The Regal Rover - Rover P5

Hello all! :D
Another car I was quite eager to cover, the Rover P5 was perhaps the very pinnacle of the Rover company, the classic lines of this magnificent but modest machine, helping to compliment the innovative and prestigious marque that was once a staple of the British motor industry.
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated KZbinrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): [e-mail]
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
References:
AROnline (and their respective sources)
Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[@paulbroderick8438]

BL, a headstone for whoever touched it!

[@greghill7759]

I owned a '69 Coupe, (Silver Birch over Burnt Grey, with dark maroon leather) which I bought from a dealer for £800. The interior engineering details were wonderful. Rovers were called The Poor Man's Rolls Royce. Driving it allowed me a feeling of genuine smugness that no other car has ever given.

[@thunderhayes5151]

I once seen a P5 at Belle Vue motor show as a kid and the love affair began . I once seen an arcade owner who had his coupe modified into a convertible ,had the back doors sealed it was incredible ,pearl paint ,red leather interior and then the roof ???? WOW ! . He said it took months just for the roof and the problems it created to get it right . He would never get his money back for it but he said it was his dream car and he would never sell it . Beautiful looking car imo ,I've seen them all round the world and they look cool in any setting .

[@branon6565]

One of my favorite British manufactured vehicles, the Rover P5B is a beautiful car...I'd love to own a silver and maroon two tone....

[@martiniv8924]

We had 5 P5-P5B’s in the family in the late 60’s early 70’s , couple of Admiralty Blue, White, Maroon, and a Grey one, a Blue P5 that had been owned by a manager in Rover, he’d had all the cosmetics done to look like a P5B , Rostyles etc. great cars 👌🏻😎

[@freddieparrydrums]

Nice, my dad has an admiralty blue Saloon

[@darrensmith6999]

Beautiful Classic!!!! from when we had a home grown car industry not just an assembly facility for foreign companies .

[@markandson2202]

My favourite car

[@element271]

Damn wasn’t expecting this, I would love a P5B Coupe

[@AtheistOrphan]

So would I!

[@Martin_Adams184]

So would I!

[@stewartmcmanus3991]

Have you seen the prices. Between 10 and 30 thousand quid !!!

[@Martin_Adams184]

@@stewartmcmanus3991 Yeah!! I looked them up during this video. And some of those are in ace condition. Thanks.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

Very classy cars. Just being seen riding in one established your credentials.

[@michaelstaley2241]

Excellent documentary…

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?

[@leoroverman4541]

Again, a lovely glossing over of the fact that the Jaguar XJ 6 swallowed so much of the BL resources. I have a mkIII with the Weslake makeover that came in with the mark II giving the IoE engine some 134 BHP has been overlooked. The Buick was to be tried in the P5 chassis for the P6 as a test bed. It was never meant to go into production because the car was approaching 10 years old. P4 was also dropped in 64 so that '63 saw P4, P5 and P6 all in production. P5B came off the lines first in the summer of 66 after the works shutdown. Jaguar didn't have the XJ version ready so P5B was shoe horned into the gap. Incidentally the Leyland board was geared towards Jaguar.

[@LewisCollard]

Well, I was watching a video to find out more about the car I just bought (my P5 is being delivered tomorrow) and find a photo I took of my family's yellow-rocker-covered Rover V8 at 6:13! Nice to see photos I took all those years ago being used in ways I didn't expect and didn't expect to encounter. Great video, thank you!

[@chriskappert1365]

Altough I am very fond of my 75 Connoseur , this is THE Rover for me ! By far the most beautiful car they ever built , just that instrument binnacle and that steeringwheel with chroom Ring gives me the goosebumps . Let alone the outrageous seating and beautiful dash . And that radiatorgrill..........Audi eat your hart out ! Here in the Netherlands we have a specialist who restores these marvels and i want to wait for my pension in about 8 years , and buy one , so I have enough time to save the money .

[@applejuice5272]

The P5's successor (even more so in V8 guise), the 75 had pretty much the same dimensions but with a 5 star Euro NCAP rating with optional curtain airbags fitted or 4 stars otherwise

[@levelcrossing150]

A sad and unjustified ending by showing the SD1 which I think was a great looking car for the time and drove beautifully too. Don't forget that other top makes had their own problems too but we forget to mention them. I see the final pits was City Rover!

