My dad was a Production Superintendent on the P6 at Rover and had moved into the production planning office by about the time this particular car was built. I learnt to drive in his second P6, a 2200TC. Shortly after I passed my driving test I reversed the car off our drive one cold winter morning with full choke and my wet shoe (leather sole!) slipped off the clutch. Forward drive was thus engaged instantaneously with the result that the transmission shattered and I sat in the road going nowhere. Dad died in 1978 at the young age of 52 and hundreds turned out for his funeral. The Rover staff collection was so big that they ended up making a three foot high Rover badge of flowers as a wreath. It wouldn’t fit inside the hearse so we drove to the cemetery with it tied onto the roof. He loved working for Rover and he loved the P6 especially, so it was great to see this video. Many thanks. Someone else commented on the indicator sound which took me straight back to driving it as a youngster. The thin indicator and lighting stalks made me remember when I used to try to impress myself by smoking whilst driving. I have memories of a Hamlet cigar stroking the upholstery as I cornered with that big steering wheel… and the time I stuck fake scratches onto his new 2200’s front wing a few days after he got it home! There was a six month waiting list in those days.

Designed in an era when Rover was genuinely a quality manufacturer and also highly innovative, the P6 was way ahead of its time in all but one respect where it was woefully out of touch with the future. And that was the controls, which were designed with Haptics in mind; in other words they were made to be distinguishable by touch alone so you could concentrate on the road ahead. If only the designers had known that the future was touchscreens where you have no sense of what you are doing unless you take your eyes off the road for several seconds at a time just to change the temperature. I can understand why they thought that such controls were a safety innovation, but they were obviously completely wrong.

The car the bank manager drove to work and the bank robbers fled in, probably being chased by one in police livery. So many used on TV in the 70s, leaning on their door handles, smoking tyres. Peak Rover.

The only thing better than a late P6 Rover V8 is a early Rover P6 with a strip speedo and a spare wheel mounted on the boot as to me that’s pure perfection. We really did know how to screw together a luxury saloon back in the day with the P6 and the Triumph 2000 being two of the most beautiful looking large saloons ever produced. My Dad always liked a Rover and had a nice Rover P6 2000 tc and nearly got his dream V8 but it got written off the night before he picked it up and it was his dream car and always regretted not getting that burgundy late R plate V8 and I can still remember that lovely smell when you opened the door up to the pure luxury of a P6.

A long lived design, and rightly so. It was highly regarded in the 60s and 70s as a reliable, solid, comfortable, stylish and desirable car.

My dear friend, this is such a great and 'appropriate' video... I have just paid my deposit over a really rather amazing 1972 V8 auto, in mexico brown over a pristine buckskin interior, coupled to sundym glasses, ETs and power steering... This will complement my much-loved 1974 2200TC in cameron green, Lady Margaret, whom I have had for almost 20 years... The P6 is my top favourite all time classic... I have been loving it desperately ever since I was a little boy, and now driving it makes me a very happy (and fortunate) man. There's no more rewarding car really...

My favourite teacher ever had a 3.5 litre V8. I loved her and love her to this day

Pulls fuel reserve instead of choke by mistake, then talks about fuel reserve and points at the choke by mistake 😂😂 Love the review though Mat, keep it up!

I would be delighted to own a P6. I remember seeing them here in the US when I was young, and I admired them even then. Oddly, one of my favorite features is the green switches on the dash.

Lovely to see this video, it really brought me back. I had a Rover 2000TC, which I absolutely loved, but always wanted the V8. Sadly, my love affair with the 2000TC was cut short when my wife rolled it on a dirt road in rural Victoria, Australia. She fell into a deep ditch and landed on the roof, squashing it down to the dashboard. Luckily she is only 5'1" tall, so came out of it without a scratch.

That’s the most enthused I’ve ever heard you about a car , your definitely a font of information on P6 and your 20+ years of owning one shows. I would have been one of those peasants in the 70s you would have blasted out the way 😂 as you wafted by. Really enjoyed this video Matt , great stuff , oh and the sound of indicators is a memory you never forget 👌🏻.

