The Rise And Fall Of Rover - How Tragedy KILLED Rover Cars

In this video we cover Rover cars, how they were once at their height used by royalty and prime ministers, appearing prominently in Downing Street and British politics to their fall going from this perception of their brand, to James May and Top Gears hidden camera expose report.
This is the story of the rise and fall of one of the greatest car manufacturers and marques Britain has ever known, from the Rover p5, p6 and SD1 to the 800 and the 75. Charting its missed opportunities at the hands of British Leyland and the many industrial and managerial issues that led to its ultimate downfall.
Follow me on Instagram for more cool stuff: / tomisdrivingcars
Credits:
AROnline - general Rover/BL information SD1, P7 video, P8 and P6BS photos and general information
Driven to write - Rover P5 general information
James Taylor - History of Rover cars 1945 - 2005
If you'd like to read more my sources are linked below
ARonline BL History - www.aronline.co.uk/archive/ar...
P5 In Parliament Driven to Write - driventowrite.com/2018/12/10/...
AROnline Rover P6BS and P8 - www.aronline.co.uk/concepts-a...

[@simonweakley3479]

As an ARG former marketing guy it started to go seriously wrong when the SD1 was engineered down to a price by Leyland bean counters. Surely one of the most beautiful looking cars but so badly built. The series 2 from 1982 looked great but the quality was only skin deep. Those terrible straight six Triumph designed engines were soon to eat camshafts. 800, 200, 400 and 600 reached a high point but so dependant on Honda quality and tech. BMW never wanted to do what VW did for Skoda, the brand was badly managed into collapse. MG Rover never had the money to revive it hence crap like the City Rover that sealed its fate

[@stirlingmoss4621]

Rolls of Rolls Royce refused to listen to the accountants during a cash crisis and kept quality and reliability as a byword...never advertised and went on to new strength and success.

[@stephengibbs4372]

I remember them well . The 6 cylinder engine had a non bleed back valve in the top of the block that would carbon up and jam shut stopping oil feed to the whole top end turning everything to blue and brown corrugated iron. I worked at a rover dismantles and drove a P5B and the boss had a 110. We sold heads off crashed 2.6 Sd1’s and the rest of the engine was scrapped. A sad ending.

[@crissyb00]

BMW never had any intention of keeping Austin Rover afloat. Their sole aim was to harvest the brand names that had promise... Mini, Jaguar and land rover. And Land rover was only so they could create their own poor excuse for an suv, the X series. Once they stripped what they wanted, they laughed as they sold the remains back to the management buy out. Then selling Jaguar and landrover to the yanks. While turning the always loved mini into something so far removed from the original concept, it doesn't deserve to wear the mini name.

[@paulingleby3756]

They also took the rover r30 prototype and create the 1 series out of it..

[@philhealey4443]

Except that if you read Issigonis's biography, there is a prototype photo of a car from his era that is startlingly like the new generation inflated Mini. Edit: it was designated XC/9001, although evolved into the Landcrab.

[@Deltic55-mw4bo]

beemer never had jaguar. Ford bought it in about 1990, before BMW took over Rover.

[@kenon6968]

The CEO of BMW staked his entire career on Rover, they were relatively hands off and gave them quite a bit of cash to come up with the 75, it just missed the mark, BAe on the other hand...

[@spamhead]

Sadly, British Aerospace had asset stripped the company long before BMW got involved. BMW piled in good money after bad, and were even willing to put their new diesel in the 75. In the end they have to give Rover away before they ended going bankrupt themselves. The Phoenix 4 never had much desire to save the company, and couldn’t if they had tried as the company was losing hundreds of millions a year.

[@TheManifattura]

My family has had several Rovers since the 70s. From the 2000 TC and several P6s and a right-hand drive P5 3500 to the SD1 3500 and Vitesse to now the Rover 75, The P models in particular will remain in our memories forever with their quality. My dream was my 3500 Vitesse. All of them always had a few problems but we still love them today. Greetings from Germany to England and I wish all Rover owners a carefree and enjoyable journey in the future!

[@paredding]

Similar here - my father had 1947 Rover 14 (P3?), 1961 Rover 80 P4, 1968 Rover 2000 Automatic in Zircon Blue with cream leather. I bought a 2300 Manual in the 1990s. Looking now for a 1968 3500 (aluminium grille) in Zircon Blue.

[@richardsymonds5159]

Mega Mismanagement Killed Rover!!

[@mickc7388]

Useless Unions didn't help.

[@lordstiffupperlip3095]

A friend of mine worked in a Rover dealer in the 80's , 90's and told me when Honda arrived they just stopped breaking down ! Great . After Honda went he started buying Honda's himself .

[@bilbobaggins4366]

Because of head gaskets who would have done that I wonder 🤔 Yhe English funded the k series and oyhers just for Japan to take a back hander yhe British are responsible for the demise of English manufacturer like rover ,all by design no coincidence rover was doing well when yzee Germans said let's sell the company so they can't make nomore 75 s models

[@davebuts1921]

So sad to see a world beater, destroyed by the bean counters and then beaten by everyone and his dog.

