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Rover P4
The P4, which isn’t so commonplace at car shows nowadays sadly, was made from 1949 until 1964.
One of the key men behind the car was Gordon Bashford and if that name sounds familiar, its because he put his magic into many cars including the P6, the SD1 and the Range Rover.
He’d joined Rover as an apprentice in the 30s aged 14 and didn’t retire until the 80s - which means he understood Rover more deeply than most.
Rover, in the UK market at least, were competing with brands like Humber, Riley and Wolseley and was one of their first cars after the Second World War, with the Rover P3 being the first of the new Rovers after the war.
The car, first known as the P4 75, was Rover’s first really fresh design - the P3 had been very much one of the cars, similar to many other manufacturers immediate post war, which had leaned on old tech from the 30s. The 75 by the way is a nod to the 75 bhp the car delivered.
The P4 also brought something else to the table - a bit of American influence. If you look at a late 40s Studebaker and then you look back at an early P4, the influence is there quite plainly.
In fact, Rover had purchased a 47 model specifically to pull apart and created a hybrid Rover-Studebaker beast which lead to the creation of the P4 prototype chassis.
Now I know somebody will ask about the central fog light in the middle of the grille not being there - it’s not been removed on this car - it’s simply a design feature which was removed in the 1952 refresh.
Rover were keen to keep their new design looking fresh and after launch in 49, they made revisions in 1952 and then in 53, the Rover 60 came to market and this added a 4 cylinder engine to the line up.
At this point, you also get the Rover 90 which is fitted with a 2.6 litre engine producing 90bhp - the early freewheel feature is dropped and there are better brakes plus numerous other tweaks and upgrades.
Changes keep coming and in 1956, Rover bring in the 105 - available as the R, S or simply 105. This gives 108bhp and an eye watering for the time top speed of around 94mph.
Changes and additions keep coming and you go through the Rover 80, the 100 and finally in 1962 it’s the final cars in the P4 legacy which run from 62 to 64: the 95 and 110.
The 110 as were’ testing here today was fitted with the 2,625cc 6 cylinder engine, 123bhp and achieved a top speed of 100 miles per hour, with 0-60 in 15.9 seconds.
It offered the Rover P4 fanatic the best of everything and even offered, which was quite extensive for the time, 10 single colour choices for the car or for a wee bit extra, 10 2 tone colour choices.
But no matter what colour choice, that laminated screen for a bit of extra safety was an additional cost.
The car ceased production in 1964 and was replaced by the Rober 2000, sometimes called the P6 - which had come out in 1963.