My (ancient) history with Rovers

[OzBenzHead]

Am delighted to find that Topklasse now includes the venerable "poor man's Rolls-Royce", of which I've owned 16 – one less than I've owned Benzes. (Having also owned an S3 Bentley during that time I can attest to the Royce-like qualities of the "real" Rovers, those series made before Leyland completely buggered the brand.)

When I lived in Melbourne (1972–77) I accumulated Rovers like they were going out of fashion (which they were elsewhere, but Melbourne was Rover capital). Many of those I found sitting in paddocks or deceased-estate garages.

Those I owned were:

1949 P3 75 (it wasn't well, but I wanted a car made the same year as myself)
P4 75 "Cyclops"
P4 90 x 4 (2 with freewheel, 1 overdrive)
P4 95
P4 100 (overdrive)
P4 105 x 2 (one overdrive, one Roverdrive)
P4 110
P5 3-litre Mk Ia
P5 3-litre Mk IIc
P5 3-litre Mk III
P5 3-litre Mk III coupé
P6 3500 series I.

My favourite was a P4 90 with freewheel. I frequently drove it between Melbourne and Sydney. The dear old auntie took a while to reach its top speed of 90 mph but would sit there, purring quietly, all day. I retired it when it blew a head gasket at 516K miles. Divorce took care of my Rover collection (common tale, I'm sure).

The only complaints I could level at those cars were the terribly British phenomenon of "running oil changes" (whereby one never needed to change the oil, only replace that which constantly landed on the garage floor – ahem) and the accursed Lucas Prince of Darkness electricals.

It wasn't until I acquired my first Benz in 1980 (1970 W108 280 SE) that I again became passionate about any particular marque.

 

[c107]

That is quite the collection you had there!
I bought a P5 MKIIc coupe from the Flynn auction a couple of years ago. While it was in a sorry state, you could see there was something special about the car and that a nice one would be a very nice place to be.

In any case, parts from that car are now helping Styria restore his cars and get them back on the road.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Oh, I can smell that English leather (and perhaps a little mustiness – lol).

Although quite different in style, I found the (front) seats in my Mk II and Mk III both superb travelling armchairs.

While I deliberately sought and bought my first Rover (P5 Mk Ia), at least half the others found me off their own bat. It's like that when one associates with a club, as we all probably know. And a Sunday arvo drive around Melbourne's rural-edge back blocks often snared a deserted P4 or three – as well as a Daimler Century ('54-ish) and a '60 Armstrong-Siddeley Star Sapphire.

Those things just followed me home, Dear. (She didn't mind too much, as old English cars were also her interest.)

 

[sean sherry]

That is quite the collection you had there!
I bought a P5 MKIIc coupe from the Flynn auction a couple of years ago. While it was in a sorry state, you could see there was something special about the car and that a nice one would be a very nice place to be.

In any case, parts from that car are now helping Styria restore his cars and get them back on the road.

Am delighted to find that Topklasse now includes the venerable "poor man's Rolls-Royce", of which I've owned 16 – one less than I've owned Benzes. (Having also owned an S3 Bentley during that time I can attest to the Royce-like qualities of the "real" Rovers, those series made before Leyland completely buggered the brand.)

When I lived in Melbourne (1972–77) I accumulated Rovers like they were going out of fashion (which they were elsewhere, but Melbourne was Rover capital). Many of those I found sitting in paddocks or deceased-estate garages.

Those I owned were:

1949 P3 75 (it wasn't well, but I wanted a car made the same year as myself)
P4 75 "Cyclops"
P4 90 x 4 (2 with freewheel, 1 overdrive)
P4 95
P4 100 (overdrive)
P4 105 x 2 (one overdrive, one Roverdrive)
P4 110
P5 3-litre Mk Ia
P5 3-litre Mk IIc
P5 3-litre Mk III
P5 3-litre Mk III coupé
P6 3500 series I.

My favourite was a P4 90 with freewheel. I frequently drove it between Melbourne and Sydney. The dear old auntie took a while to reach its top speed of 90 mph but would sit there, purring quietly, all day. I retired it when it blew a head gasket at 516K miles. Divorce took care of my Rover collection (common tale, I'm sure).

The only complaints I could level at those cars were the terribly British phenomenon of "running oil changes" (whereby one never needed to change the oil, only replace that which constantly landed on the garage floor – ahem) and the accursed Lucas Prince of Darkness electricals.

It wasn't until I acquired my first Benz in 1980 (1970 W108 280 SE) that I again became passionate about any particular marque.

Am delighted to find that Topklasse now includes the venerable "poor man's Rolls-Royce", of which I've owned 16 – one less than I've owned Benzes. (Having also owned an S3 Bentley during that time I can attest to the Royce-like qualities of the "real" Rovers, those series made before Leyland completely buggered the brand.)

When I lived in Melbourne (1972–77) I accumulated Rovers like they were going out of fashion (which they were elsewhere, but Melbourne was Rover capital). Many of those I found sitting in paddocks or deceased-estate garages.

