1972 Rover - Austin P6 2000TC 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A car from the best of the old-school

Faults:

A 31-year old car...

So far.

A temperamental oil pressure gauge.

General Comments:

This is when the British car industry was at its best making very advanced cars for the time.

The 2000TC was only the one up from the lowest spec 2000 SC (Single Carb).

Yet, this car has...

All round disk brakes (servo assisted)

An instrumentation set that would shame a £40,000 BMW (Oil pressure, Electric Current, Temp, Oil Temp, Rev counter, Speedo, Trip, oil light, ignition light, choke light)

Not to mention a totally adjustable seating position and the steering wheel adjusts for rake.

Two different internal lighting set ups.

Intermittent wipers, electric screen washer jets.

Passenger heating vents and front and face vents, just behind the steering wheel.

In fact most of the mod-cons you'd find in a car today.

But it's when you drive it, you realise a lot of effort went into the suspension and handling. I failed to avoid a pothole and gritting my teeth expecting a almighty thunk, it rode over the pothole without so much as a dip or wobble. It's a very solid car with and incredibly stiff chassis and yet very supple and pliant suspension. I was aiming the thing at potholes just to feel how the 31-year old car could just traverse it without so much as a sound or shake.

The 2 litre twin carb engine can easily keep up with traffic, it's a bit gruff, but it a pleasant gruffness and happily cruises in 4th at 30mph at a meagre 1500 rpm.

A lot of car manufacturers today could learn a lot from a Rover P6.

To sum up the experience of driving the car for the first time, it was the most fun I'd had since I immediately passed my test.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd May, 2003

27th May 2004, 14:02

I enjoyed reading this review and agree with most of the observations, but I don't think the Austin reference is really quite correct. I've never seen or heard of these cars being referred to as Austins other than in this article.

Rover company wasn't part of British Leyland when they designed and built the P6's and the original Land Rovers. After they became part of the fold of the nationally owned company it's name at some point eventually changed from British Leyland to Austin Rover and then to Rover Group, which is now called MG Rover I think.

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1972 Rover - Austin P6 3500 3.5 litre V8 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Grab one while you can still find them

Faults:

In more than 5 years:

Voltage regulator replaced.

Alternator rebuilt.

Water pump replaced.

General Comments:

Nobody in 2001 buys a 30 year old Rover V8 as a practical and cheap to run family hack. These cars are getting pretty old, and need to be treated accordingly. Mine lives a somewhat cosseted life, I admit, but it has been a wonderful and rewarding car to own. There have been a number of minor niggles, but nothing no other car isn't likely to suffer from. For the last few years I have had late model company cars, and the Rover is still a treat to drive after any of these. It's comfortable, quiet, quick and a pleasure to drive. I'll never sell it. Grab one while you still can.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th July, 2001

16th Nov 2002, 08:10

I have read your above comments and totally agree. the P6 is a somewhat forgotten classic, and as a result are still really cheap. They look great, and the interior is of not bad quality (although I don't really like the blatantly plastic wood on mine). The performance (top speed is 104 mph for a 2000 and 126 for a 3500S) is really good and the economy was not bad for the time either. I can't wait to get my 2000 on the road again!

17th Jun 2006, 02:00

I owned a 1976 model P6B in Spanish Olive. When this car worked properly, it was fantastic. Very fast and once I got used to the body roll, the handling was good. The car looked really good and even today, still think it is an good example of a very stylish car. Unfortunately mine was plagued by problems with the brakes and body shudder. Despite having spent a lot on the brakes, they would still bind until the day I sold it. The body shudder, felt throught the steering was not to do with tyres, wheels or balance - I had all that replaced! My bank account just simply couldn't launch into another investigation, so I sold it.

I am never-the-less pleased to have owned one of these beautifully designed and technologically advanced cars.

I now own a Volvo 244DL. It doesn't have the speed or style of the Rover, but the reliability and low cost maintenance is fantastic!

In reply to 17th Jun 2006, 02:00

20th Jul 2012, 05:17

Your body shudder would be from a worn steering idler arm... or loose where it attaches to the bulkhead.