23:55 This must be one of the last 4-door cars made with opening rear vent windows (not counting the ones GM and Chrysler offered, for a short time, in place of roll-down windows). What an interesting combination of old-school luxury and innovative technology. I'm glad someone is preserving cars like this.

I can testify how great the rear suspension is. I was driving a P6 and overtaking at high speed on a B or even C grade road. And the car was on the very rough edges of the road, and that rear hung on like it was on rails. I miss mine.

Also worth a mention is the very high quality of the interior plastics. Even in the Australian climate, any degradation of the plastics, (vinyl dash top aside) is very much the exception rather than the rule. The reverse of course applies to the SD1.

I remember seeing a final version of the P6 at a car show a few years ago. It had the Webasto full roof and cream leather interior with a Royal Blue finish. Absolute beauty

I do love a P6B. The P5B, P6 and SD1 were very different cars representing different periods of Rover. Constantly re inventing themselves even with the SD3 and R8. Rover were masters of making interesting cars regardless of budget.

When I was a kid, I did think of these cars nice but rusty specially in the wings. But you have convinced me they were brilliant Car. Of course this is a proper Rover which is still going today not the Longbridge namesake.Thank you very much

Took my driving test in my Dad's P6 with a manual gear box. Very posh but a 3 point turn was a challenge. Those were the days.

As you mentioned, These were briefly sold in the USA. I have never seen one on the road. My exposure to them is from the excellent “import car spotters guide” by Tad Burness that was around our house when I was a child (still have it). In the late 80’s I found one in a salvage yard. I worked for a car wash that was looking for a prop for our detail shop. We took the hood (bonnet) from the British Racing green car we found in the junkyard, ran a piece of tape down the center and buffed and polished one half and hung it on the walk to show folks the possibilities of having their car detailed. The original paint came up so well that everyone thought we had just had 1/2 the hood repainted. I had to do a small test spot on the oxidized side of the hood to prove the point. Excellent paint! As I recall the car we found had a row of multi-colored toggle switches instead of the rotary switches in your test car (earlier car?). Enjoyed the video. Thanks Matt!

What a nice motor, and a great review Mr Richards, The P5 and P6 were great cars, they were the BMW/Audi type choice of the 60’s. If you couldn’t afford a Jag and you didn’t want a Triumph you went for a P6.

I had a P5B for about 2 years - I was living in Australia at the time. It was great on long trip, having just enough power for long distance touting and it was like driving. an armchair. Battery was under the back seat. I believe it was the first Rover to do over 100mph - but in the P5, not by.very much.

One of the cars I regret selling. I used to love pulling into a service station for fuel, with young people in their supposedly hot big cars in Australia. To watch their expressions at the V8 burble from the exhaust. The automatic could also be used manually for fast driving around winding roads. A quick flick to L2. Then back to drive as the revs peaked on a straight. Very fast car when needed. Actually one of the few automatic cars that could be tow started if necessary .

Growing up as a child of the 70s this was one of my favourite cars and remains so. Definitely the British Citroen DS in terms of engineering excellence and ride/handling. What a car! Love the P5B too !!

Forget the Merc get your Rovers on the road! I'll have a V8 and a P5b please.

I always loved this car as a kid. I used to check them out when my mother's Austin Cambridge was being serviced. It seemed unbelievably advanced and such a sensible size. And a V8 and the hood scoops! This was in Canada, of course, when imported cars were 100% European. No Japanese on the horizon, yet.

It has an extremely beautiful dashboard

What a beautiful example!!! Wow, that brought back some memories! My Dad had 2 in the 70's, RFY 2J, and TTD 758M. My all-time favorite British car! Great review of a lovely car. The quarter lights were always handy to flick your ash out of the window while smoking and driving along!! Haha!!

When you consider how relatively little money Rover had for development. Compared to other worldwide car projects in the period. Despite its flaws, the Rover P6 must be considered one of the the most astonishing cars of all time. More so than even Jaguars XJ6. My it makes me dream of the possibilities for Rover in the 1960s and 1970s had not British Leyland ever come about. You know...similar to thinking how much better would the world have been had the Kardashians never ever existed.

