1984 Rover - Austin SD1 Vanden Plas 2.6
Summary:
Luxury bargain
Faults:
Rear self levelling shocks packed up.
Burst power steering hose.
General Comments:
I bought this car in November 1998 for the sum of £30. It had been sitting in a barn since October 1990 after the owner stopped driving. I put a battery on it and it started on the second turn of the key and I drove it home.
The bodywork after a good clean was near immaculate so no welding or repairs were needed.
I spent about £200 on exhaust/brake shoes and cylinders, cambelt and a few other bits that 8 years of neglect tend to destroy, and it passed its MOT first time.
I used it as a second car and it was a joy to drive - the handling made you think it was a much smaller car than it was, and although the acceleration would be leisurely at best, it would cruise at 90 mph all day if asked. However the brakes were adequate on a good day, and just poor on a bad one. I sold it just before the following MOT to an enthusiast for £275, and it is still on the road today.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 20th August, 2000
25th Oct 2008, 15:28
Well whats this all about, this car is great, it looks great, drives great and I want to have a other one in case this one is stolen or something. My one is a 2,600 silver manual gear box type. I drive it in Ireland and everyone thinks it's great. There was no other car like it.
10th Apr 2006, 04:13
This business of the brakes - or lack of, intermittently - is a surprising consistency.
Do they all do this? All of mine have, but even working properly the brakes are less than the performance of the car, and can be outright dangerous when system full on in "hissy fit". Hence full-on four disc -ventilated, upgrade diameters - enhancement.
Other thing is straight-line front end "plough" in braking, especially in wet, thus brake bias valve is up for some attention until system functions as it ought, although I have been told that reverse pressure bleeding of the rears produces an improvement you would not believe.
Have yet to see it.
Nonetheless a magic car. The (enhanced, headers, 3" system) engine note alone is worth the (meagre) entry cost, and yes, what else of that age still fits into traffic seamlessly, and if you stand on the throttle, leaves most of it somewhere back in the distance.
It's fun to play with FPV Falcon "Boss 260/290" GT's and V8 Holden "Commodes" with something probably as old, if not older, than the drivers are.