[ Owning a Rover SD1]
Simon Dubois
Simon Dubois has owned a 2300 and a 2600, and now has a first-generation 3500 Vanden Plas. ‘The best bit is the engine,’ he says. ‘It’s a very special V8 – high-revving, and it sounds good.
‘The bodyshell cost me £3500 to have professionally restored. Parts availability depends on what you need; you can find engine or suspension parts, but more specific stuff such as the Series 1 electrical items and interior are non-existent new. Rimmer Brothers is the first place to look, but Turner is a specialist for the engine and Summit USA has electrical and other parts.
‘Budget £1200 a year, including insurance, annual fluid changing and replacement parts.’
Afonso Gomes
‘I bought mine from an ex-british police traffic officer who had retired to Cascais, Portugal,’ says Afonso. ‘He bought it as a runner and drove it down in just two days, and then found that the underneath wasn’t as solid as he first thought it was. He had to return to the UK before finishing it, so I bought it, with almost every part I needed in neatly labelled boxes. I’ve now returned it to semi-daily service and upgraded a few areas – the brakes, for example.
‘Stopping the trim coming off in the heat is a challenge, and replacement items are hard to find. I got lucky when I bought some replacement door cards at an autojumble in Germany for the equivalent of £20.
‘I pay the equivalent of about £1000 a year on maintenance – well worth it!’
Nicholas Winderton
Nicholas inherited his love of the Rover SD1 from his dad, who took him to British Touring Car Championship races in the Eighties. ‘My other car is an Audi RS7, which seems like a continuance of the SD1’S visual style. The SD1 is much cheaper to run though; I set aside £1200 a year which usually covers servicing, tax, insurance and so on.
‘Mine is a 2600 six-cylinder car, which I bought because of its condition. I spent a long time trying to find the right one in the right shade, and my perfect car was a lovely silver example that had lived on the Isle of Man since new – but the garage it was kept in had a tiny leak over the rear hatch, so the tailgate was rotten. I just happened to find a replacement on ebay for £70 in the right colour.’