Cousins reunited

In 2012, I persuaded a good friend of mine with long-term ownership of a Regal Deluxe Starlight Coupe to join the Rover P4 Guild Nationals at Gaydon, only a short drive from his home in Oxford. On a glorious day in May, the Coupe was displayed in a line-up of ‘Cyclops’ cars, giving most visitors that day their first chance to compare the two designs, side by side. Needless to say, the Bulletnose Coupe turned many heads at Gaydon that day, just as it would have done when it was seen for the first time. The Rover was always shorter than the Champion, and the main difference appears to be in the trunk – the Champion having a longer trunk. Both have stubby front ends, as when they were first introduced; however, note how additional inches at the front end have been added by the time of the 1950 model when the two cars are lined up together.