[@darrensmith6999]

Poor Management and Greedy Bolshey work force! That is what caused Rover and BLs demise.

[@68404]

Sadly, the UK has never recovered. No longer building ships, and most industry has gone into decline or gone forever. Entire towns are derelict, whilst cities like Birmingham are unrecognisable as British any more. There's more Indians and Pakistanis there than in the United States cricket team! The UK is dying, and nearsighted governments are either unwilling or unable to stop it withering on the vine.

[@marclamar1905]

Nope. The work force were made greedy and bolshey by a greedy and bolshey government. You haven't got to go back that far in history to see just how bad the working classes had it.

[@j3xk72r9]

I had several of the Honda based Rovers in the 1980's and 1990's and they were great cars. I think Rover failed because BMW were bad owners, afraid to do for Rover what Honda did; allow them to use BMW platforms and engines. Imagine how good a Rover bodied and trimmed 3 series would have been. BMW and Rover could have complimented each other like VW and Audi do. A real tradgedy that this never happened.

[@josvandencamp8441]

BMW were not bad owners but when the British government turned against them these was no other option then to sell Rover. Please read the book "The end of the road, the true downfall of Rover". Honda played a role in this when they refused to buy Rover. It was more profitable to sell parts and technology to Rover at high prices. There was also a clause stating that Rover was not allowed to export cars to the US because they would be competing with Honda. The UK government were also unwilling to help save Rover.

[@spamhead]

@@josvandencamp8441Honda never refused to buy Rover. British Aerospace were going to share ownership with them in 1994, then a few days later BAe said buy it all, or we sell to BMW. Honda were given no time for a considered response for such a large undertaking, so had to decline.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

The Rover 75 was a gorgeous car. Unfortunately it was built ten years too late.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

I drove a 75 Diesel with the full mounting a true Rover . drove a P5 no(B) for more than 15 years, not easy in germany but better than anything else.

[@oleleclos]

My dad drove Rovers in the 1950s and I remember them with great fondness and a little pride. I was taken aback when I got into a P4 model at a vintage car show in the naughties and that Rover smell of leather, wood and oil yanked me back 50 years!

[@bullfrommull]

Sleeping on the job. I worked in a major coachbuilder. Sleeping on the job was notoriously happening. This was the mid 80s. Drinking 6pints at lunchtime was the norm. Striking for anything like a sunny day was happening. I remember we went on strike. Because a guy was late for the roll trolley. I am not making that up.

[@roverenderalligator9104]

Yep, it was happening in the print industry too. They were the sleeping years 😅

[@neilwalsh4058]

​@@roverenderalligator9104the thatcher years , the death of British heavy industry 😭

[@paul7TM]

Yep. And all the whole time the Japanese were making gains. Same thing happened in Australia when they stopped making Holdens in 2017. Zero foresight. They Just thought things would always stay the same. That people would keep on buying the brands.

[@bullfrommull]

@@neilwalsh4058 my dad sent money to the polish coal miners. The polish cut coal for us during the miners strike. Thatcher was not to Blame .scragill was to blame. The car industry was destroyed by unions and engineering disasters. Again not Thatcher.steel industry . China.

[@chriskappert1365]

I owned a 75 for 5 years and 90K kilometers , a great car ! It was a 2000 Cowley built with all the goody's , before the beancounters with their " facelift " fucked it up . There was only one quality issue , the fabric on the doorcarts and A- pillars blistered because of poor glue , all the rest was topquality ! I wish they still existed . 😢

[@colinturton9907]

I used to work for rover in 1980s the sd1 was being built the problem with rover was the staff they wes stealing items every day I did see parts going out the door I did see people carrying boxes of parts headlights, door locks, dash parts no-one checked what was leaving the factory and with all the industrial strikes the staff dragged rover down no wonder rover went under

[@philhealey4443]

Based on my brief SD1 misery, anything that was supposed to keep rainwater and rust out or vital fluids in was evidently nicked.

[@GSD-hd1yh]

Wasn't only Rover. I remember hearing of a Vauxhall security guard who was sacked when the union complained about him trying to stop workers taking parts out of the factory.

[@CortinasAndClassics]

The way you say 'But there was a problem' is priceless.

[@stirlingmoss4621]

I owned and drove a 1963 P4 110 from 1998 to 2015 as an everyday car. Never a fault or breakdown, even in France for 6 months of each year for 14 trips and 3,000 miles a trip. Much admired wherever we went.

[@tumslucks9781]

You have peculiar taste in prototypes. If you drove a French dustbin in Dordogne Jacque Chirac would have welcomed you with open arms.