I had one of these back in the mid 80's. It was one of the last V8's, on an 'R' plate, in Corsica blue, with a full Webasto sunroof. I loved that car!

Thanks for the excellent review of a forgotten car here in the USA. You clearly understand the P6 as only an owner can. Our family bought a 1966 2000 TC ( twin carb) version when I was 16 and gleefully clutching a brand new driver’s license. As an unabashed car nut, I proceeded to thrash that car within an inch of my life many times, resulting in body damage, a blown motor, and blown up transmissions. You mentioned the weak manual transmission behind the V8. The syncros were notably strong but a brass mainshaft bushing was prone to break when hammered. I soon perfected the ostensibly impossible task of replacing the transmission without removing the engine. It required spreading the transmission tunnel with hydraulic power. A top speed test on the freeway resulted in an observed 115 mph and then a cloud of blue smoke from the exhaust. A failed piston had me locating a used engine and replacing it. The spacious engine bay was very different from the other BMC cars I also owned. The brakes, as you noted, were the best of any British car we owned, including several Jaguars. In a failed attempt to impress my girlfriend, I performed a graphic brake demonstration and locked the wheels at over 100 mph and set the car into a lurid drift towards a power pole on a country 2 lane road. The chassis was so well designed that despite the considerable body roll I was able to control the drifting car and at 85 mph restore directional stability avoiding disaster. Saturday night rally sessions with my buddies usually involved alcohol and high speed hijinks racing each other and outrunning the police. The P6 excelled at this game, especially on bumpy roads due to the unique suspension system. Like period Alfa Romeo cars, the generous body roll near the limit belied just how well the semi independent DeDion rear suspension was managing the contact patch. It was unbelievable how fast one could enter a corner and survive. I compare the P6 all round suspension performance to that of contemporary Mercedes W108 sedans featuring the low pivot swing axle design. Both systems offered a premium combination of comfort, compliance, safety, and control. When these high limits were inevitably exceeded, the resulting body damage was easily repaired by simply unbolting the non stressed doors and panels from the safety cell space frame. I found a donor car with the same white paint so no repainting was necessary. The P6 2000 TC made about 124 horsepower, a very strong result from 2 liters back in the day. Engine components worth mentioning include deeply dished 9:1 pistons containing the combustion chamber, a flat valve face on the aluminum cylinder head, a single overhead camshaft, 2 large SU HD6 carburetors., and a then impressive 6000 rpm redline. Rover soon moved to the V8 power plant in response to new US safety and emission regulations. Reliability,quality control issues, and poor dealer service doomed Rover in the USA just when Japanese manufacturers were offering more reliable products at cheaper prices. The V8 P6 cars sold poorly here and were soon eclipsed by cars such as the Chevy Nova V8 that offered much more power for less money, and were more reliable to boot.

Fantastic review……I’ve learnt more about P6s in 40 minutes than the last 40 years……👍🇮🇲

The police caught a lot of criminality with this Rover and the Triumph 2000 both very fast cars

Beautiful. My dad had a brand new one as he was one of the bosses at Bathgate. His was the 3500S. Finished in red with the black leather interior. The registration was NVD922L. I can always remember it had Denovo Tyres and the first thing he did was fit a towbar as we had a touring caravan.

As a bit of a P4 person, myself, I never realized what a little gem the P6 was, when it was introduced. The little touches like making the knobs of different shapes was brilliant. Compare it with Jaguar who liked a big bank of identical and confusing switches. The only question was how did it subsequently go so wrong for Rover. Faced with such perfection, why did inferior cars like MB and BMW continue to exist? People just have no taste. As for the gas turbine, Rover were developing it under contract to Rolls Royce, I believe. Rolls eventually took the work back in house, being disappointed with Rover's lack of progress. But Rover did at least show one thing. The gas turbine engine is totally unsuitable for cars.

Having worked on the P6 track in the late 60s , it was good to see your enthusiasm for the result of my hard 8 hrs night shift work !

