Not a lot of pictures of the R40's development programme have surfaced; mainly because Richard Woolley's 1993 design was considered so successful, it didn't change between the time the clay model was finalised, and the launch of the car five years later.
However, the interior was subject to a lot of soul searching, and two teams worked on competing designs. In the end, Wyn Thomas' more traditional theme won the day - and looking at the alternatives, it was a wise move...
| R40 clay models | |
In 1993 Richard Woolley presented three designs, with which Rover would need to replace the 600, 800 and 800 Coupe. In the end, it was only 'Core' - the 600 replacement - that was developed into production reality.
These two clay models depict the R40 in 1994 - an evolution of 'Core' - and after being signed off by management, it changed only in minor detail...
Scale model in clay being shaped by advanced CAD/CAM software. According to
one insider, Rover's design technology outstripped that of BMW at the time of
the takeover...
Full-size clay model has a very familiar look to it. This was produced in 1994,
and only minor details separate it from the finished article...
| R40 interior designs | |
Photo records of three schemes exist, and as can be seen, the best design prevailed...
Scheme One
A swoopy scheme with interesting use of a chrome nascelle at the top of the
centre console. It looked
good on paper, and the 'R O V E R' script on the dashboard looked pretty good.
The major substructure
looked the same as the second scheme (below), many elements of which made it
into production...
The sketches made it to the full-scale stage, but were eventually abandoned.
There's a pleasing
simplicity to this design, and the circular instruments look a little unusual
to today's 75 veterans...
Scheme Two
The 75's dashboard as we know and love it. Perhaps the pleated seats were too
much, but surely they
wouldn't be followed up?
...amazingly, they were. It's surprising just how fussy the pleats look today.
Getting there - the design is almost complete...
Interior imagery - old and new are compared, indicating retro was the preferred
route for Rover...
Scheme Three
There seems to be a lot of more traditional thinking here - there are Honda,
BMW and Land Rover
overtones. In the end, the design was rejected...
| Out testing... | |
The 75 went through a huge amount of pre-launch testing. Here's an early Tourer prototype spotted cold winter testing near Geneva in 1999...
(Picture: Ian Robertson)
| Feedback: | |
Thanks to Ian Robertson, Mike McCabe and other unnamed sources.