TWO-DOOR P5B FOR SALE
Show-stopping Rover will be auctioned next month
one-off Rover P5B A Coupé with two doors rather than four is going under the hammer next month.
Historics is selling the 1970 3.5-litre model – which was specially converted for the NEC’s classic car show back in 1994 – at its Mercedes-Benz World sale on 24 November with no reserve.
The H-registered car, which has 31,000 miles on the clock, was originally a white fourdoor Coupé, but former owner Ray Kendal rescued it after it was found in a back garden near the Forest of Dean. It was entrusted for restoration to West Midlands-based Rover specialist R J Spratley, who transformed it into a two-door version. During its outing at the NEC at the 1994 classic motor show, it picked up a trophy after impressing the event’s judges.
Historics described it as a unique opportunity for Rover fans to snap up a car they wished the manufacturer could have produced, but never did.
James Good, auction negotiator, said: ‘Four into two really does go! It’s a tribute to Richard Spratley’s skills that this venerable P5B – affectionately known as ‘Adam’ thanks to its registration – looks as though it should always have been offered as a two–door coupé by the factory.
‘Far from a simple task, it was crafted superbly and with its wonderful interior and excellent coachwork, promises the buyer a unique and highly rewarding ownership and driving experience.’
Mike Maher, chairman of the Rover Sports Register, said: ‘There’s a real undercurrent within the classic Rover movement for specially converted cars like these, so I reckon it will attract plenty of interest, although it’s difficult to say what it will go for.
‘There are a couple of twodoor cars out there, including a blue FLM Panelcraft-converted drophead that we’ve had on our stand at the NEC, but as it’s such a difficult job to convert these cars they’re few and far between.’ ❚ historics.co.uk