ROVER P6
The Rover P6 was manufactured between 1963 and 1977 and is one of the British motor industry’s great success stories. The family-sized saloon was unveiled at the 1963 Earls Court Motor Show with a price tag of £1264 and was powered by a 91bhp, 1978cc, overhead camshaft, four-cylinder petrol engine driving the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gearbox (an auto option arrived in 1966). There were servo-assisted disc brakes all round (inboard at the rear) and a modern suspension system employing a De Dion setup at the rear and horizontally mounted coil springs at the front. Not surprisingly, the P6 was acclaimed as the European Car of the Year in 1964.
The two-litre engine was equipped with twin two-inch SU carbs (called the 2000TC instead of the 2000SC with its 1¾in single SU carb) in 1966 to please performance critics who thought 91bhp wasn’t enough – Motor magazine had tested a 2000SC in 1963 and measured 14.6 seconds for 0-60mph and a top speed of 104mph, whereas the 2000TC later recorded 11 seconds for the 0-60mph dash and a top speed of 110mph.
A far bigger performance improvement arrived in 1968 when the P6 could be bought with a 144bhp, 3528cc Rover V8 engine under the bonnet. This was only available with a three-speed Borg Warner automatic gearbox until 1971, when the 3500S was launched with a four-speed manual ‘box (and a vinyl roof). Power output was eventually increased to 161bhp, resulting in a sub-ten seconds 0-60mph time.
The P6 was facelifted in 1970 (known by many as the Series II) with a black honeycomb front grille, round instruments across the dashboard (although an oblong-shaped speedo was still fitted to the single carb and auto four-cylinder engine models) and a vinyl covering down the external C-pillars.
In 1973, the entry-level two-litre engine was replaced with a larger 2205cc four-pot, which included single- and twin-carb models (SC and TC).
On 30th June 1976, the Rover SD1 was launched, which made the P6 look dated and ready for retirement, but manufacturing continued until the following year because the SD1 was only available initially with a V8 engine. Approximately 327,000 P6s were built