[@adriandeb2710]

The day a rover badge was mounted on a metro was a nail in the coffin, going back to the city rover tata heap of crap, now tata are killing jaguar land-rover with terrible engine failures on there in house engines. Between the unions, cash shortages all,helped kill such a great brand

[@adamweston4152]

Tata are also putting the final nails in the coffin of the British steel industry, Port Talbot steelworks is just down the road from where I live and Tata are making over 2000 men redundant thus ending decades of employment and putting the men on the dole.

[@illsaveyes]

@@adamweston4152they got millions in grants for it too when they bought it for a pound🤷‍♂️

[@neilwalsh4058]

Brand in fighting didn't help either, but don't let management off the hook here. They managed it alright, managed it into the ground, but always came out with early retirement and index linked pensions.

[@FMFGUF]

@@illsaveyes Look on the bright side, they'll be able to buy more curry for their kind, and probably have a bit left over to fund call centres in Mumbai, etc.

[@stevenmanning6884]

The Rover story is sad, why the government of the day allowed the company to slide into history is beyond me. The last domestic large scale british manufacturer.

[@tomdrives]

I agree

[@levelcrossing150]

With selling new Rovers in the late 70's I had nothing but great respect for them. The car drove beautifully, it was comfortable and we could sell every one of them. The problems with the factory disputes were always the problem, not knowing when the next SD1 would arrive and of course the good old press would make sure everybody would get to know about it. The slagging off of Leyland Cars had become everybody's pastime and contributed to ruining the company. it was a sad day when we lost a major British car manufacturer and a loss of all those jobs.

[@MattVF]

How much money would you throw at it? Governments threw massive amounts of tax payers money to no avail. Honda rescued them but BAE threw it all away. Personally I think that was the final nail (of many) for Rover. To this day I don’t understand the BMW takeover. The family silver was sold and the writing was in the wall.

[@stevenmanning6884]

@@MattVF I agree alot of money was spent but it was management at fault during latter life of the group in what ever form. The good relationship with Honda was ruined by bad management. In the 70s it was the workforce that ruined the company. British industry has been eroded for what ever reason deliberately.

[@levelcrossing150]

@MattVF it's not all about money, it's how it's managed. For BMW, the Mini brand was the attraction I believe.

[@stirlingmoss4621]

British management and internal rivalries, what a recipe for failure. The NHS has been broken by the same poor management and political micro-managing.

[@Bob-nu3xe]

my dear uncle always bought BL rover 213s etc then the penny dropped he realised the best part of the car was indeed the "Honda" engine so he changed tac and bought Honda

[@SimonGreenway-ih8lh]

Well done Tom, you really do these history documentaries well.

[@johncaldwell-wq1hp]

I was there in the 60s-70s--saw those Unions destroy Britain,-I refused to buy those "rust-buckets"-& bought a second-hand "V.W.-beetle"-never let me down--(I wish I still had it !!)

[@urglegurgle5807]

There’s a Carry On film that perfectly illustrates the down fall of the British car industry (and British industry as a whole). Watch it at Your Convenience. The film has a happy ending, unlike our car industry and associated industries like steel.

[@NickyB62]

Ive been driving Rover's since 1979. My all time favorite being my old 3500 P6. When i got a 3500 SD1 after the P6 failed its MOT the fuel economy amazed me. I remember driving from Chesterfield to Blackpool & thinking the fuel gauge had stuck on full. The 216VP was okay but rusted away fast, didn't really rate it. The best Rover i ever owned was a 2,000 W reg 45 Club diesel which had 12k when i bought it & over 400k when i parted with it. Currently have 75 diesel tourer which is currently on sorn & will probably be my last Rover bringing 45 yrs era to a close. Another amazing well researched video Tom. I may be wrong but I think BMW really finished Rover by taking with them the new designs that were intended to replace the Honda platformed cars. One only has to look at the success of the Mini & the 1 series BMW.

[@tomdrives]

I do sometimes feel like BMWs more mainstream success can be attributed to the Mini and the 1 series which allegedly started as R30.

[@roverenderalligator9104]

I bought my first 2000TC in '81, my P5B Saloon in '85 & l still have that one. More P6's followed then a P4 110. My daily is now a '75 1.8 bought in 2015, now approaching 197,000 miles.

[@user-tv2bz2ci6b]

This is my perception at the time, being a kid in the 90s and early 2000s. Wedge-shaped Hondas later adorned with old man walnut, upright 1940s grilles, chrome and green or burgundy paint, one face-lift too many, Metro, CityRover, StreetRover. What happened to the cutting-edge, futuristic trajectories of the P6 and SD1?

[@jimbojazza5539]

I've had many Rovers over the years - a P4, SD1 V8, 825 (Honda engine seized), 827, 600 and the last a lovely 75. I think people forget buying a British car, any make, from the 60s to the 90s was very hit or miss, and more often a miss. My father had a Granada, a Ford model where you said a Hail Mary before trying the brakes; a new Jag where the electric windows went down but not back up; and an Austin 1300 where one of the back wheels fell off after the suspension failed. But my mother's Datsun always started, stopped when you wanted it to, and didn't fall apart after a year.