[@matty6848]

Yes the SD1 was a beautiful looking car but suffered due to crap build quality and poor engineering due to lack of funding. Technology wise they were way ahead of the market.

[@MrTheMiguelox]

@@matty6848 It may been ahead of the market in styling, but techology was lacking. It featured a rear live axle while most of the european competition had independent rear suspensions.

[@matty6848]

@@MrTheMiguelox oh yes it had some crap designs on it but I was always led to believe the P5 had technology for the time that way ahead of its competitors. I was told it was actually over engineered to many electrics which was it biggest downfall. Great irony really considering it was over engineering in WW2 with the Germans that led to their tanks, planes and guns to stop working in the harsh Russian winters on the eastern front.

[@kellypaws]

My dad's rotted into the atmosphere in about 6 years. An absolute crying shame. They were fabulous cars. A Rolls Royce for ordinary folk. Still, lasted a damn sight longer than an SD1...

[@Your.Uncle.AngMoh]

I love your research and attention to detail. When we went to live in New Zealand for a couple of years towards the end of the 1970s, my parents tossed up between a P6 and the vehicle we actually bought- a Lancia Beta 1800.

[@char_ytt]

Was the Lancia reliable? Sorry if it sounds dumb, I just really like cars.

[@Your.Uncle.AngMoh]

@@char_ytt Ours was fine, though ones in Britain, from memory, tended to rust out easily. The Stratos was a phemonenal rally car.

[@studiocalder818]

​@@Your.Uncle.AngMoh My girlfriend had an HPE in the nineties. We travelled up nd down with great pleasure. I'm currently looking for a good P5B

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Very good informative video. Thank you. All very sad and, like many others, I wonder what could have been if Rover had been free to continue without the shackles.

[@teleroylichtenstein]

The real Rover, beautiful car.

[@dmrowell1]

Thank you, love the broad range of topics - truly "trains, planes, and automobiles". Your wide-ranging commentary in this episode spilled into the P6 and SD-1 models. As a former owner of each, could I ask for separate treatments of both, particularly the P6 - my 3500S being probably the favorite of all cars I've driven/owned.

[@buggs9950]

I've always like the P5 coupé. But that pea green SD1 at the end is amazing!

[@mikeuk4130]

I think that colour was officially called Avocado, even though it was indeed a rich pea green shade, very similar to that used by Citröen on the DS. Best seen after a good wash and polish, though.

[@buggs9950]

@@mikeuk4130 I just went to have a look at my genuine 70's avocado toilet suite. Yep, perfect match. I wonder if that's why I like the SD1 in that colour? Hmm, this is troubling..

[@mikeuk4130]

@@buggs9950 To a British estate agent, the avocado suite is a standing joke. I have one too, and I'm going to decorate the downstairs loo to suit its colour. We will be proved right! Rover also did a special very limited edition SD1 called (I think) the V8-S, which was finished in a stunning metallic green and had lovely gold-painted alloys amongst other things.

[@buggs9950]

@@mikeuk4130 I was going to put some mustard yellow vinyl floor down in mine but the missus vetoed that one, probably for the best in hindsight.. Triton green I think is the colour of the S, good but Avocado wins for me. I've got an HC Viva in need of, well everything, and I think Avocado is the only colour for it.

[@mikeuk4130]

@@buggs9950 Go for it! I learnt to drive in an HC Viva OGY853K.

[@mattw8332]

Very interesting! Always had a soft spot for the P5B coupe. Thank Heavens for the Buick 215 engine.

[@notroll1279]

In the 1970s, being elected "Car of the Year" was a foreshadowing of desaster...

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Inspector George Gently always drove a Rover! Great documentary on a trademark British car, thank you.

[@gerritliskow2399]

A great summary & analysis of Rover's abundant woes, many thanks. I'd eagerly await similar on the P6, another fabulous car (in case you'd run out of ideas...).

