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Bernard · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 19:46 #1

Shortly after I had passed my driving test I drove an old Rover belonging to an aged relative.

I have never been able to identify it and I never saw a similar model then or since that time.

To me then, still in the 6th form at school, it was just an old Rover. I was far more interested in the latest news from Longbridge where there were rumours of a new miniature car about to be announced. This was 1959 after all!

Anyway, back to this car. It was a sports saloon, quite low slung and rakish in profile. A bit like this picture of the Speed 14, but only at the front.

Rover Speed 14.jpg

It was not streamlined at the rear but had the typical Rover spare wheel shaped boot, a bit like this picture. Ignore the rest of the shape of the rear, this is the best pic that I could find of the boot.

Rover_75_P3_(4) rear view.jpg

I've looked through hundreds of photos while I've been idling at home the last few days but cannot find the right car as I remember it. It's niggled me since the old boy part-exed it for an Austin Cambridge!

Trebor · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 20:05 #2

try this Bernard

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/photos-c ... ine_38.htm

Trebor · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 20:20 #3

orv this one

http://www.cumbriaclassiccoaches.co.uk/rover_14.asp

Bernard · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 20:37 #4

Trebor wrote:orv this one

http://www.cumbriaclassiccoaches.co.uk/rover_14.asp

No, nothing like that. 'Mine' was very low slung and really quite racy looking even by 1960.
I suppose we would call it a coupe these days. The car on your first post is the same car as in my photo and the Sport 12 is just too old-fashioned looking.

I did read somewhere of a limited edition, 4 off I think, of a sports saloon that sounded right. No photos though and needless to say, I can't find it again now.

Trebor · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 20:38 #5

ok I will try and find you the holy grail instead might be easier !

takestock · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 21:01 #6

I have asked PaulG who should know

Mick · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 21:29 #7

Could it be the P2?

rover_p_2.jpg

Bernard · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 21:31 #8

takestock wrote:I have asked PaulG who should know

I hope so.

I certainly can remember the interior being very similar to this with the freewheel device but with Jaeger instrumentation...

rover 14 interior.jpg

and the colour was this super light grey..

rover grey.jpg

This looks a bit big overall but the proportions are more like it with the rather low windows. A shame there are not more photos from other angles.

rover speed 20.jpg

Bernard · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 22:02 #9

Mick wrote:Could it be the P2?
rover_p_2.jpg

Who would have thought that they made so many models?

That looks too modern somehow but on the right lines.

I remember louvres in the bonnet and a ventilation flap each side in the scuttle too.

Actually having thought about it, I reckon that they were not louvres but flaps that could be manually opened and closed.

geesmith · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 23:04 #10

Aha, flaps you could open manually....got me thinking where did i last see those?

Mick · Posted 24 Sep 2010, 23:40 #11

A rather fetching P2 Type 12 Cabriolet

AM-41-92.jpg

PaulG · Posted 27 Sep 2010, 08:25 #12

It sounds like you were using either a P3 or more likely P2 Rover Sports Saloon. They were produced in a number of different models, based on engine size. When I get chance I'll have a bit of a dig for some photos.

This is a P3 four light (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Sports Saloon) from 1948 - the first Rover 75.

You show a picture of a red 20 - as you suggest this is too big I suspect it will have either been a 14 or 16, but there are several body styles for each of those so I'll have to see what I can turn up for you.
Regards
Paul

PaulG · Posted 27 Sep 2010, 08:44 #13

Sorry Bernard,
Should have asked before, was it a two door or four, and did it have two windows on each side or three? That should help me narrow down the search.

Bernard · Posted 27 Sep 2010, 08:55 #14

PaulG wrote:It sounds like you were using either a P3 or more likely P2 Rover Sports Saloon. They were produced in a number of different models, based on engine size. When I get chance I'll have a bit of a dig for some photos.

This is a P3 four light (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Sports Saloon) from 1948 - the first Rover 75.

You show a picture of a red 20 - as you suggest this is too big I suspect it will have either been a 14 or 16, but there are several body styles for each of those so I'll have to see what I can turn up for you.
Regards
Paul

Thanks Paul.
It was certainly not a big car. I have a vague memory of the driver's seat being taken out for some reason one day and one of his sons perching on the back seat to drive it round the farmyard.
He was 6ft 8ins tall though!

It was very low, sleek and sporty looking. The actual model variant must have been quite rare because I never knowingly noticed another, ever.

Definitely only a 4-light but I'm fairly certain that it had 4 doors but not 100% sure now after looking at so many photos!

Of course, I realise that being in a different colour can greatly affect the appearance of a car.

Some of the owner's offspring are still alive. The youngest is nearly 80 years old. I wonder if any of them has a photo? It's possible at a wedding or something I guess. Nobody then would think to photograph a car, certainly not a farmer.

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Who are the Rover historians? by Bernard