The U.K Prime Ministers Car.......Is It BULLET PROOF?

[@Sir-Bobby-Brown]

I bet you never thought you would be entering Thatchers back door. haha

[@Guybadicle]

Only in your dreams sir 🙀

[@richardclarke376]

woof woof!

[@david-hf3dk]

Jesus , I have just eaten 🤮.

[@patrickjolly6672]

This car 77-78 had a sunroof as the windows could not be opened due to ballistic proofing and the a/c could not deal with hot weather. The front windscreen was Rover with a flat thick laminated piece of glass fitted across the dashboard to roof and sides. This compromised the original steering wheel which was replaced with a tiny one. This in turn had issues when turning due to overall increased vehicle weight.

[@DM-hp7ct]

@@patrickjolly6672 Thanks Patrick and very interesting. Did you have something to do with the P6? You know details which I haven’t seen elsewhere. Interesting re the a/c. Even at 1973 a few luxury cars had AC so it’s not great that the Met couldn’t find someone to sort it.

[@patrickjolly6672]

@ The thick bulletproof inner windscreen distorted your angled viewing, like looking sideways through a prism. I’m Ex Met and had occasion to be shown around car and speak with the driver.

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Looks like the spec they’d commonly throw about in “the Sweeney” Love these cars.

[@richardclarke376]

You buy a Rover P6 V8 today you will find it is an amazing good car to drive that has excellent all round visibility and can easily keep up with modern traffic . Not bad considering it's 50 years old.

[@skodakatie7341]

Very interesting, to see the actual car which was used to transport the most divisive, and iconic prime minister of the twentieth century❤.

[@gs188]

Engine sound test is a very welcome addition to this feature. Consider it as important as the criminal test on all cars with 5 or more cylinders!

[@chrisblay]

It must have been used for prior Prime Ministers as well, being a 1972 car. As Thatcher didn’t come to power until 1979.

[@CalliesFamily]

We had 2 of those back in the day in Hong Kong! First car we ever had with an air conditioner in too.... advanced for its time mid 70's. Loved them!

[@scruff520]

Love these old Police cars, good video Ben 😊

[@JulieanneKay]

I saw you at NEC last weekend, you walked past the stand I was working on. Me, to my friend: Oooh, I knows that fella, is he a member of our car club? Mmm, maybe a he trains at my gym? oooh, flip, its KZbin, the Police car bloke . . . My brain explodes trying to remember your name. 🤯 Eventually: It’s Ben, the Interceptor! By this time you are halfway down hall five, it might have been a bit undignified for me to yell at you to come and do some Intercepting on our stand LOL! Hope you enjoyed the Show 🙂

[@BenPearson1965]

Ha ha you should have said or stopped me buddy.

[@JulieanneKay]

@@BenPearson1965 next time I will yell!

[@johngrantham8024]

I love the ...I cannot tell you what was done to the engine, confidential and all that..... Like it matters now what they may have done to a museum relic! 😂😂

[@MadAntz970]

Standard V8, but would have been run on 5 star fuel still available when this P6 was new. Also police garages had a habit of setting these up to run rich, so that there were no issues with stalling etc. All up laden weight with the various additional equipment etc was ultimately dictated by tyre design, side wall strength & capability at the time

2 star to 5 star fuel... christ! Seems so long ago. Very rarely now you'll still see an old pump in the middle of nowhere with the remnants of those stickers.

[@muckle8]

And a price per gallon before the rip off litre crap became adopted .

[@david-hf3dk]

Would have thought the P5 would have been a better base car to convert as it was a lot stronger vehicle. I remember seeing them on the banger circuits and they would take out anything else and keep going.

[@wobblybobengland]

The Downing Street dragster?

[@user-zh9ye7or8m]

I owned a 1972 P6 V8 manual in white, very quick motor.

[@user-zh9ye7or8m]

Margaret thatcher and Harold Wilson used a P5B coupe.

[@muckle8]

And James Callaghan too. P5 legend!

[@user-zh9ye7or8m]

@ correct and it was well televised, I think special escort group Police used that P6, a very similar one came up for auction at Mathewson’s, close protection.

[@user-zh9ye7or8m]

@ The man who haunted himself is one of my favourites with Roger moore.

[@muckle8]

@User-zh9. Great film ! - Rover porn!

Thatcher definitely also used a P6B.

[@LewisMacdonaldMedia]

That's pretty special. Nicely done

[@michael-po1vb]

Good Video, but pointless not to give info out 50 years later, and not leave it in the condition it should be in.

[@andrewjones-productions]

Not really as much of the protection features are likely still used, even though they may be more developed and advanced. It is frustrating and I will admit that the question crossed my mind, but anything that may be a hint or a clue to what is currently being used is enough for the police to deem that to be too much information.