[@nickybritain4900]

I had the later V8 engined automatic model, 1968 I think it was. Awesome acceleration, would tow anything along the motorway at 70 mph! That engine was fitted to the Morgan Plus 8 too.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

When Rover built proper cars and wasn't just a respected name stuck on any old crap to pass it off as worth owning. Funny story: A friend's uncle owned a P5 back in the early 70's. He drove into the local and rather "exclusive" (read: *expensive* ) dealership to fill up with petrol because he wanted to go photograph sunrise in a remote location the next morning and needed to set off early. The young man on the pumps asked "Shall I put it on your account?" (Anyone driving a P5 *obviously* had an account) so he said "Yes". Result ? A free tank of petrol because he didn't actually have an account ! 😁

[@chrisoddy8744]

Lovely video! Since you referenced the Class 59 in the Class 56 video, maybe a Class 59/66 video next for the full story of the most ubiquitous locomotive in UK rail history?

[@Martin_Adams184]

An excellent piece of documentary work. Thank you! I remember these cars very well; and as I've said elsewhere on this page, I always fancied having one of the coupé models. But that was well beyond my pocket. So a twelve-year-old Austin Cambridge it had to be!

[@AtheistOrphan]

Always remembered as the car with the big rear number plate! (I guess they had to be made especially).

[@dhdove]

P6 also had oversized plates, it breaks my heart to see standard sizes on them. Manufacturers eg Serck Services kept the blanks on the shelf, you just had to tell them.

[@cachebangwallop3482]

...and a feature referred to in the retro styling of the much later Rover 75.

[@alanolley7286]

@@cachebangwallop3482 of which i have two a saloon and an estate

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Always enjoy your videos, thanks very much!

[@sunsetlights100]

Used to tow a horse float back 1970s with a river p5b excellent tow wagon

[@petersmith4455]

hi there, my friends dad had one of these cars in 1968,we used to go out in it, really great ! its a pity tradditional l/rovers are not made anymore which you can work on, but the company is now run by clowns from chipperfields circus who do not listen to what we want, great video and good memories as a teenager back then

[@Vince_uk]

Good video, always loved these cars especially the Coupe. I have owned 2 two P6's. a 2000 and a V8 3500 which was an amazing car .

[@vulgivagu]

P5 was an extraordinary car. I used to travel from London to Newcastle at 100mph, although not legal in the 1960's you could get away with it ! It had a lovely Fairey overdrive that was switch operated. All the door panels were aluminium but not the rear wing which always rusted. Serious fault with the engine was the cylinder head. The block was cast iron but the head was aluminium. Had to have several head gaskets replaced due to corrosion because of this. What is amazing is that the mpg at 70mph in overdrive was 28mpg but the 2019 Jaguar XJ official figures for the 3 ltr engine is almost the same mpg.

[@alanolley7286]

I have a fairey overdrive on my 2 door Range Rover

[@kevinbarry71]

So many problems with the British motor industry during this time. Just the fact that an engine General Motors was throwing away turned into the single most successful engine of the whole industry says all you need to know

[@obelic71]

To manny people with no experience in the automotive field running an industry. The Industry was choked by managers and unions slowly to death. The result were bad customers experiences of unreliable British cars. And then came the Japenese with their cheap reliable cars! The result. Landrover and Jaguar are now a part ot Tata. Vauxhall is now a part of Stellatlantis.(PSA+FCA) All other volume producing UK car brands have vanished. Only the exotics and handcrafted low volume quality brands remain. And no executive of BL was hanged!

[@redram5150]

@@obelic71 Japanese cars were more reliable than British cars, but they weren’t very reliable in general... not like people tend to remember with their rose colored glasses. My dad left a Buick dealership to work at Honda in 1980. He would tell me that their reliability wasn’t fantastic, but their warranty department was top notch. It didn’t matter what you were there for... if you came in for an oil change and they saw rust on a fender... they were good for rusting from the inside out... before that car left the shop it had a new fender. They had dozens in every color they carried. And the customer wasn’t told what they were doing. It was installed quickly and quietly. That’s how the Japanese got their reputation of unbreakability

[@obelic71]

@@redram5150 Correct the first Japenese cars did rust like every other carbrand at that time. They were wel put togheter and the customer service was good. Outside the UK the BL dealers were euhh very very very bad. Bad service expensive parts etc. etc. Still remember my Aunt as a kid who bought a Brandnew Allegro with here hard saved savings at the local BL dealer in town That car was a nightmare straith from the showroomfloor She couldn't pay the BL dealers bills anymore and had to sell the car at a big los. It took years for here to buy another car again due to the painfull experience. And yes that dealer went out of bussines. No other carbrand wanted to use former BL dealers. Landrover and Jaguar specialist garages started by owners who could repair and modify the cars way better then the official dealers. They survived and expanded after the BL disaster. Secret repairs and upgrades are now normal. If your car is in service with a dealer they change parts before there is an official recall. To end the Britisch car saga with an up note. Old Landrovers Rovers, Jaguars MG's, Morris Minors and retired London cabs keep running and running and running and are still loved by their owners all over Europe.