Magnificent car, Matt. I have loved the P6 since I first saw one. General Motors Buick Division had their own engines and transmissions up to the introduction of the 3 speed Turbohydomatic 400. In the Buick this was designed for, it would have had the 2 speed automatic. The neat thing is that the bolt pattern for attaching the transmission is the same for the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. That means there are GM 4 speed automatic transmissions that will bolt right up to the alloy engine, and can handle a LOT more horsepower and torque than the 3.5 can come up with. It is also possible to add an overdrive unit from Gearvendors to increase fuel economy on the motorways and get the revs way down. The best upgrade to one of these is a custom 2¼ inch dual exhaust with H cross over. That will gain about 20 hp and add a solid 5 mpg on the highway. Done right, with all bolt on parts, this car can return well over 30 mpg on the motorway. The trick is to take advantage of the low end torque inherent to any Buick V8. I noticed that at idle that particular car is not as smooth as a Buick should be. I suspect the carburetors are slightly out of tune. It sounds like they are running a bit rich. Still, there is nothing like the sound of that engine. Truly spectacular. They were uncommon on this side of the pond simply because of price and size. In terms of size and space, they were compact cars, but in terms of price, they were up against the very high end Buicks and into Cadillac/Lincoln/Imperial Territory. Rover did not have the same caché as the giant offerings. Interestingly, when this example was made, the Cadillac Seville and Lincoln Versailles were new to the market, and those "compact" luxury cars were the most expensive of their lines, so this Rover would have fit in nicely as a competitor. That would make a great 3 way comparison test. 76 Seville, 76 Versailles, and 76 Rover P6 3500. It is no surprise that seatbelt mounts were built in to all the cars, no matter the market. The lap and 3 point harness mounts were mandated in the US beginning in 65, and rear seat lap belts were mandated as of January 1, 1970. Since they hoped to sell these in numbers in the US and Canada, and the requirement for the rear seatbelt mounts was well known to be coming, they would have designed them into the body structure from the get go. I have to go to the shop that works on my 90 Volvo, and they have a Rover 2000 in the reception area. It has been restored to an amazing condition, and is a real pleasure to see. Red with the black leather interior.

Beautyfull and original V8! Quite hard to find nowadays.

I have been transported back to my 1970's childhood memories of hearing these lovely cars blatting up and down the A23; perhaps apprehending a few rum characters with the blues and twos going - the later SDI's weren't so svelte or stylish.. especially with the "jam sandwich spec!"

Very nice indeed. I never realized it had a Buick V8 but having owned a couple of Buick’s they were great engines!

A great and very informative review, having myself owned Rover P6s for almost 30 years now. For a moment I thought this was your own rebuild you were showing us but still a lovely car. Thank you very much and safe driving

Jaguar deffinately took inspiration from that wrap around dash on the latest XJ. This p6 and the Triumph 2500 pi, what great looking cars, now we have Nissan Jukes ..... Taxi back to 1970 please.

I'm from Sydney,Australia, and owned an automatic 3500, and a manual 3500s. One intriguing feature was a small twist knob that was either on the steering column or the dash board, that allowed for variations in the timing of when the windscreen wipers would operate when in intermittent mode

Rented one of these (lime metallic green) when staying in Glasgow with my, then girlfriend, and current wife. In 1979. Drove it to Sutherland and back. Very nice ride. It had a Mercedes feeling, and the Mercedes 'roar'. Without being a Mercedes.

Excellent, love it! I learned to drive in a 1972 2000TC in the late 80s and have loved them ever since

Most enjoyable enthusiastic review Matt.I recall as a child , family friends bought a brand new P6 2000 in 1964, on Christmas Eve that year , they were involved in a very serious head on collision with a drunken driver who was killed outright.The structure of the Rover remained largely intact and they walked away with minor cuts and bruises - a very unusual occurrance in a car back then, showing great strides in advanced aspects of safety design .

I started watching this video thinking it was your own car....then the penny dropped 😂😂 What a gorgeous example! You look very at home in these, Matt! Get that V8 finished 😂🙊

The Leyland 2S/350 gas turbine was fitted to British Rail's APT-E train. Great video as always.

