1961 Rover P4
1961 Rover P4, condition not perfect but very good, period purple-on-grey coachwork and red leather interior.
The classic 1950s/60s look for the bank manager, senior policeman or company executive etc.
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Rover P4s History.
The first of the Rover P4 range was the “75”, which appeared in 1949 (and was nicknamed the “Cyclops” because for the first 3 years it had a third headlamp in the middle of the radiator grille). From then through to 1964 the range included the “60”, “80”, “90”, “95”, “100”, “105” and “110”, and together they totalled 130,342 cars.
The “60” and “80” had 4-cylinder engines, all the others were 6-cylinder.
A common nickname for the range is “Aunty”, a friendly term which came into use when the cars were new. It acknowledged the P4 as a dignified and respectable car with a quiet, warm and comfortable interior - rather like aunty’s drawing room, a dashboard like her mantelpiece (complete with ticking clock in the centre), and bodywork hanging well down all around, like aunty’s skirts, so that you didn’t see any of the underpinnings - springs, axles, exhausts etc - that were visible on many of the more “flighty” saloon cars of the day.
The Rover 80
The “80” had a short run, from 1960-62, and in all just 5,900 were built. The straight-four engine, with 2,286cc / 139.5 cu. inch, was derived from a 2.25 litre engine that Rover was putting in the Land Rover range at that time. It offered 77 bhp, to pull a car weighing around a ton and a half, so the 86mph top speed doesn’t seem unreasonable!
Drive is to the rear wheels through a 4-speed gearbox, with an overdrive on 4th that gives 70 mph for just 3,000 rpm.
This one
...was first registered on 12 January 1961 and DVLA has given me some of its life story. It was originally grey all over and with the licence plate 19 KCV (a Cornish registration number), but it was “grey and purple” by 1976 and the plate was changed to NAS 456 in 2003.
I believe that its first owner, who had it until 1982, may have been the inventor of the “Chobham armour” which protects the Challenger tanks, but I have not yet been able to confirm this.
It was off the road for twenty years, from 1982 until 2002. This and the general condition of the engine and interior suggest that the 50,000 miles now showing on the clock is almost certainly its actual mileage since new.
I became the 8th owner in May 2010.
Refurbished dashboard. Rear doors are suicide.
The car is based in Reading and can be supplied with driver.
Costings: Please contact TVTS.
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