1959 Rover P4 75

[oldpom]

Hi and thank you for allowing me here. I was speaking with Michael and promised to upload some pics of my beloved 1959 Rover P4 75, a rare beast in Australia as I believe only 55 of these models were exported WORLDWIDE in that Year. It has the freewheel option and the 2.2 engine with floor change. The interior is complete and in very nice condition. The bodywork will need some very minor pain but, mainly the roof. All chrome in excellent condition. It did have a leaking fuel pump when it arrived but that has n ow been changed with an aftermarket one while the original pump gets a full rebuild. The wheel garnishes came with the car which was lucky and I now have the hubcaps coming so, more pics to come. I have purchased period wing mirrors and roof aerial and also Lucas fog lamps which will all be fitted later down the road. I hope you enjoy the pics and videos of this lovely old "Auntie" she is my pride and joy and at 72, the memories of my youth in the UK have come rolling back.

 

[Michel]

Welcome to TK and what a nice looking Rover.
Great pics and great video clips.

 

[oldpom]

Thanks Michel, will keep you updated

 

[Patrick_R]

A fantastic first post. Well done.
Welcome, and congratulations on this beautiful car.

 

[oldpom]

Thank you Patrick. I will surely be posting more as I progress with my "Auntie".

 

[zej]

Lovely car! One can almost smell the leather and wood just looking at those interior pictures.

 

[oldpom]

Thank you and yes, she is a wonderful old girl. It is like going back in time just opening the door lol.

 

[c107]

Welcome to the forum. that is a really nice usable classic you have there.

 

[BenzBoy]

Excellent! Welcome aboard and more please on the Rover.
Regards,
Brian

 

[oldpom]

Welcome to the forum. that is a really nice usable classic you have there.

Thank you, it is going to be a lot of fun for sure.

 

[oldpom]

Excellent! Welcome aboard and more please on the Rover.
Regards,
Brian

Thank you, I will certainly be posting more as work progresses.

 

[Styria]

I am pleased that you have taken the plunge and joined our TK forum. Already, there have been 60 "lookers", and that does illustrate that our segment on Rovers is extremely well patronized. Just takes a quick glance at the overall contributions and lookers to realize that the Rover fraternity does in fact take notice of what goes on in a website that to all intents and purposes caters for primary two of the Mercedes Chassis Models, namely the 107s and 116s.

Your car, David, is extremely rare. I have had Rover involvement for sixty years when, initially I acquired my 1956 90 from an auction house in Sydney for $1250.00 - half the price of a new Holden Sedan at the time. As best as I have known, the Freewheeling device as featured on your 1959 model was discontinued in 1955. It was a much appreciated feature, as it allowed the driver to change gears clutchless once on the move. From start, one had to engage the clutch, and it only had to be re-used just prior to when coming to a full stop. You only had to move ever so little, and the Freewheeling device became operational. The reason for Rover to discontinue the fitting of the Freewheeling device on the introduction of a Clayton DeWandre servo (power brake) unit was on account of Rover thinking that vacuum pressure would be too low on an engine simply idling only when Freewheeling. Revs would only pick up when the accelerator pedal was activated. That's how I have always understood this to be the theory. So your 75 is quite special.

1959 also saw the introduction of a just 'plain" 105, superceding the 105 S (twin carbie manual with overdrive) and the 105R semi twin carbie Automatic, that lasted for one production year. From stories told over the years, hardly anyone understood the finer points of the 'R' model and it bacame very much an unloved car. I don't think there were too many in the mechanical fraternity that would have coped with that system. I am sure that some will disagee, and obviously I would accept their point of view if different to mine. I did purchase my 1959 105 from an elderly gentleman in Strathfield, and it was basically a continuation of the previous year's 105S, but featuring a chrome strip the same as David's car, with a deeply set front grille surround trim as on the following 100 models that were premiered in 1960. If memory serves me right, 1959 was also the last year prior to the modification of roller cam followers for the exhaust valves. They replaced solid lever followers from the previous models. A work of absolute art and nowadays expense. So much for now. Regards Styria (I will have to locate a picture of my 105).

 

[oldpom]

I am pleased that you have taken the plunge and joined our TK forum. Already, there have been 60 "lookers", and that does illustrate that our segment on Rovers is extremely well patronized. Just takes a quick glance at the overall contributions and lookers to realize that the Rover fraternity does in fact take notice of what goes on in a website that to all intents and purposes caters for primary two of the Mercedes Chassis Models, namely the 107s and 116s.

Your car, David, is extremely rare. I have had Rover involvement for sixty years when, initially I acquired my 1956 90 from an auction house in Sydney for $1250.00 - half the price of a new Holden Sedan at the time. As best as I have known, the Freewheeling device as featured on your 1959 model was discontinued in 1955. It was a much appreciated feature, as it allowed the driver to change gears clutchless once on the move. From start, one had to engage the clutch, and it only had to be re-used just prior to when coming to a full stop. You only had to move ever so little, and the Freewheeling device became operational. The reason for Rover to discontinue the fitting of the Freewheeling device on the introduction of a Clayton DeWandre servo (power brake) unit was on account of Rover thinking that vacuum pressure would be too low on an engine simply idling only when Freewheeling. Revs would only pick up when the accelerator pedal was activated. That's how I have always understood this to be the theory. So your 75 is quite special.

