PROJECT ROVER 95

Last summer, I decided that we needed to add a project car to our roster which was older than the current crop. I also thought that something a little more upmarket would also vary the mix after the end of our Bentley Turbo R project – I may be happy driving something small and basic like the Fiat Panda, but I realise that is not to all tastes and we do try to cater to everybody. That started out as a fairly vague list of requirements which left the field of possible candidates wide open, but wanting reasonable spares support too and a purchase price of under £5000 narrowed the options down quite a bit.

This narrowing down of the options was no bad thing, as it did help focus our browsing. My initial thoughts were that maybe a Rover P5 would fit the bill – my parents had a 3-litre saloon in the 1970s, and I can still remember being too small to reach the pedals but sitting on dad’s lap to steer it around Reepham Heath near Norwich. (I can also remember being very jealous when my brother Paul had his turn and used the indicators – I hadn’t thought of doing that!) However, another vivid memory is of dad complaining about