A short work on the best and the worst of the Rover SD1, which is the late
model Rover Jody Levine _must_ be asking about.
But first, a few comments about the P6 Rovers. Andrew Templer has posted a
comment which was generally right on the money, except for a few
misconceptions about the P6s (more generally known as the 2000 SC, 2000 TC,
or 3500S). The only aluminum panels on the car were the hood (bonnet) and
trunk (boot) lid. The cars were very prone to rust in the front and rear
fenders, as well as the sills, but this was due to bad design in the
stampings. The beauty was that _all_ the body panels (including the roof!)
unbolted from the car and were easily replaced. And the De Dion rear
suspension never gave any trouble. Ever. (Okay, replacing the dust boot was
a hassel) :-( The rear brakes, being inboard discs, were something of a
bear to service. But then spend some time fixing the rear brakes on a Jag!
As you may of guessed, I am a huge P6 fan. Anyway, on to the SD1.
In a nutshell, the biggest problem with the SD1 was the build quality. To
be polite, it was the shits. BL was building on the cheap. This was the
time of the Austin Marina, don't forget. The other failing, IMHO, was the
general simplicity of the car. Rover regressed from a sophisticated
automobile to a McPherson front strut, solid rear axle platform.
The bright points of the machine included a nice cockpit, quite excellent
handling as long as the road didn't get too bumpy, an excellent 5-speed
trans and, of course, that V8.
I would buy one, provided I could get the service records and no rust was
evident. (BL's cheapness extended to thin sheet metal)
Good luck, Jody.
Yers,
Vern
_____________________________________________________________________
Vern Klukas I'm a little teapot
vernk@carver.dataflux.bc.ca or Short and...
ug141@freenet.victoria.bc.ca or
inkspot@carver.dataflux.bc.ca
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