Awesome - the Rovers P5b and P6 are right up there with the most popular British classics in our club. Great to see you enjoyed it so much 👍

Great vid nice to hear someone talking passionatly about a classic car im 52 ive owned captis stag even a triump dolomite classic cars have sole and warmth its rare you find this in a modern day car.the simplicity has gone classic cars from the 60s 70s 80s offer smiles per mile.shame theres not more on our roads.

Another one of your videos that I am sure I’m going to watch over and over and over again. I plan to get a V8 P6 at some point because they sound so nice. Pete Birmingham 🇬🇧

I'll always remember the smell of these, unlike any other car. My dad had a Cameron green 2000sc and then later a Zircon Blue 22sc.....I always remember those cars with such fondness..... different times.

Thank you Matt, for making such an excellent and informative review of a simply awesome motor car. Your genuine enthusiasm shines through in every frame! The highlight of my mid-teens, in the mid 1970's, was when my father ran a 1971 P6B auto (UDV330J) for 2 glorious years. I was gutted when, for reasons of economy, he traded it for a 1973 Cortina 1.6 XL. I went on to own a 1979 SD1 V8 (XHR 994T) in the mid 1980's which, despite having the same engine/gearbox combination, somehow paled in comparison.

Great video, takes me back to the 80's when I must have had 4 of these over a number of years including 3500s 4cspeed manual

I'm a fan of your vids for quite a while now (started with your vid of the SAAB 9-5 - in which you managed to sell me my own car once more!) - but this one really stands out even by your high standards: enthusiastic, knowledgeable and with a great sense of humor. Makes me want one - but I live in Germany where spares are hard to come by and where hardly any mechanic knows these cars well enough...

From one of the Rover books, the Buick V8 engine seen by the MD of Rover, was one fitted in the the Buick manager's boat on a trip he gave around a lake. The engine had an aluminium block with steel cylinder liners, which made it too expensive for an ordinary car and had become under-powered for the US market, and had already been discontinued.

I had one of these in 1974. You could stamp on the brakes while negotiating a bend, the handling at speed was phenomenal. Also the Borg Warner auto box has that useful feature of locking in 2nd gear on a slope so the car doesn’t roll back. I wish I still had it!

Hi Matt, brilliant drive on this awesome Rover P6B V8,my uncle had back in the day,dark blue with the spare wheel on the boot.nice mileage as this is running in.a very tidy example still on the road.

I had the earlier (1969 reg.) version in the mid 70s until 1982 - 7 years and 223,000 miles above the initial 47,000 when it was bought. It had the high compression V8 that used 100 octane, but as this was phased out, I partially compensated by altering the timing. I must have been mad, I refurbished everything, bodywork, Borg Warner gearbox, bushings, entire brake system, differential and half shaft assemblys, etc. I fitted an American 'Piranha' electronic ignition and with the SU carburettors tuned I could get nearly 28mpg on a long run. I found British Leyland 'Unipart' hopeless beyond belief and it became too much to maintain so I eventually gave it to a friend who rebuilt the engine and other things and ran it for a further 160,000 miles before scrapping it. Wonderful throbbing noise from the engine!! Wonderful, relaxing driving!!

Wow, that was fun, almost like I was riding along with you. Now I want to own a P6 3500 even more.

It's amazing when you consider it first appeared on the roads in 1964 and yet here you are with one of the last ones made and 11/12 years on it still looked quite modern in 75/76. The first SD1's Appeared on P plates

Fantastic review, stunning car is the Rover P6 so much so I would love to own one. Your enthusiasm shows through on this video, knowledge of the P6 and I get why you like them and this was a fantastic extended test drive.