Those I owned were:

1949 P3 75 (it wasn't well, but I wanted a car made the same year as myself)
P4 75 "Cyclops"
P4 90 x 4 (2 with freewheel, 1 overdrive)
P4 95
P4 100 (overdrive)
P4 105 x 2 (one overdrive, one Roverdrive)
P4 110
P5 3-litre Mk Ia
P5 3-litre Mk IIc
P5 3-litre Mk III
P5 3-litre Mk III coupé
P6 3500 series I.

My favourite was a P4 90 with freewheel. I frequently drove it between Melbourne and Sydney. The dear old auntie took a while to reach its top speed of 90 mph but would sit there, purring quietly, all day. I retired it when it blew a head gasket at 516K miles. Divorce took care of my Rover collection (common tale, I'm sure).

The only complaints I could level at those cars were the terribly British phenomenon of "running oil changes" (whereby one never needed to change the oil, only replace that which constantly landed on the garage floor – ahem) and the accursed Lucas Prince of Darkness electricals.

It wasn't until I acquired my first Benz in 1980 (1970 W108 280 SE) that I again became passionate about any particular marque.

Wot ! No Automatics . I had the opportunity to repair one back in 1969 from a used Car Dealer in Brisbane. Bring me your B W 35s... B W 8s and 12s Chevs and Pontiacs and Jaguars etc.

I declined his kind offer......stating that I knew nothing about them... his problem !

 

[Styria]

Hi Ozbenzhead, not wishing to offend you in any way, but I need to tell you that it is heartening to know that you are still alive and kicking - well certainly your literary mind is still as brilliant as ever. I know you did have some health issues at one stage, but I hope that all is well now. BTW, do you still remember our meeting at one of the North Coast Clubs, and we both arrived at the round about at exactly the same time ?...and do you recall that I insisted on grabbing first use of the roundabout by virtually forcing you to back off ? I was like that, meaning inconsiderate and aggressive, at that time.
Getting back to your list - a very interesting collection - certainly for Rover owners and devotees. A comparison between Mark IIc and Mark III. Did you find much difference between them as far as driveability was concerned ? Very interested in your thoughts on those two cars. Same engine, different gearbox, one without Leyland interference and the other still GENUINE Rover. Any thoughts ?
I see you also had two 105s - obviously the "R" model with automatic Roverdrive (for one year only) and another 105 - was it the "S" model with the twin carbies with Overdrive (1958) or was yours just the Rover 105 (1959 only) with the solitary difference being a more dished Frontal Grille surround as was to become standard in the 1960 Rover 100. What was you favourite Rover ? I can still add a bit more to this, but will wait for your response. Best Regards and great to see you on TK again, this time as .org. Michael (Styria)

 

[OzBenzHead]

Thank you, Michael

My health issue eventually righted itself, despite many doctors' attempts to keep me dependent on them and their largely useless interventions. It's amazing what one can achieve on one's own with the right information.

I do indeed remember our meeting in Ballina, where you handed me those fabulous chrome stone-guards. They stayed on my midnight blue 116 till I gave that car away; I later passed the stone-guards on to a friend with a 116.

On the Rovers:

Although I preferred the type 35 trans and the leaky power steering of the MkIII over the MkII's manual steering and DG thumper (not unlike the early Benz auto thumpers when it came to rough low-speed changes), overall I thought the best of the P5s was my Mk IIc, and I did prefer that for highway driving. It was also the prettiest: dark green with cream interior.

Of all, though, I was most attached to the '56 90 (freewheel): it just kept going, and going, and ... . That 90 also gave the least trouble (Lucas aside) of all.

I do believe that the beginnings of the Leyland rot started to show in the Mk IIIs, and was even more apparent in my P6. (Of course, by the time the SD1 arrived, Rover was past the point of redemption. Thanks, Leyland, for Sweet Fanny Adams!)

My P4 105 was the plain-Jane manual with single carb. The Roverdrive on the 105R was, er, interesting. It never let me down, but oh, what a slucking fug it made the car!

A fantasy project that divorce killed was to create a look-alike Jet 1: I had a spare P4 75 Cyclops with munted engine and trans; I'd planned to fit a 3500 V8 in it (it would fit with some inner-guard mods), cut the roof off (an advantage of frame chassis), weld up the back doors, and imagine I was Stirling Moss or some such. When wife and I separated, she scored (and soon disposed of) all but the P5 coupé.

An amusing and instructional anecdote:

I saw a P5 100 in a Melbourne car yard and decided to check it out. (I was on a mission to "save" all unloved Solihull machinery – lol.) The 100 appeared to be fairly straight, with the exception of a wrinkle in the driver's door. As you know, those doors were aluminium alloy (Birmabright) and the soft metal was not easily de-dentable. I poked and prodded, and the door seemed (a) a tad heavy and (b) solid rather than hollow. When I gave that door a hearty slam, out fell a chunk of concrete (!) about a foot square and an inch thick. Even the dealer was surprised (or did a good job of feigning it). Needless to say, I passed on that buy. As ever, it's caveat emptor.

Now, so long since my Rover days, I'm again the owner of a part-aluminium car: an '83 C126. When I find some pix of it I'll post them somewhere appropriate. It's currently getting close to a two-year total body rebuild, complete with new leather and paint.