[@SB-vb8ch]

Why the continued assertion that the I6 was "sabotaged"? It was tuned to suit it's application & fit into the broader range. It wasn't meant to be a high rpm screamer it was to be a flexible, smooth & fuel efficient (and reliable) mid range engine option. If it was meant to be more than that it would have received the 4 valve cylinder head, individual throttles etc etc. You could also say that the V8 was sabotaged as the 4.4 was ditched & the heads & cam profiles used strangled output which they undoubtedly did (the SD1 version was quite a bit softer than the older P5/6 version), it's horses for courses, nothing is done in isolation. Having worked for Rover I can confirm that any internal competition is never friendly either, that's the actual issue. People get so transixed waging war on their neighbours they lose sight of where the fight actually is & the competition quietly take advantage. It's what has repeatedly happend.

[@withapulse2000]

Back in the 80s I worked for a small pen printing company and set up the machine to print several hundred expensive Parker pens with the iconic viking boat for the Rover dealership. Unfortunately it was only at the very end when I was admiring how good they looked did I realise to my horror that I had got the colours back to front so the image was a red boat and gold sails rather than the other way around. My boss had a terrible temper and it was not unknown for him to violently fling pens around at walls if they were not done properly. Terrified I said nothing and off they went to the dealersip. They never noticed and I heard nothing more. What's even more funny is that an example of the job was kept by the boss and proudly kept in the promotional 'show-off' cabinet to show new clients!

[@FMFGUF]

Nice one! Bet you were glad to have got away with that. :)

[@stephenlangley1930]

Great video. I have a 2003 Rover 75 that I have owned for 19 years. It is an excellent car. I have not had a single problem with it in all that time, which is more than I can say for the BMWs and Jaguars that I have owned.

[@FMFGUF]

Good for you. I'm still running a 1970 Morris Minor Traveller, still going strong, and you can still get all the parts for them!

[@southerncross3638]

They were beautiful,solid cars. My Father wanted one in the late 60s, all We could afford was a Standard eight.😊

[@markc1921]

Don't think you mentioned that Austin Rover was sold rather controversially to BAE in 1988 under the condition that they keep the company for six years. They didn't invest a lot into the company, so the Rover 800 was kept in production way too long.

[@setter501]

Hi Tom, love your channel, for a youngen like your good self to take such an interest in all this is excellent Thankyou Son! So Rover! Always loved them, when I was about your age 🤣👍 I was looking for a luxury barge! All my gen were mad on the XJ, I loved them too, But I needed to be different didn't I! 🤣 I had a mate who had a 59 P5 sedan(as we say in 🇳🇿) he and I loved the old girl, anyway I was still in UK in 76 and decided the replacement for my beautiful 66 Humber Sceptre would be a P5B coupé I was working on coastal tankers in the North Sea and was cashed up, I found my dream at Romans of Woking in the form of an Admiralty Blue Coupé! In 1976, she was 6 YOA with only 16000 miles on the clock, she was an absolute Doozy Love at 1st sight! I loved my Sceptre but this was Something Else! I paid the princely sum of 1600 quid for her, everyone loved her people would come up to me at servos and in the street! 😂 Later I got married and in 81 we emigrated to Australia, leave the Rover in UK! No freakin Way! We had her shipped out to Sydney then we moved to North Queensland, unfortunately due to family and work commitments I didn't have time to look after her in the fashion she was used to! 😭 So we very reluctantly had to part company 😭 That was early 2000's, She is still around up in Cairns and we'll looked after and worth a bloody fortune! 🤣 Fantastic amazing cars! Now I'm retired, I decided to get back into classics again, I couldn't find a 5B coupé that anyone in their right mind would sell! 🤣😭 So I bought a Jag! 😱 a lovely XJ8 but I will never forget my old Rover 3.5 P5B Coupé,! What a shame Rover was allowed to go down the tubes! 😭😭😊

[@robincook3367]

Great video as always. Lots of factors contributing to Rover's decline. Very sad. Couple of small errors on dates (because I am pedantic) - the Rover 800 was launched in 1986, not 1985, and BMW got rid of Rover in 2000, not 1999.

[@tomdrives]

You are right yes!

[@68404]

BMW wanted Land Rover and Mini. The other marques were never wanted so were easy to move on.

[@ianmax69]

I can recall the then Prime Minister James Callaghan receiving a new brown SD1 in 1977 and the window glass dropped inside the door on an official engagement... Callaghan was said to have retorted "I do not wish to see that car again!" and from then on older P5s where used... Hence why we see Maggie turning up on her election victory in one... Yet as for the brown SD1... Labour leader Michael Foot ended up using it... and he loved it as one of the perks of being Her Majesty's Official Opposition Leader...

[@kenon6968]

With all the foibles of Leyland's paint shop at least they could get 70s Brown down pat

[@HighFell]

Excellent piece on the real story of Rover. It was like most failures a culmination of many things. Back in the late 70’s/80’s Rover (BL) was heavily featured in documentaries and its was never for good reasons. Those of us who remember the magazine programme ‘Nationwide’ may recall a damning episode that concerned Rover product in Police forces, SD1 and RR being traffic cars. It was revealed that every UK police force had significant levels of vehicle unavailability due to serious and frequent failures. Back then the Home Office agreed fleet policy and specifications with manufacturers and a ‘you will buy this’ list was sent out. Under BMW’s leadership though Rover probably suffered the death blows. BP’s comments on R75 launch were the tip of the iceberg. Rover racked up £m’s of losses on ludicrous BMW management practices, travel and accommodation bejng eyewatering, but development programmes still starved of cash. But the fault was all laid at the door of the Rover itself. MINI was taken in house to BMW and it struggled. Severely delayed and not feeling like a MINI should, it was the ‘Flight Shed’ guys at Longbridge who solved many of the handling and ride issues BMW engineered in. There was a huge amount of talent at MGR but the P4 frittered away the BMW payoff. I once witnessed a P4 director have a tantrum about the interior colour of ‘his’ MG SV and insist that it be completely re-trimmed at the cost of £1000’s. It dawned on me at that moment that they realised MGR was sunk and they were just squeezing out what they could. Could MGR have survived? Absolutely but it needed a much more coherent strategy. If some of the realistic projects had been developed MGR would have appeared a much more viable prospect for a JV.

[@MiguchaDonovanRicarardoMigucha]

Awesome video report. Thanks for sharing ❤🤗👍♥️

[@anthonywilliams6764]

I bought my brand new Admiralty blue Rover P5B coupe in 1969, and drove it everywhere in the UK as a daily car, I rebuilt the engine five years later and replaced the gearbox cluster around the same time, I took it to the Isle of Man where I lived later and eventually sold it to a family member who restored it and passed it on in 2003. I hope that it is still on the road, its original registration was XGP777G .

[@krr9510]

The SD1 was a stunning looking car but build quality was simply woeful.

[@gordonbrown7063]

Did I miss the Rover 600 (Honda collabaration) mine was a great example 120k in 3 years and nothing other than an auxilliary belt failing.

[@tonychinnery]

When I was a boy in the 60's, my parents bought two P3's. They were very quiet, sedate cars. I remember you could wind up the windsreen from the bottom. One of them had something called an overdrive (a sort of 5th geer). Also they had a freewheel for going downhill.

[@jonathanberglind4589]

I’m enjoying your content Tom and curious to know how your Rover 75 is going as haven’t seen any content on it for a while

[@chrisryder1073]

My first car was a 48 P3 I wish I had held onto it one of the best cars I have owned

[@gafrers]

Quality and interesting as always

[@tomdrives]

Thanks again!

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

Rover were developing the Whittle jet engine during WWII when they did a swap deal with Rolls-Royce to produce the V12 Meteor tank engine from the RR Merlin aero engine.... the RB code in RR jet engines stands for "Rover Barnoldswick" in reference to the Lancashire factory...

[@spamhead]

Rover merely produced the Whittle engine, not developing, other than production techniques perhaps.

[@elliotoliver8679]

Awesome vid, thanks!

[@alanalmo5834]

My Dad worked as an engine fitter at Rover's Tyseley, Birmingham works in the 1950's and 60's. We lived in Solihull and I remember as a child watching the Rover cars being tested on their own purpose-made track in the early 60's. The Headmaster of my Junior School drove a Rover. Landrovers were unique. They had a prestige higher than any nowadays Mercedes or BMW. Sadly it all went wrong...😢

[@scabbycatcat4202]

I bought a Rover 416 saloon with 60000 on the clock. I assumed that all that bad workmanship and reliability issues were all behind them by then- how wrong was I ?? Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It cost me a small fortune with faults such as gearbox failure, cylinder head gasket, starter motor, alternator, radiator, air conditioning, Overheating, CV joints, bearings and ultimately corrosion . I was glad to see the back of it!!

[@Kiwionwing]

Liked 75 Contemplating buying 2 or 3 ReStore one

[@andymckane7271]

The P6 Rovers were wonderful cars. Their major short-coming in the U.S. market was their complexity caused by the inboard rear disc brakes, and front coil spring suspension (designed the way it was so the gas turbine engine could be fitted under the hood). Rover attention to detail was superb. That is, until the British Leyland buyout and the changes B.L. brought into the old Rover Company Limited. I dearly loved Rovers and Land Rovers of the 1960's well into the 1970's. I found the NAS specification SD-1 a major shift to a down-market product due to the lack of quality the P6 Rovers had. (As one example, compare the "quality" with the SD-1's carpets with the wool carpeting used in the P6 cars. As another example, the P6 had four-wheel disc brakes; the SD-1 used front disc and rear drum brakes.) Nice video. I'll love the old Rover Company to the day I die. Great products were the result of a superb and dedicated work force. Andrew "Andy" McKane IV, 17 June 2024, Maunaloa, Molokai, Hawaii, USA.

[@LouisMorter]

An interesting little video. I must say I didn't realise Rover's end was so mercenary. I'd just like to point out a total of 322,302 P6s were built. - Not 35,000 as stated in the video. As a P6 owner people forget how much these cars were embraced when new, giving them a big market share in the 1960's and well in to the 1970's.

[@tomdrives]

For the P6 numbers it was the year of 1967. I should’ve made it clearer I think.

[@a11csc]

would say strikes killed it Tom,another great vid again

[@GL-xz3xk]

I have a 1976 Mazda 1300 and a 1976 Rover P6b (New Zealand built). My Mazda was well built and well thought out with good ergonomics for a small car (same size as a Ford Escort). My P6b has some ill thought out engineering, the wiring behind the dash looks like a dogs breakfast and the holes in the firewall for some cables and wires look like they were made with chisels. For a premium model, she’s a rough one. A P6b was the only car that failed when on Test by ABC’s Wheels program. IMHO Rover needed to tone down some of their engineering wet dreams pre Leyland and post Leyland their quality control was horrendous. A well built SD1 is a unicorn!

[@danielduggan7126]

My 1st car was a 1971 Rover P6 V8 purchased in 1979 and which gave more trouble than all the other cars combined which I have owned till today. OK to drive, however the engineering and material quality was terrible, so many components broke, or leaked, or failed in one way or another. The competing German and Japanese cars were much better engineered and built, that is why Rover went bankrupt and closed.' By the way, the Rover gas turbine was also junk.

[@daveandrew8845]

From what i saw the staff were the big issue. Remember pulling up at one of the BL plants to see workers loading their stollen parts into a car aided by the security guards! Then add the fact they were always on strike. Then the awful management. Great shame but they got what they asked for

[@boredincan]

I remember my step mum asking why there were no cars named after dogs. There's Jaguars, Wildcats, Peugeot and Holden have lions, why no dog? My dad said "There is Rover"

[@Coen80]

I love the SD1. My neighbour when I was young drove a vanderPlas. Would love to drive one one day.

[@christopherstephens6539]

Used to have a P5b 3.5 Coupe back in the day with Webasto sun roof. Fabulous car beautifully finished and so relaxing to drive.Probably the last of the proper big Rovers

[@jeffgrimston4565]

In the late 80’s I visited a few car plants and saw others. Dagenham the workers car park was 90% escort, capri, cortina, sierra. Ellesmere Port 90% Astra, nova, cavalier, likewise Luton was mostly astra, cavalier etc. Longbridge car park was Datsun, Toyota, Renault, VW … with an occasional Mini!!!

[@MattVF]

Toolmakers strike in 1977 was the straw that broke the camels back. SD1 was car of the year… Except you couldn’t buy one,and if you could it broke down,rusted or the paint fell off.

[@rogerthornewell]

Had a P5 back in the late 60s it was a beautiful car to drive fast very comfortable and safe. We used to cruise at 100 mile an hour on the German Autobarn.

[@UncleJoeLITE]

A tragedy, but well reported. Thanks from Canberra AU.

[@davidhall719]

I think one key element missed here is the changing perception of what prestige and quality meant to the customer from the 1970s and 1980s onwards and the lack of a solution provided by British motor manufacturers at the time. Customers no longer wanted stately homes on wheels with lashings of leather and wood. Instead, they wanted high quality modern styling far removed from the fuddy duddy cars their parent's valued. The issue is that those parents were still buying cars and still wanted those touches which younger people didn't, which led to a confused brand image. The SD1 in my opinion was an attempt to distance Rover from their old image and compete with the likes of BMW and Mercedes in the premium market and if the production and quality issues hadn't hampered this effort, it would have likely have succeeded. In the 1980s, Rover could have continued to push for more modern styled vehicles and emulated the offering of BMW but instead decided to play safe and stuck leather and fake wood to what were essentially badge engineered Hondas. It's the link up with Honda in the 80s that ultimately killed them in my opinion, as that Honda influence and cheap plastics carried on right up until the end, undermining any pretence Rover had of trying to compete on quality and prestige.

[@peterriggall8409]

How many people worked at BL? Unfortunately not many of them! As a Rover fan you have pulled one out of the box here Tom. Great archival footage and commentary. 👍

[@6643bear]

Hi Tom, another great video, yes the Met did stock pile sd1 including vanden plas , I remember we take all the badges off . I owned 800 vitesse 400 gsi great well built cars . I own a Mg Zs 180, not so built well after project drive when mgr had parts made cheaper and some trim missing on cars later cars . Regards mark

[@brianthomson5488]

Great kits, you picked there, I have the bristol bulldog, and it looks like a lovely kit. I'm really worried about doing the rigging, though .Anybody recommend the right thickness to use. I was thinking 0.2 .

[@danijuggernaut]

The Rover 75 is a good classic car buy. BMW made this car with high quality build. It was the desperate try to save the company.

[@21stcenturyozman20]

As former owner of 14 Rovers (from a 1949 P4 75 to a 1971 P5B coupé), I saw the decline in quality begin with a 1968 P5 saloon. The leather wasn't as good as previously, and external trim bits seemed to be of a thinner gauge metal. By the time I was considering a P6 3500, quality and reliability issues were too much, and I changed marques (to Mercedes-Benz). Seventeen Benzes later I know I made the switch at the right time. Fuck the poor management; fuck the stroppy workers, fuck the power-hungry unions, and fuck Maggie Thatcher, all of of which were major factors in the decline of the British motor industry.

[@heavyt749]

I have a 71 coupe

[@philhealey4443]

When do you feel Mercedes Benz lost the plot ? I've had and still have various festering models, convinced the W116 was the pinnacle, with W126 at least rustproof but showing signs of an accountant present, even more with W140. Same story I think with W123 vs W124 and whatever followed. True emotion is watching W116 and Unimog factory assembly films to understand the Zenith of Mercedes. And on Rover I was seduced in my youth by an SD1 2600. Six months of Hell ensued....

[@heavyt749]

@@philhealey4443 Mercedes started having rust issues mid 90s lost the plot on w202 facelift

[@philhealey4443]

@heavyt749 If only the W116 and W123 had had the zinc based steel of the W126 and W124..... I put up with cab degradation on a 1996 Unimog, but nothing seems to rust like a Sprinter van of any age !

[@richdorak1547]

The P5 b was a legend . Would love to have one here in the U.S .

[@j308s7]

Very interesting story-perhaps the downfall was just a British attitude that the Germans didnt have?

[@mattwright2964]

I had several Rovers over the decades and the 75 was the best. Very reliable, looked right, quiet and smooth. I also had some Triumphs which were good.The seeds of failure were sown way back by poor management in UK mass production industry (we are much better at high value low volume industry). Examples of this in BL included the huge parts bin and models and lack of manufacturing strategy, brand consistency and quality.

[@mikeyratcliff3400]

I am assuming that oil cooler flexible hoses are now available, 20 years ago the six pot sd1 models that often required a decent replacement that didn't leak were only available bespoke from the likes of pirtek, rebuilt a 2.3 for a mate and the hoses cost £100, the originals leaked for a pastime, and then there was the electrics on badly constructed pcb s on a plastic tray that warped when the unit got (as it so often did) warm, then hot as the terminals struggled to take the current, and then there was the sun roof... big ole lucas electrics on the p5, simples! Many thanks as ever, top stuff sir!

[@ttonypayne5077]

We owned a Rover coupe 3.5. It was truly a real beauty. It is such a shame that this great true British car was destryed by various mis management

[@stirlingmoss4621]

The Bell at Outwood, Surrey ! Thought I recognised it. Was an excellent venue for drinks and fod.

[@salvagedb2470]

I always wanted the Rover P5 or Coupe , Gorgous looking Cars ..wasnt a real Fan of the P6 .. Great Vid as always..

[@tomdrives]

Thanks :)

[@gregculverwell]

My father bought a SD1 because he was towing a caravan, which it did well, but boy it was junk - it just fell apart + electrical issues. He got rid of it after a few years and bought a 3L Cortina which towed just as well and give trouble.

[@e28forever30]

There is an SD1 that has been raced tucked away in a corner of a workshop near me. It’s red and white, in Belga cigarette livery.

[@EuropaSman]

Loving the clips of the Rover from the Roger Moore film The Man Who Haunted Himself. It turned into a Lamborghini Islero. To me, Rover's end began at the beginning of the 1970s with several revolutionary projects cancelled by BL like the P8 and P10. The SD1 was sort of the last Rover in the traditional sense. Shame the build quality, the strikes and the service interval extension on the straight six scuppered its reputation. The "Rondas" did keep it going, but British Aerospace then BMW didn't really do the brand any favours I feel. If the Rover 35 and 55 had come to market maybe Rover would have survived. What killed Rover? Bad management decisions from the BL merger to the end with the Phoenix Four I reckon.

[@marktrevarthen5017]

Tom, another great video. I never really bought the ‘motoring press killed the brand’ line… but at times they didn’t help. I had an early (new shape) 400 new as a company car in ‘95. It did everything brilliantly and was way more desirable than contemporary Astras, Escorts, 306’s etc. Mine did over 100k miles in 4 years and had one minor fault in all that time. But the press were lukewarm because it was pricier than the aforementioned opposition but not large enough to be a Mondeo rival. At that time though, the price premium was deserved and the Rover brand still meant something. On balance I think some of the Honda derived Rovers were the best of both manufacturers: Honda engineering and quality with added British luxury and the brilliant K series in many.