The P6B was second only to the Jaguar XJ6 back in the 70's in terms of desirability and overall performance. The P6 is a superb, innovative design in so many areas- base unit skeleton, unstressed bolt on panels. Very clever suspension intended to match the pneumatic suspension used by Citreon- without the complexity. Fantastic instrumentation and ergonomics- all the switches are well positioned and easy to identify- especially with the superb illumination at night. The ride quality is superlative- sybaritic. The P6B is a beautiful car to drive, effortless shove from the lazy V8, that wonderful burble, excellent brakes, good road manners. Re the tendency to roll in corners- UPRATE the roll bar! It makes a HUGE difference! I've owned a P6 3500 for the last 5 years, I use it mostly on touring holidays and I adore it! My father owned a tobacco brown 3500S back in the later 70's, which is why I am an ardent fan. Brilliant review- very comprehensive and your knowledge is superb! Very well done on a great review! :)

Most of my life i haven't had a favourite anything, but if really pressed to point to _the_ car for me, it's a mk2 autobox P6 V8. Think i'd look into throwing a newer gearbox in it, i've seen several different takes on a conversion making the car more usable, but man.. This car does it for me in a big way. Good to see it on this channel :)

My very first car was the 1968 2000 TC (twin carbs). I also owned two 3500 auto models, followed by a 2200 TC. A couple of things you never mentioned about these wonderful cars. The early models had their side mirrors mounted forward on the front wings. If you opened all four doors fully, then moved them back just past the check point and let them go, they would automatically swing closed quietly and gently without needing to be pushed. Proper engineering. Not even the Jaguars, Mercedes or Rolls Royce cars could do that!

I loved my time with one of these. The poor mans Jag. Sweet sound and loads of soul.

Another brilliant video and a beautiful old rover. Cant wait to get my own Rover (just a 75) back on the road this week to do my own wafting!! keep em comin! :)

Love these cars and that V8 muscle! Still a relative bargain to be had on some original cars too.

Have watched for the third time now. I simply love this P6B. Reminds me of my Dad's friend who showed us his fleet in the 80s. His daily was a yellow W123 280. Then his special cars were a 1975 P6 V8 in that Olive green colour, a gorgeous 1966 Silver Bentley T1 with a red interior and his favourite a Jensen Interceptor Coupe without the glass hatch and a 7.2 litre V8. Suppose these two made the P6B seem like an economy car at 15 to 17 mpg. The Bentley did 10 mpg and the Jensen did 8 mpg, it could, however touch 150 mph and cruise at 110 mph all day long, or an hour or so till the tank was dry. Oh just take me back to 1976 for a couple of days.

I'm so happy you did this P6 video. I had a 1969 P6 V8 many years ago and I'm just every bit as enthusiastic as you about this car! It's a combination of futurism, technology, ingenuity, comfort, performance, design and style that I never experienced again, and I've driven (sadly, not owned) more than 150 different cars so far. Love every single bolt of it. Even the seating position is so great, with the deep footwell that allows you to sit kind of upright, in a very natural manner. And I never experienced such comfortable seats again! And then, the P6 gives you that unique feeling that you've just found your perfect coat or other piece of garment, the perfect drink, the perfect flavor that matches your personal style. Well, at least I had that feeling! By the way, the Tesla 3 ranks very high on my car list as well. It's not a cocoon either, it's a very airy cabin, and it's a similar clean-sheet, revolutionary design as the P6 was in its day. It even has the big fixed glass roof that you also could get for the P6 back then. Just saying ... it's maybe the best we can get these days, even though much of that glorious indivdualism of the P6 ... of the 1960s ... is just gone ...

I consider myself to have been very lucky, back in the early 80s my first daily driver was a 1969 Silver Birch over Arden Green 3.5 P5B Coupe, followed by a 1973 3500s P6 manual in the Almond (beige/yellow, reg 'JOE 301L' with Tudor webasot folding roof (loved it), power steering, ET front headrests, rear headrests, rectangular lucas fog lights, touring boot spare wheel mount and Sundym tinted glass, lived that car, especially with the sunroof wide open, broke the 4 speed gearbox and had to replace it.

I remember the old bill using these motors and when you saw them driving at speed on the motorway, just the shape made them look like a road going missile.

Fab to see this - I inherited an identical one from a wonderful aunt when she died who had always liked fast noble cars - she learned to drive on her father's Rolls Royce Silver Ghost - X2 (the second car in the county - I'd love to know what that would cost nowadays) when she was only a young teenager (no driving licences, no petrol stations - she remembered the fuel came in tins from the chemist!) and it had only done about 5,000 miles and smelled like new when it was passed on to me, a young lieutenant working in Edinburgh Castle fifty miles south of the family home so happily commutable. What a fantastic feeling! When I was eventually posted to Germany it passed to a cousin as the insurance and fuel costs were more than my very young officer's pay! Very happy memories watching this - thank you for posting!