[@StaffordMagnus]

Rather surprising when you think about it, afterall the brits were responsible for arguably the most important and successful aero engine of WWII, the mighty Rolls Royce Merlin.

[@kevinbarry71]

@@redram5150 that is true, in the beginning Japanese cars were not very reliable. The difference is they learn quickly and they became reliable. This did not happen with the British Industry

[@maxant4285]

R.I.P. Rover. 😔

[@alanolley7286]

should never have happened ,a catalogue of stupidity, ignorance ,greed and government interference.

[@bucko321]

Interesting video with addition of 2021 project and car cost compared to the cost back in the day.

[@wearetomorrowspast.5617]

When I was in primary school, the head teacher ( Mr Hughes) had a P4. What a beautiful machine.

[@steves4639]

the 215 was never in the large cars, like the Wildcat shown in the vid. it was exclusive to the Buick Special/Skylark and Olds F85/Cutlass, which were the new 'compact' GM cars. The senior Buicks and Olds' continued with the 401 and 394 big block V8's, respectively. The Buick engine shown in the vid is actually a 401 nailhead. with US low speed mph limits, cheap fuel, and American taste for large cars, the small alloy V8 didn't make much sense. My dad had a '61 F85 with the engine, and it did not tolerate overheating like the iron V8's did...at least 1 head warped during the time we had it. After 1963, the cars that these engines were installed in grew quite a bit, and eventually had the same power plants as the large cars. That was end of aluminum engines for the US (except for a few hipo models) until really the Vega...another story.

[@johnd8892]

In 1965 Jack Brabham and the Australian Repco company purchased a few dozen of the Oldsmobile version as basis for the Repco Brabham F1 championship car. With a reduction to three litres and local improvement with an overhead cam and dry sump, the car was good enough to win the F1 world championship in 1966, and 1967. Beat the Ferrari, BRM, Ford, Maserati, Honda and other exotic powered cars two years running. A sixteen cylinder BRM no match for the Repco Brabham based on an Olds engine.

[@tomanderson6335]

The 215 was also an option in the Pontiac Tempest/Le Mans in 1962 as an upgrade over the 194.5 c.i. "Trophy 4" which, as the math suggests, was little more than the 389 c.i. V8 from the full size Pontiacs with the left bank of cylinders omitted. (The small Pontiacs dumped the 215 for '63 in favor of a new 326 c.i. variant of the division's iron V8.)

[@tgmccoy1556]

Vega victim here. As usual GM used the buyer as product development..

[@nestorbrasesco4601]

Great vídeos regards from so far away the south .in Uruguay

[@burgerdentone16]

Muy preciso con detalles. hay mucha info de clasicos en youtube 👍

[@johnstonewall917]

Happy memories of driving a P5 with automatic gearbox. 13 mpg if that but lovely car.

[@405liner]

I got 22 mpg from mine (non-urban use).

[@rj13198]

I thought I recognised the SD1 from somewhere... "It's come back to Longbridge, it's on strike!"

[@375-Gaming]

That was a bloody good episode

[@davidjgomm]

@@375-Gaming Of what?

[@375-Productions]

@@davidjgomm top gear

[@BMPellogia]

I'm watching an amazing restoration of a P5 at the KZbin channel cold war motors ,cool to know the history of the car!

[@peterhaan9068]

Hear hear! Not for the Karen's and Ken's of the PC world, that's for sure!

[@BuddyClubP1]

Great video, could you perhaps consider making a video about the Class 300 family (312, 315, 317, 319, 321, 325?)

[@dieselpower7075]

Could you do a video of the classic British rail pacers? These are loved or hated by the UK but they where back bone of British railways for over 30 years

[@rosiefay7283]

Well, they were a stopgap and weren't meant to be in use that long.

