Today, name a car within the exclusive four-door coupé segment and the first thing that comes to mind is the Mercedes-Benz CLS, a BMW 6 Gran Coupé or the Audi A7. The niche market has been around for some time, to be precise from 1962, when the Rover P5B Coupé was introduced. It may well be one of the most beautiful cars ever built. That is why we are pleased that Bart Spijker was happy to participate in a report. Because he has the Rover P5B Coupé. Right, the one with the famous and extremely strong Rover V8 engine. It was an impressive experience, accompanied by special stories.
In 1958 the stately Rover P5 was introduced at Earls Court. With Rover's new flagship, Solihull returned to the upper echelons of the car market. The large and stately Rover was rock solid and (later) became the favorite transport of British Prime Ministers and royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher.
Designed by stature men
The P5 got was signed by David Bache, while the monocoque body (the first from Rover) was designed by Spen King and Gordon Bashford, men of stature who were also important in the development of the later Range Rover. The P5 debuted with an 2995cc version of the famous inlet-over-exhaust engine. Rover started using it with the P3 for the first time. The engine in the P5 was in fact a further development of the 2.6 liter engine from the P4, which still strongly relied on the concept that debuted in the old P3. The P5 was continuously sharpened with upgrades such as the more powerful 'Weslake Head' version.
The arrival of the Coupé
A highlight was the arrival of the beautiful coupé, which was already sketched by David Bache at the 1958 introduction of the P5. The coupe only came on the market in 1962 as the first four-door coupé. The change of 1967 was an important one for the P5 and the P5 Coupé, when the modified ex-Buick V8 (Buick 215 engine, 3532 cc) debuted in the P5. From that moment it was called Rover P5B. The B stood for Buick. Thanks to ingenious modifications, the engine was more powerful and more economical than the retired 3 liter version. The P5B ended its career with the 3.5 liter engine in 1973 as the P5B, also because British Leyland - to which Rover now belonged - gave the internally competing Jaguar range priority in the development strategy. A total of 5 copies of all P69.141 versions were built. The Rover P5B Coupé Coupé had an important share with 9099 (pieces).
The Rover P5B Coupé from Bart Spijker, a great story
And Bart Spijker has such a car. He bought his 5 Rover P1969B Coupé in 2001, after a search through various channels. The story about the car, its history and the reason for the purchase are special in several respects. The owner has now completed a few restorations and his Rover looks beautiful. Not only is it a beautiful appearance cosmetically, the right-hand drive Rover with the fine 3532 cc engine also looks good from a technical point of view, as we noticed during the report.
The most beautiful Rover ever. Rarely have stateliness, elegance and sportiness been combined in such a sublime way.