In N. America, they thought of the Buick 8 as a Baby 8, (With some Derision) but failed to see it's potential in a smaller frame.Now, highly sought after by collectors. Nice review.

My dad had one of the first sd1 in 76 amazing to think both available then as new cars

Great review Matt, lost count of how many P6 I've had or worked on over the years. The clear backplate on the later switchgear should have bulb illumination behind. It makes the white lettering and the translucent green knobs glow when the lights are on. Some early cars had black switch knobs and the auto transmission selector positions should light up green with a red arrow pointer too. The tunnel front is much narrower on the manual 3500S, the front door pull allows you to work the handle as you push it open. Early 3500 auto's had the ribbon speedo, and an optional rev counter on the end beside the clock. There should also be a small white twist knob on the steering cowl. It's a vacuum control for the variable intermittent wiper speed. It often doesn't work, simply due to a perished rubber round diaphragm in the valve mounted on the wiper motor, a split pipe on the system, or the twist switch. The wiper vacuum works off the engine vacuum and so it cam be a mystery cause of erratic engine running.

I had a P6 2000TC 1983 till 86, lovely car to drive here in NZ. I had a horrendous crash in it when a car pulled out across the main road on me, other car went airborne, and I took out a power pole, BUT I waked away with a slight bruise from the steering wheel. The chief fire officer came to the scene and told me that he drove one also as people survived big crashes in them! The engine incidentally dislodged under the car as it was designed to. This car saved my life, as it was designed too! I bought another body shell and rebuilt the car my self, then sold it for a song as we were moving to the South Island. One of three cars I never should have sold, the P6, a Vitesse and a TR4a!

This one has the look of a fully restored car but what a beauty! I recall that my first boss had a 2200 SC in that Almond colour that was so remarkably popular on these - proper middle management transport back in the day before BMW and Audi took over. Speaking of colours not so long ago white was widely considered to be unappealing on a car - but not anymore and it certainly suites this P6 I think. If it was mine I'd take advantage of that detachable rook panel and swap it for one with a Webasto sunroof if I could find one - I've seen it done before and what a nice addition it makes.

Hi Matt, hope you are well. What an awesome car and one of my favourites. I have fond memories of my '66 2000sc, light blue/black leather bucket seats. I was always taken with the dinky gear lever, perfectly designed. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and keep up the good work.

I had the pleasure of owning '74 P6 V8 auto from 2011 until 2016, it was a brilliant car, everybody loved it and would always want to chat about it, it was the popular almond yellow, I was very proud of it , Lucas square 8's, full vinyl roof, sun dym glass, PAS, spare-on-the-boot lid kit, originally a 'Denovo' car. Was very reliable and easy to service, only thing was I thought there was a lot of road noise transmitted into the interior through the bulkhead mounted front springs. Sold it and bought a series 3 XJ6....I wish I had just kept my P6, it was the much better car.

Rover did manage to sell their gas turbine engines...to Avro. They were built into Vulcan bombers as the APU in the tail

5 Star King of all kings .

Ive loved listening to you pour superlatives all over the legend that is the P6. I own a 68 TC and a very early 64 and adore these cars. Whilst Im a series 1 boy I've always loved the later V8s towards the end of production as there were so many goodies on them. Thank you for showing the world and its dog just how amazing these cars are even by todays standards.

Dad had 2, it was the first car I ever drove. He loved to put his foot down in it. Takes me back..

Love these. I have been watching your channel since just before the start of Lockdown 1 (before I got a KZfaq account) and it is one of my favourites. Thanks for all the great content :)

Absolutely brilliant! This video has made my weekend- Many Thanks Matt

My mum had a friend who owned a 3500S I drooled over as a youngster (the car,not the friend!). Red with black vinyl roof and that spare wheel on the boot. Gorgeous!