[@marvwatkins7029]

Way to go, Leyland.

[@paul1153]

An enjoyable video.Thankyou.

[@alancarter8396]

Great presentation.

[@wozit1]

I picked up on joke 9.53 Layland cars "Great cars and a great deal more" :-)

[@willgeary6086]

Such a shame there isn't many in the US would love to see one in person

[@waynefontaine5533]

The P5B is one British manufactured vehicle I would love to own, only if have to swap out the Buick motor for a Ford powerplant (Garbage Motors products suck mansack)...the P5B, Jensen Interceptor, Triumph Stag & TR6, and Jaguar Mk II are all dream cars of mine.....

[@applejuice5272]

The 215 / 3.5-litre was extensively reworked by Rover for UK and European use and was powerful (135 kW (184 PS)), torquey (305 Nm) & reliable, unlike its 4.0- and 4.6-litre successors. In the end it put out 160 kW (218 PS) in EFI guise in the 3500 VITESSE Twin Plenum, whilst peak torque stayed the same as the P5B installation. A diesel variant was explored with Perkins of Peterborough - Project Iceberg - in response to the 1973 oil crisis, in both atmospheric and turbocharged formats. It was slated for use in the Range Rover, Rover 3800 SD Turbo (SD1), and Jaguar XJ (XJ40) - though Jaguar engineers deliberately designed the XJ40's engine bay so the Rover V8 wouldn't fit. This then required it to be reworked to swallow Jaguar's V12. Idiots. However: - internal cooling and cylinder head failure issues; - the need to use the same block casting as petrol variants (hello, related Oldsmobile Diesel horror show) so it could be built on the same production line to save costs; - financial and logistical problems when BL split Rover and Land Rover apart; - Land Rover subsequently taking over V8 production to its own, smaller capacity production line in Solihull; - BL pulling out of the venture in 1983; - BL stopping all technical support when Perkins tried to continue alone... ...killed the V8 diesel project. However, the crankshaft castings were later used for the 4.3-litre (4,275cc) V8 in the 1992 RR LSE. *3800 SD Turbo / Project Iceberg* Capacity: 3,822 cc Bore: 88.9 mm Stroke: 77.0 mm Power: 75 kW (102 PS) asp / 110 kW (150 PS) turbo

[@minislot1]

Good timing with the boot now being on the other foot and Jaguar having it's new XJ cancelled, nearly 50 years to the month since they had the same done to the P8.

[@minislot1]

@Ross Bourne The whole re-organisation has been triggered by their' owners TATA after falling sales and profits, so equally as disappointing for the people actually developing and working on the car's.

[@studebaker4217]

I had a memorable lift in this model once. We were pulled over by the police for using the third lane of a UK motorway with a trailer attached!

[@LolLol-xy4rh]

What really

[@rob5944]

It always amazes me that when British car makers had a good selling car they still wound up skint!

[@martdedub]

Another Top quality presentation, thank you. Would you do the Yamaha Tenere?

[@andysedgley]

Or if we're talking bikes, the Honda Goldwing?

[@LolLol-xy4rh]

Better than ever

[@niceviewoverthere4463]

This makes me sad. I bought an SD1 in 1988 - 9 years old. It was the best and the worst car I have ever had. The engine was great. Ride was excellent. Sounded fantastic - especially without the back silencer that everyone removed. But all the switches broke. The windows failed to move. The gauges broke. Everything electrical broke. Power steering pump broke. The headlining fell down. Terrible quality. Such a shame cos the designers had done well, the men who built them worked hard but the bean counters had sourced crappy cheap parts. Well, you can only do that once! Lamentable indeed.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

The bean counters - the Engineer's enemy. Wrecking good concepts and the idea of quality production.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

I had the same experience with my Daewoo Espero. The best and the worst car I ever had.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

Blame Joe Lucas for the crappy electrics. The shame is that for an extra tuppence per thousand they could have used items ten times better than the ones they chose. The result was cars built down to a price instead of up to a standard, which was what people in that market expected. Moral of the story ? If you're going to build luxury cars then *build* *luxury* *cars* , not cheap ones with a high price tag.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

@@Kevin-mx1vi It wasn't whilly Lucas: they had to survive, and BL insisted on cheaper components if they were to be their suppliers. As with the P5, Lucas went from a quality manufacturer to being run by BL bullies and beancounters.

[@matty6848]

Yes it was a shame because the SD1 was a stunning car to look at and on their technology they were way ahead of the market, but crappy build quality and poor engineering due to lack of funding was its death sentence. Beautiful machine though and the V8s and even the 2600 are going for stupid money today.

[@brianfearn4246]

The man in the back ground at 5:14 bringing in the horse power.

[@burgerdentone16]

👍😁

[@barrydysert2974]

Excellent. 🖖

[@JakobKsGarage]

But it did take another 25 years after 1977 for Rover to die, and Land Rover is still very strong. Would love to add a P5B to my collection!

[@sarkybugger5009]

P5-B The last good looking Rover.

[@highdownmartin]

I had BJT133B a 3 litre coop with overdrive on the diff and Nostyle wheels. Down the A27 heading for Lewes on the way home,time after time,I'd gun it down the slope after falmer in fourth and flick the left stalk up to hit overdrive. It'd sink back 500 revs and breeze up to the ton. Probably the loveliest car I've ever had or am ever likely to have. 15 mpg 22 mpg on a run if you really tried. Pretty fast and very comfortable and smooth but also a very cool car to drive slowly. 2 tons of beautifully styled class. I'd could go on....... Rolls-Royce: the rich man's Rover Still in a Rover,daily drive 61LWB landy. My third Land Rover

[@21stcenturyozman20]

Coupé - a car with cut-down roof and/or wheelbase. Coop: somewhere for chickens to spend the night.

[@highdownmartin]

@@21stcenturyozman20 I get my milk at the Coop. I referred to the 3 litre coop I could have said 2,995cc coupe I wrote it like I say it. As in “remember the Coop ,huh?”

[@21stcenturyozman20]

@@highdownmartin Three different words, three different spellings, three different pronunciations. coop (koop) = chicken house co-op (ko-op) = short for co-operative coupé (koo-pay) = the car as previously described.

[@highdownmartin]

@@21stcenturyozman20 spare me the lecture mate. You never heard of a coopay being familiarised to coop? I now have a series Land Rover. Pronounced landee.

[@djcb4190]

I did on Rover P5 :)

[@bcfairlie1]

I adore the P5 coupe. Give me a two tone green one. 3 litre manual overdrive any day.

[@highdownmartin]

I had a 3 litre manual overdrive coop. Really lovely car. I'd have another if I could garage it!

[@ronaldderooij1774]

My father drove for a company that had loads of expensive cars for the CEO's. Among them a Rover P5B until 1972 (i was 9 then). Sorry to say, but I liked the XJ6 better. A matter of taste. My father liked Mercedes Benz better. Strangely enough I only liked the cheaper model (230.6). We agreed that the best driving was the Citroen DS 23 Pallas with intercom and separation window inside the car!

[@brianfearn4246]

Fabulous. Those suicide doors that open rearward

[@williamwaynflete6336]

David Bache: The pronunciation is "Bash", not "Back".

[@burningb2439]

The Coupe was to die for , great Vid .

[@AngelEditz123]

It's telling that the Americans discarded a lighter and more efficient engine, the Buick 3.5, because their steel industry lobbied for cast iron. All alloy in those days was cutting edge.

[@robertkimber822]

I worked for British Leyland/ Austin Rover from 1976 (starting as an apprentice) until 1992, when I managed to escape. The legacy of decades of chronic under-funding, abysmal management and it's adversarial attitude towards the work force, the well-meaning but ultimately wrong-headed intervention from UK governments of the 1950s and 1960s, all conspired to doom the industry. The spite and ignorance of Thatcher and her minions finished it off. If you want to see what should have been, witness the German leadership of Rolls Royce and Bentley, the Indian ownership of Land Rover/Jaguar and the clean-sheet rebirth of Triumph motorcycles. So much British engineering talent was frittered away by incompetents - we were lions led by donkeys. Am I angry? Damn right I am.

[@quentinschultz428]

my father had one in south africa but i imigrated to canada i wish i could have took it with me

[@krystlewhite7897]

Another once great industry that virtually died under state control. I wish people would learn from history and realise that, in the U.K., state control has never been a good solution for any industry.

[@TheHylianBatman]

I had no idea that Rover was anything beyond the Range Rover. What a shame.

[@johnd8892]

The Range Rover was a late comer from the seventies. Land Rover jeep like from 1949. Rovers started around 1900 or so.

[@applejuice5272]

Donald Stokes and William Lyons have a lot to answer for

[@Mark_Ocain]

Like most British-built cars of the age, even of this calibre, you needed to buy two so that one could be repaired while you drove the other LOL.

[@aubs400]

If Leyland hadn't merged to form BL, Rover might well be around today as the forward-thinking, British BMW it once was.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

SO SAD BEAUTIFUL CARS , EVERY TIME I SEE A LAND ROVER I THINK I WANT ONE THEN I THINK USE YOU HEAD GET A LANDCRUISER!!

[@robbybobbyhobbies]

Why'd they always drive so quickly in 50s/60s car promotional videos? Those bales were itching to disembark all over the cameraman. Also, a P6, in nappy-contents brown, was my great-grandad's final car. He was still terrorising fellow motorists in Lincolnshire in his 100th year. Very slowly.

[@pooddescrewch8718]

I wonder if you could retrofit a more powerful engine into a less than show room grade P5 ? To me this car was a mingling of style and power . Ford makes a turbo four that is more powerful by far and lighter .

[@jonathanpardoe8722]

I think that after watching this excellent video I almost want a P5 I say almost because I already have a superior car in the form of a Humber Imperial The big humber at its conception already had all the luxuries that were later added to the Rover such as Hydrosteer power steering and its vastly superior engine Twin headlight system, the first on a British car and an interior to rival anything in the world My Imperial from 1966 had even more spec such as Armstrong Selectaride shock absorbers , West of England cloth upholstery, rear separate under seat heaters and the useful picnic tables to the rear Quite why the Rover is so overvalued today when the Humber can be bought on the road for a few thousand pounds is beyond me .

[@mikekemp9877]

the humber was the driving car of choice as opposed to state limos of the royal family pre p5.it was a great car but if i may so suffered from the disease that plagued most british car ranges of the 60s except oddly rover! basically brand engineering multiple identical models with the same name just different engines and trim levels!the hawk super snipe and imperial confused buyers as did woseley westminster and vanden plas as well as zodiac zephyr executive!with rover my dad had one a 71 p5 coupe from new you had a luxery car full stop! same with the p6 2000 or for more power the 3500.jaguar had a confusing range also pre xj6 which fielded the lamentable 2.8 as well as the 4,2 until the v12 became available much delayed intended for the mk 10 but arriving with its 14 mpg in time for the oil crisis! rover then went the same route as the others offering the poorly built sd1 at first as a luxury marque but then bunging any engine they had in it to sell them seriously devaluing the brand! as a car dealer put it to my dad in the 70s problem is with leyland they just had too many similar models in the 60s made by different branches .my dad had a humber imperial in the 60s was a fantastic luxury car really felt like something special as you say its a much underrated marque.my sister has a neighbour whose son owns old vehicles his regular drive his a humber super snipe.people genuinely stop in the street to admire it when it goes down the road !

[@Random-nf7qb]

Is it the channel owner reading, another person, or some program?

[@Random-nf7qb]

@Ross Bourne Is this an irish or an indian name?

[@Tourist1967]

@@Random-nf7qb It's Scottish Gaelic, a derivative of Irish. English version is "Rory".

[@CocoaBeachLiving]

Is a saloon in the UK a four door?

[@johnd8892]

Usually a car with four or more seats.

[@shazash1]

@@johnd8892 Its got nothing to do with the amount of seats, a saloon is a three box sesign, meaning a car which has a square box type rear end, meaning, a box for the engine compatment, a box for the passengers and a box for the luggage compartment. A saloon is the same as a sedan. A car can have four or more seat and be a coupe, an estate (station wagon) or even a convertible .

[@shazash1]

A saloon is basically a 2 or 4 door sedan

[@johnd8892]

@@shazash1 the British saloon car championship had no references to boxes, just seats. That's why cars like Minis and Mustangs ran as saloon cars but not three box early E types.

[@brianfearn4246]

Even Margaret Thatcher had a couple of rovers.

