1969 Rover - Austin P5B 3.5 review from Australia and New Zealand

Everything.

Cam followers on the motor.

Carby problems with the third carb used as the choke carb.

Gearbox failure.

Diff failure.

My brother bought this car as my father had bought a Rover 3 litre and was so happy with it. However it had spent its early years as a ministerial car in the Cook Islands, and while the body was in good condition with only one small spot of rust behind the rear door (repaired at little cost), the mechanics for such a low mileage car were in a terrible state. The engine was very choked up due to only doing small trips around a small island and the gearbox was crook as well.

The diff got noisy, which was a bit of a surprise as they generally only give up due to high mileage.

He tried to keep it on the road, but as the costs mounted up he realized that it was going to be a constant problem due to the lack of servicing the car had had. He sold it and horror upon horror, bought a late seventies Vauxhall Viva that was too cheap to run... a bit of a contrast.

The Rover was a luxurious handsome car and went better when running than the 3 litre, but I think that the magic of the 3 litre 6 motor was better. A good effort, but the V8 motors needed servicing religiously.