Love the P6. My first at 18 was a 1975 2000SC after that I had 3 x 3500 Autos up to my 20th birthday, then unfortunately went sensible and bought new BMWs in the 90s Went to many breakers to get parts. Joined the P6 Rover owners club for a couple of years meeting up at the Ruislip pub. I will always be very fond of the P6. Now in my 50s, I am interested in this car but saw the price tag which is worth it in many ways but a little too much to commit to. Great video mate. Loads of fantastic nostalgia and info.

The “original” was built for a TURBINE but Rover pivoted to the Buick 215 aluminum V8 which is still a staple of the Rover stable. It was the later version with the egg crate grill that look off. No matter Ive had 5 1 SC 2 TCs and 2 3 500s amazing engineering with the De Deione rear with inboard discs.

My Dad Always lusted for a Rover..! He Drove an A30 then a Mini, Herald, Finally an Alegro..!! My Uncle Den Drove a Rover. And even as a Kid the Luxury was Bloody Obvious. I Drove Minis and loved them..! But great Video..! Cheers kim in Oz..! 😎

I can certainly understand your enthusiasm in this video.. we had a gorgeous Davos white P6 2000 as the family car, way back in the 70s, then both me & my brother went on to buy our own ones. One of the nicest cars I've ever been in and certainly the best engineered. So many happy memories seeing this.

I owned a 1974 V8 and kept it for 13 years. A dream of a car. Wish I had it now.

Whoa. Confirmation that I can't deal with right-hand drive. I was bracing for a smash the entire drive

I had two of these, an early 1968 and a 1973 series 2. The earlier car had the more powerful 176bhp engine so, with a pal I swapped one into the other. Happy days. Less happy was when I crashed it - into another P6 - your comments around 10:30 about it being safe are quite true. The other car, a P6 (2000) came out of a side road and his front offside corner hit me right in the front centre of the car. Apart from whiplash and a bent steering wheel I was fine, though the car was not - a nice crease in the front crossmember, scrap bonnet and much work lay ahead. Eventually I pulled the bent front out and with some replacement parts it was back on the road. Stuff of legends. Even fitted a very early digital fuel computer to it which showed 18-20 mpg. Nearly forgot - it still ranks as having the best instrument cluster ever.

Matt, found your channel totally by accident, and I am delighted I did. You really know your stuff, and I can hear the enthusiasm. I'm waiting for my '69 Series 1 P6 V8 to come back with new rims, tyres, exhaust and front brake calliper service. I cannot wait to get behind the wheel as it's been laid up for a while! I've had mine for 16 years, and back then they were somewhat unloved, now... they are finally getting the plaudits they always deserved. That one you have there is a gem. Keep up the great work, liked and subbed.

We used these as Traffic Cars in the 70's. The workshops could swap the gearboxes (manual) in around 2 hours (because they, so I was told) were from the 2ltr and couldn't handle the hammering we gave them. We ran them on Denovo runflats. Fastest one ( calibrated speedo) we had could reach 148mph!! Lovely car to drive but a bit cramped. (Preferred the Consul 3000 GT, more room and a smoother ride)

The best rover car ever built,Love them there is one at the bottom of our street V8 Manual a old guy owners it,he has had it from new It’s in British Racing Green with mililight wheels

Such a fabulous car and not that far behind the Citroen DS for forward thinking and engineering excellence. This was the E-Class of it’s day for sure. That V8 really is the proper heart for this motor.. great review Matt, love the enthusiasm too.

My dad had a v8s. I was driving it about at 18 yrs old. Fabulous car. Changed the standard Dunlop tyres fit Pirelli CN36 ‘s. What a difference

Bought a P6B 3500S in 1979 when it was 6 years old, and loved the V8. Although it stuck to the road well, the roll angles were laughable. And even at 6 years old it was a rust-bucket! Most notably one of the upper mounts for the rear suspension had pulled out of the inner wing. On looking a bit harder I found out the mount on the other side had already been welded back in.

Years ago we had the V l P version in Platinum metalic, but we did'nt know it was a special edition until when we came back to the car with a note under the wipers telling us that .