode of BBC motoring show, Top Gear.
Click to expand...

Same colour scheme as this, I think:

p5b-coupe-1.jpg


p5b-coupe-2.jpg


Except with period black and silver plates, obviously...

Really quite a special looking car. This one's got a real charm to it, so I just had to have it - so cool :D

Yes, it does have some corrosion (and no doubt other things I haven't spotted) - but no gaping holes or hideous eye sores, if you know what I mean. The paint is flat from storage but it's got potential, so I will see how we go when it gets here and keep this updated.

Now all I need is a long jacket, sawn off and I can roll some bank jobs....First port of call though will be a thorough clean and polish! :)

Rover_P5B_COUPE_adbab962f20bde11487.jpg


conc20.jpg


rpc1.jpg



Onwards!

.........ahahaa.....Still grinning, mind :D
 
If it looks like the first pic of one, that will be really cool. I have a thing about these Rovers. I think they look awesome, and if it runs ok will no doubt bring you some good motoring times. Dont forget your pipe too. :D
 
Mental. Love it. Wonder how that will handle? :p

Hope it's in as good nick as you say! I don't really doubt it as step dad had a 70s Lotus Elan in the garage for about 18 years and it just needed a few minor things to get it back up and going. Shame he sold it....
 
My exact* response:

--sharp intake of breath--

"Ohhhhhh....nice."

:)


* - not one word of a lie, that was what I said. Even including the italics!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom