ROVER 2000/2200
When Rover finally knocked out its pipe and designed a modern car, it created something remarkable. Today, the technically and dynamically advanced P6 is both stylish and very affordable. Report: Phil White.
One glance at a P5 reveals the challenge faced by Rover as the 1960s began. The P4 was comfortable in its skin, perfectly embodying the leathery, walnutty, cigar smoke-slaked assuredness of the post-1945 middle classes. It was solid, well-built, nicely-appointed and softly understated. Just the way it should be.
But its bigger brother, Rover’s flagship from 1958 to 1975, just looked a little awkward, like an uncle having a mid-life crisis. Rampant chrome, high sides and a low glasshouse gave the Rover P5 the air of an overweight P4 dallying with American hot-rod culture. It was more swinger at 60 than swinging ’60s. Jaguar’s Mk2, S-type and XJ6 all did British executive style better, looking thoroughly at home in the golf club car park.
Rover knew this, and commissioned a fresh design for a car to sell in the vibrant hinterland between the old 1.5-litre and three-litre saloon classes. Sensibly, its design team looked to Europe for inspiration, wherein dwelt a two-litre saloon so technically, dynamically and aesthetically modern that as a classic it is the darling of designers, internet creatives and architects to this day. I am firmly of the belief that the Rover P6 would never have existed were it not for Citroën’s visionary DS.
Somehow, Rover managed a kind of alchemy with the P6. The car appeared in 1963, to what Motor Sport described as a wildly enthusiastic reception. It was fresh and dynamic, thoroughly modern, yet as luxurious as one might expect of a Rover. Its long, low profile and generous glasshouse gave it a distinctly European air. This, its styling declared, was a Rover for a new age.
The interior backed up the impression. Gone were the timber, chrome and Smiths dials that adorned the cabins of its predecessors. Instead, the P6 had a linear, softtouch dash on which a line of switches was topped (on early cars) by a ribbon-style speedo. It had a deliciously plain twospoke steering wheel. The overriding impression was
of width, inviting a view over the bonnet into the sunlit uplands ahead. Comfortable seating was provided for four. I was highly excited by the idea of individual rear bucket seats as a boy who had to share the rear bench of a Dolomite Sprint with my irritating younger brother. Obviously, middle-aged me appreciates the Dolly’s practicality now, but the Rover’s cockpit was a fine achievement.
Mechanically, the P6 was pretty revolutionary. It had disc brakes all round, with the rears mounted inboard. Its front suspension positioned the springs up in the wings, pushing against the bulkhead. Meanwhile, the rear arrangement employed a De Dion axle and live couplings which kept the wheel camber constant. It wasn’t quite the magic carpet ride enjoyed by the Citroën DS, but, to borrow the words of legendary editor Bill Boddy in Motor Sport: ‘The ride and handling of the Rover 2000 can be confirmed as exceptional.’
Rover never fully developed the gas turbine engine – for which the P6 engine bay had been designed – for road use, but that unusual front suspension allowed the P6 engine bay sufficient width to take one had things turned out differently. It also enabled the use of Rover’s Buick-derived 3.5-litre V8, which was the most powerful engine option in the P6 range and a popular choice. That, however, would command more than our £6300 budget, closer to £10k for the same condition.
Still, opting for one packing a four-cylinder engine is no hardship at all. Developed for the P6, the 1978cc engine in the Rover 2000 was an interesting unit, with equal bore and stroke for smoothness. It had a flat head, with the combustion chambers cast into the pistons. The result was 104bhp. In 1966 Rover developed a twin-carb version, bringing power to 114bhp at 5500rpm, and giving 126lb. ft at 3500rpm. The 2000TC variant was popular, as it balanced price, performance and fuel efficiency better than the 3500 V8, as well as providing a more sportinglyengaging driver experience. As a classic, the 2000TC still achieves this. It is technically and dynamically a more interesting choice than the V8.
In 1973 the engine was bored out to 2205cc for the Rover 2200, giving peak power and higher torque at lower revs. Of them all, we think the pre-1973 – or Series 1 – 2000TC is currently exceptional value for money. It is less expensive than its most direct rival, the Triumph 2000 saloon, and although it has four cylinders rather than the Triumph’s six, it is arguably much more interesting and a more dynamic drive. Which brings me to one final note worth considering: a 2000TC costs a quarter of the price of a Citroën DS. Vive la différence.