[@cacuskrupka3673]

In Poland, the generic name for bicycle is rower, because first bicycles were made that this company.

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

British industry has been plagued with terrible decision-making since the 1960s. Way too many out-of-touch old men making poor decisions.

[@stephanbode548]

This is the british view on BMW but there was sabotage by the british workers etc. BMW lost much money with Rover. For BMW to buy Rover was a big mistake. The only good thing is now the Mini.

[@CheeseScout]

BMW tends to be greedy, however. Usually those companies collaborating with BMW don't end up well

[@ThunderBus]

Rover cars still look right today which is simalar to how larger capacity british motorcycles looked in the 50's and 60's. My family too had Rovers from the P4, P5, 3000, P6 then turned to Volvo in the 70's. I love Rovers all the way up to the 600 and 800's and the last 75. For me a marque destroyed by BMW while they stripped the best assets of Mini and Land Rover to sell back to the world.

[@Pietervdv]

To be honest, I have only loved one Rover, the P5B Coupe. I happen to have one, which is nearing the end of a full restoration. Technically I have two, but one is a parts car.

[@stuartfletcher5755]

Very enjoyable video but very sad.

[@alancobbin]

Sadly Tom I think this video is bob on,cheers fella a sad but very interesting episode👍😉💪

[@tomdrives]

Thanks Alan, appreciate it

[@liamjackson6930]

Don't forget that Rover built motorcycles Between 1903 and 1924, Rover produced more than 10,000 motorcycles, There is at least two in the British Motor museum at Gayden

[@tomdrives]

It’s mainly about the brand identity, the whole history of Rover is something for another video

[@danielsellers8707]

Rob's Rover 45 AY52 UUL blew a head gasket and needed a new engine!

[@piledriverpotter9847]

Lack of build quality in the days of British Leyland due to strikes and lazy militant workers was what sowed the seed to destruction until 2005 when rover finally closed down.

[@stevenbroadbent516]

I went to Longridge in the 1970s to get some space heaters going .They were making the SD1 ,and they were having issues with paint on the cars at the time ,There was 42 space heater hanging from the roof .it turned out 35 were not blowing hot air out but was sucking air and achieving nothing one didnt work at all if i remember the rest worked but not efficiently .The guys on the night shift were propping the doors to the spray booths and ovens that were supposed to bake the paint solid. just get some heat into the building ,I went in when the night shift were working and it was bloody freezing that was why the paint wasnt baking ,Spoke to several of the guys on the production line and they all came out with the same complaint senior managers would not authorise maintenance because it affected there bonus It was bonkers not the fault of the guys on the shop floor but bloody awful managers ,

[@wickiezulu]

Before they joined Leyland and soon became part of British Leyland, there were little things that could have had positive knock-on effects to improve their position (e.g. pre-war adoption of OHVs, a V6 around the same period as the V6 in the Lancia Aurelia, lighter P4, etc). One question that sticks out would be what Rover could have done to increase its production capacity to cope with the unexpected success of the Land Rover to help expand into other niches, which would have allowed them to produce a P5-based answer to the Volvo Amazon by the mid-1950s?

[@simonhodgetts6530]

The loss of the Rover brand is a sad one for the once Great British car industry - they made some great cars, rivalling Jaguar and even perhaps Mercedes Benz for quality and brilliant engineering at one point. The P6 was surely the high point - a very sophisticated car. Sadly the association with BL, and the woeful reliability of the SD1 spelled the beginning of the end of this great marque. If only the boss of BMW (I can’t spell his name!) hasn’t torpedoed the 75 at launch it could have been a really strong seller.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

i drove Rover for 40 years The last one was a Rover 75 Diesel eith everything you could order.We were divorced by a truck on the A67. What a tragedy!!

[@user-yq4sp5ij6u]

In my time I owned three P6 Rovers, the first was a genuine Rover P6, and still feel these were some of the best cars I have ever owned and driven in spite of not having all the "refinements" of modern cars.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

Getting into bed with British Leyland was the start of the rot set in and it massively crushed the brand's core values and led to some dreadful offerings. Even when things improved, that image stuck in car buyers minds, right up to it's death in 2005.

[@mockbattles]

The modern Range Rover is the successor to the classic Rover sedans and is a successful legacy of the marque.

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Always like the Rovers that Inspector George Gently drove in the TV series!

[@mikecawood]

I believe the TV program Top Gear voted the CityRover the worst car ever.

[@BobAbc0815]

Not allowing the Branches to compete with each other means they cant compete with anyone Else either.

[@andyb.1026]

The Rover involvement with gas turbine jet engines put development back years, Frank Whittle did not approve, but was out of his hands 😢

[@Charalspirals2]

getting serious Foxbody vibes from that SD1...🤔

[@allenhughes867]

Jeremy Clarkson with the Top Gear team consistently slagged Rover off something terrible when the show was at its most popular, it didn't help a struggling company, strike after strike finished rover off.