[@stephenphillip5656]

Rover was an innovative company with good design ideas which once it was swallowed up by BL was subject to the vagaries of managerial incompetence, union militancy and atrocious build quality and quality control. So sad that we witnessed the suicide of a once-great industry. German and Japanese engineering and marketing gleefully took advantage of the ensuing chaos and we see the results today. Yes, cars are built in UK, Nissan, Honda and some niche hand- build luxury brands. I commend the success of these employers and the vastly improved quality control procedures- we have at least salvaged *something* from the carnage of the 70s and 80s. There's perhaps hope yet.

[@AllanT-nu4rw]

Once you see how the British motorcycle industry killed itself, its easy to understand how the car industry went down a similar road.

[@alittlebitgone]

Amazing that a V8 that was absolute crap in North America is a star in Britain, shows the gap in development pretty starkly.

[@JAZZCLASSIQUE]

UK was plagued by the deadly combination of incompetent politicians, poor managers, and suicidal unions ! In the 70s, a French former pilot who had been winning the "24 heures du Mans" with Jaguar was so disgusted with the poor quality of his XJ6 that he switched to the old ennemy Mercedes for his private car ! In the 50s and early 60s, some British manufacturers were still capable to produce highly attractive cars, but ( in a parallel way to your airplane manufacturers) they did not have the capital to invest in the creation of brand new modern machines and engines making use forever of improvements on previous ones , which has its limit. The last Rovers were moved by modern reliable Honda and the BMW engines, and Jaguar lived for around 40 years on the formidable design of the straight 3.8 then 4.2 , and finished with Ford engines.

[@drstevenrey]

Let's remember Margret Thatcher, who, as she was in power, had the ministry of interior buy a dozen P5's in black, so she never ever had to be driven around in the miserable, badly built, leaking Rover SD1 (hatchback!).

[@mabbrey]

what a shame rip rover

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

Leyland was just an utter catastrophe wasn't it? All that industry and jobs evaporating due to government politics, company politics and waste.

[@olafeklund6200]

Bureaucratic bungling all the way - British Leyland brought about the demise of the British motor industry by killing all innovation and don't even get me started on the quality control!

[@paulnunnink7338]

Oh wow! I want one! Anyone willing to trade a P5B for a Panda????? :-)

[@paulsutton5896]

A sad tale of Unions with too much power, and managements which never knew what the solution was. The solution arrived with Mrs Thatcher, alas twenty years too late to prevent the socialists from pursuing their own goal - which was to hand victory to their friends, the communists through the back door.

[@alanolley7286]

British Leyland the worst misfortune ever to befall car and lorry manufacturing in this country

[@scootergeorge9576]

In America, a "Rover" is a dog.

[@erikhesjedal3569]

Move over Rover, let Jaguar take over

[@shirleymental4189]

most p4 and p5's amongst other solid cars were destroyed by the Banger racing twats in the 70's.

[@16jan1986]

Rover could have been saved if not for the knife in the back by BMW

[@shazash1]

Rover would have died a miserable death much sooner if BMW didn't step in 1994. Nobody was willing to buy Rover when they were losing millions every year, no motor company would touch them in the late 80s early 90s, until BMW decided to take the risk. As for the poor sales of Rover, its got nothing to do with BMW, nobody in their right mind wanted their out of date models in the early 90s, but BMW still tried to revive Rover and pumped millions into Rover , even though they kept losing money hand over fist. Blaming BMW for Rovers problems just shows your ignorance. do some research instead of blaming the ones who at least tried , i didn't see any other British company stepping in to help, did you?

[@paulhicks3595]

A dog of a car. With terrible ergonomics and turning circle and awful handling it felt like you were driving a half full bathtub. Although of the 1960’s it reminded one of driving something from a couple of decades earlier, a MkV Jag for instance. It was nearly, but not quite, as awful as the Rover 2000.

[@nagsman29]

Paul Hicks, such a bright person, you should write for Disney you know....you'd do very well indeed. It takes your type of charisma and strict sense of humour to make a comment such as this....well done ! I've owned many Rovers over the years from P5's to 3500S, everyone a superb drive ! Which makes and models of car have you driven in the past and as a matter of interest which one would you say was the best ?

[@radarplotextractor3168]

Those cars are UGLY!

[@chrismartin3188]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Your mirror is still in one pie e? 😉