[@michael-po1vb]

@@andrewjones-productions thanks for the reply. I did know people that worked in the mechanics department of the police, and cars of this era had very little done to make them overly fast etc. The p6 did have front splitters fitted each side under the bumper. Just a shame to basically refit the car to almost original.

[@liverush24]

A bloke by me has one in this same colour.

[@dav01kar]

The iron lady had a P5 not a P6

This was an official royal and ministerial security detail car and WAS on occasion used to also ferry Margaret Thatcher around.

[@MarkGarth]

Amazing tech for its day. Noticeable how much smaller cars were 👍

[@johnnunn8688]

Love those Rovers.

[@nw8000]

That was magic that was!

[@Peter70539]

Surely this was in use before Mrs Thatcher entered office?

[@lawrenceholden5716]

Brakes must have needed upgrading with all that extra weight and if rapid evasive action was needed it would have to rapidly decelerate to take corners as well as rapidly accelerate, I wonder if the gears were adjusted to get better acceleration from that situation.

[@01cthompson]

Could that radio been used to jam remote controlled explosives?

[@ambulancekidd]

Great to find you on KZbin,great show, instantly clicked Subscribe.

[@DM-hp7ct]

Thanks Ben. Does anyone know why the armouring was removed?

[@Luton-Mick]

Probably for logistical reasons, not the easiest car to move around and likely very close their workshop lift swl. Elf n safety mate.

[@gnosticbrian3980]

Power / Weight ration determines acceleration; the top speed is determined by the cube root of the horse power.

[@fatwalletboy2]

Not the gearing or final drive?

[@gnosticbrian3980]

@@fatwalletboy2 For a given vehicle configurtion, to halve the [say] zero to 100kph figure, one needs double the horsepower or half the weight. Again, for a given vehicle configuration, to double the top speed requires eight times the horsepower [two cubed] Of course this assumes the gearing will permit the engine to reach its performance optimum and that the power train can handle the increase.

​@@gnosticbrian3980 Gearing is a HUGE factor where acceleration is concerned as is grip.

[@gnosticbrian3980]

If the gearing / grip remain the same then it is the power / weight that affects the acceleration. F1 cars have the same tyres / gearboxes / weight limit - and they look for ever watt of power that they can gain over a rival.

[@user-zh9ye7or8m]

PRIMEMINISTER.. how does the Special constable have all that info about the P6

[@tylerhamilton-nz8qs]

It may be a tad heavier with the armour plating but it will still do more way than 60 mph lmao more like 100 mph! Standard p6 v8s did about 122mph

[@gs188]

Quite likely. My Land Rover 109 V8 (low compression) weights around 2 t and is shaped like a brick with a roofrack but will do 70 mph quite easily uphill. The high compression engine in a car, even with a sloppy auto should do a fair bit better I'd imagine with equal ballast. That said with the extra mass, they probably wouldn't want to tip it into a corner over 60 mph so maybe he meant operational speed (you certainly need to remember than in the 109!). They may have also lowered the gearing a bit to aid acceleration at the expense of top speed as that would likely suit an armored car in an urban environment better.

[@muckle8]

175 bhp easy being a “72 reg early high compression motor.

[@muckle8]

Shame it’s not a 3500s manual.

[@garymills7494]

Claimed to have: 181 hp gross 158 hp (net) at 5,200 rpm on 5 star petrol. Realistically, a figure of 145hp would be accurate, about the same power as a modern Ford Mondeo 2.0l diesel.

[@muckle8]

@garymills7494 what would you rather ride in? These 3500 p6’s were kings back in the day if your as old as me and remember it! , particularly the 3500S manual , either the original 4 speed or the 5 speed swap from the SD1

[@muckle8]

100 mph in 3 rd and then snick into top ! , not much could keep up back then!

[@david-hf3dk]

​@@garymills7494Maybe but nothing like the torque.

[@User-wollswoycegawage]

The engine is standard then

Unlikely. This will be a high compression engine for starters and the police and ministerial versions usually had a hotter cam and would have had had rejetted carbs with uprated needles.

[@User-wollswoycegawage]

10.5.1

[@fatwalletboy2]

So, its got NOS then.......

[@thunderchild1uk]

Why can you explain equipment on a 50 year old car

[@damianleah6744]

I prefer the previous model. I don’t know why it just looks more classy. My Dad’s friend owed a sort of beige version of this one 😂

[@Simon-ui6db]

Always thought in the older rovers it was real wood, but yes its formica. Them carbs look stock from the outside, but maybe rejetted.

[@garymills7494]

Hi, Rover did use real wood up until around 2003 when I ran a cost down project to replace wood veneer with a series of photographs so two sequential cars would look to have slightly different wood trim.

[@nedkelly4999]

Very cool👌🏻