1959 also saw the introduction of a just 'plain" 105, superceding the 105 S (twin carbie manual with overdrive) and the 105R semi twin carbie Automatic, that lasted for one production year. From stories told over the years, hardly anyone understood the finer points of the 'R' model and it bacame very much an unloved car. I don't think there were too many in the mechanical fraternity that would have coped with that system. I am sure that some will disagee, and obviously I would accept their point of view if different to mine. I did purchase my 1959 105 from an elderly gentleman in Strathfield, and it was basically a continuation of the previous year's 105S, but featuring a chrome strip the same as David's car, with a deeply set front grille surround trim as on the following 100 models that were premiered in 1960. If memory serves me right, 1959 was also the last year prior to the modification of roller cam followers for the exhaust valves. They replaced solid lever followers from the previous models. A work of absolute art and nowadays expense. So much for now. Regards Styria (I will have to locate a picture of my 105).

Many thanks for such a reply, very informative. The Rover to me is part of my history as I grew up around them as a child/teenager in the UK but of course, never really appreciated just what good cars they are. I have had several Rovers over the past few Years, a 3 litre,
a 3.5 P5B COUPE and a 3500 V8 but to be honest, they did not have the "feel" of this beautiful old car. I can only align it to going house hunting. You walk in and around many places but there is that one house that makes you feel at home straight away, this old lady has done that with me and I cannot see me letting her go and hope it stays in the family long after I have gone.

 

[oldpom]

Just received a complete under dash tool lit of which I am super excited to see. It fits nicely into the bracket under the glove box and adds another touch of originality . . Hub caps also arrived so just tried them before I put the new tyres on. Talking about tyres, getting a bit hard to find the correct 195x80R15 ones. They have to be summertime/highway tyres and still searching all the usual suspects lol.

 

[Patrick_R]

I love a good original tool kit in a car.
Very nice.

 

[zej]

Just received a complete under dash tool lit of which I am super excited to see. It fits nicely into the bracket under the glove box and adds another touch of originality . . Hub caps also arrived so just tried them before I put the new tyres on. Talking about tyres, getting a bit hard to find the correct 195x80R15 ones. They have to be summertime/highway tyres and still searching all the usual suspects lol.

I believe 195/80R15 is the same diameter as the light truck 195/R15C tyre size, if you don't mind driving on van/4wd rubber

 

[Patrick_R]

An 80% aspect ratio is a huge tyre sidewall, it will be tough.

All you need to find today with modern tyres is the same rolling diameter, which has the correct aspect ratio to a width that is appropriate to your car and fit the rim well, and not to baggy which is the most important thing when it comes to speedo accuracy and the correct tyre for your car.
Some tyre manufacturers will also state revs/km. So exactly how many times the wheel/tyre turns 360 degrees over the course of 1 kilometre. These figures are all great if you can find a cross reference between old tyre sizes and new.
Don’t fit light truck tyres as the ride will be hard as hell.
What is the actual tare weight of the vehicle? This will help to find the right tyre size/rating.
(Some people are of the opinion that if the tare weight of their car is 2 tonnes, they need a tyre that is 2 tonne rated, not the case)
What is the actual rim width (it should be stamped in the rim)
Don’t fit tyres that are too wide for the rim as this will cause excessive friction & heat in the sidewall.
Lastly, only buy radials, don’t buy cross plys.

 

[oldpom]

An 80% aspect ratio is a huge tyre sidewall, it will be tough.

All you need to find today with modern tyres is the same rolling diameter, which has the correct aspect ratio to a width that is appropriate to your car and fit the rim well, and not to baggy which is the most important thing when it comes to speedo accuracy and the correct tyre for your car.
Some tyre manufacturers will also state revs/km. So exactly how many times the wheel/tyre turns 360 degrees over the course of 1 kilometre. These figures are all great if you can find a cross reference between old tyre sizes and new.
Don’t fit light truck tyres as the ride will be hard as hell.
What is the actual tare weight of the vehicle? This will help to find the right tyre size/rating.
(Some people are of the opinion that if the tare weight of their car is 2 tonnes, they need a tyre that is 2 tonne rated, not the case)
What is the actual rim width (it should be stamped in the rim)
Don’t fit tyres that are too wide for the rim as this will cause excessive friction & heat in the sidewall.
Lastly, only buy radials, don’t buy cross plys.

Thanks Patrick.

Unladen weight

3,108 lb

The rims are 15 inch and have been told by a P4 owner of 30 odd Years that I should be going for 195x80R15 and failing that then 185x80 R15.
Like you he said not light truck tyres, they need to be summertime/highway.

I have found these which look like they could do the job https://vitourtyres.com.au/store_li...XugVFYq6DXdQNzVJ1emo67v3tqpRjeX8aUZPQZ-oIwt4Y

 

[oldpom]

Just out of interest I changed the middle glove box over to the radio fascia today. Was an easy job once I worked out the best way to do it and with some help from those on the FB group.

 

[Patrick_R]

Thanks Patrick.

Unladen weight

3,108 lb

The rims are 15 inch and have been told by a P4 owner of 30 odd Years that I should be going for 195x80R15 and failing that then 185x80 R15.
Like you he said not light truck tyres, they need to be summertime/highway.

I have found these which look like they could do the job https://vitourtyres.com.au/store_li...XugVFYq6DXdQNzVJ1emo67v3tqpRjeX8aUZPQZ-oIwt4Y

That’s a great looking tyre David.
Got to be happy with that, the H rating is a bonus.

You mention a chap advised you of the tyre size.
What does the owners manual or workshop manual say?