A vital opportunity lost? In 1966, the Rover car company literally had the world at its feet: In the shape of the design team led by David Bache and engineering department headed up by Spen King, the company had arguably the strongest development team of any British car company in post-war automotive history. Rover was [...]

The supercar that never was… P9 Interior styling schemes In case you were in any doubt as to whether the P9 was investigated fully and readied for production, here’s the full-size interior mock-up for the promising mid-engined supercar. As can be seen by the detailing, it would have been a bang-up-to-date effort, and possessed plenty [...]

Styling models Styling sketches

Oh, so similar under the skin? THE conspiracy theory is a great thing, don’t you think? Usually conjured up by fertile imaginations, conspiracy theories are used to explain away conventional wisdoms, and in doing so, challenge what we hold close to our hearts as solid facts. Take for instance, the Rover 75 – for years [...]

The missing link ALTHOUGH the Rover P6 had been launched to ecstatic reviews in late-1963, the main gripe the media had about the car was the lack of refinement from its 1978cc four-cylinder engine. Existing Rover models such as the P4 and P5 had smoother six-cylinder engines, as indeed did the cars from Coventry upstart, [...]

By Julian Mounter Our Motoring Correspondent There is considerable disappointnent and some anger at Solihull over the decision of British Leyland to cancel the P8 car, Rover’s intended successor for the 3-5 litre model. Officially, the company is restricting comment to a four line statement which only hints at rationalization; but it is clear that [...]