Hooniverse Weekend Edition – A Missed Opportunity on a 1969 Rover P6 2000 TC

Jim Brennan

/comment

Comments


Well, if you were looking for your next project car hell, and you specifically wanted a Rover P6, you missed your opportunity to own one on the cheap. So, why the hell am I telling you this now? Ahh, you will have to make the jump for that bit of information….


This is a Rover P6 2000 TC. The TC was specifically built for export markets because of the the redesigned induction manifold needed for the twin SU carburetors and this version was not available within the UK. According to the posting:

This Rover has many new and rebuilt items: water pump, generator, rear brakes, rebuilt fuel pump, rebuilt carbs. This would make an excellent restoration project or parts car. Needs carbs to be installed and front brake work, otherwise motor is in sound working order. Needs extensive floor repair where the floor pan meets the side sill. Great parts availability in the UK and most body panels are available. The interior is red vinyl and is cracking in places. As long as I have had the car it has always been stored indoors and never driven in winter. Have owned this car for 18 years and am the second family to have owned the car since new.
1969 Rover
I also have a large amount of spare and NOS parts that will go along with the car.


The car was sold for $405.00. You may start kicking yourself now…. This car included a lot of rebuilt parts. Any competent mechanic should be able to get this car running, because there isn’t any complicated electronics. Think of the challenge of tuning a car with twin SU Carburetors, and keeping the Lucas electrics functioning. But you didn’t take up the challenge, so it’s your loss. See the eBay listing here.
hat tip: Jason

About

Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

  1. CJinSD Avatar
    CJinSD

    The 2000TC(twin carburetor) was actually made available in the UK starting in October of 1966. It was originally offered only in export markets as intake manifold availability ramped up, but the supply was there by late 1966. I'm not sure this car will count as a missed opportunity to too many people familiar with P6s. At $405 it seems like an expensive parts car. Maybe a LeMons team will have picked it up. It would be nice if an IOE contender showed up with a less than five figure budget.

    Reply
    1. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
      Rust-MyEnemy

      I believe that the Police used the TC until the V8 arrived in '68. Superb, and if you exorcise it of Lucas demons, they can almost even be made reliable. But not enough to become boring.

      Reply
      1. CJinSD Avatar
        CJinSD

        The P6 was the best and worst of British cars. It actually had a lot of novel engineering for a car from the land that barely mastered tube shocks and 5-speed transmissions before their auto industry crumbled, but most of the ones that made it here seem to have embodied the absolute worst aspects of British car ownership. I think it was Jamie Kitman who wrote a story I read about 2000 TC ownership. He had all the usual problems, and one day he found himself at wit's end in his dead Rover sitting in an intersection in the pouring rain when someone stopped next to him, rolled down his window, and gave him hope. The potential samaritan asked, "Is that a Rover 2000 TC?" Yes! It is, maybe divine inspiration has sent help to the British car victim. "I had one of those!" "They suck!" Then he drove off.

        Reply
        1. tonyola Avatar
          tonyola

          Car and Driver magazine gave the P6 3500 rave reviews when it was introduced to the US for 1970. Later the magazine said that this was one of the biggest blunders it ever made. Had it been decently reliable, it would have been a wonderful car. It disappeared in 1971. Rover tried again with the SD1 3500 in 1980. It too ended up being a disaster and was gone from the US market in less than a year.

          Reply
          1. CJinSD Avatar
            CJinSD

            'Drive', the magazine of the British Automobile Association awarded a trophy to a Rover P6 3500 as the worst new car in England. It reported that a Rover 3500 purchased in 1974 had covered 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers) during its first six months, during which period it had consumed three engines, two gear boxes, two clutch housings and needed a complete new set of electrical cables. The car had spent 114 of its first 165 days in a workshop. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_P6#cite_note-A…

        2. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
          Rust-MyEnemy

          It was inded one of those cars that had a lot of plaudits when it first arrived, and then didn't really live up to the hype.The De Dion rear end was terrific, and Ralph Nader cited it as an example of "how all cars should be built".
          The rep didn't last for long, though…

          Reply
          1. CJinSD Avatar
            CJinSD

            Of course Ralph Nader thought the P6 exemplified how all cars should be built, it almost never ran. Leftists hate the freedom that automobiles provide, and the Rover provided almost none of it.

          2. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
            Rust-MyEnemy

            Nicely played sir!

          3. Maymar Avatar
            Maymar

            Hey look! Someone spilled needlessly partisan politics in my Hooniverse!

  2. Van Sarockin Avatar
    Van Sarockin

    A friends family had one of these. It looked great in dark blue. They really liked it. I never saw it move from its spot in the driveway.

    Reply
  3. facelvega Avatar
    facelvega

    A dozen rags to supplement the functionality of the head gasket was standard equipment for a P6, and actually fit quite well with the engineering as the head gasket itself was made of terrycloth and herringbone tweed.
    Always preferred the P6 to the easy choice P5 and the supposedly interesting SD1. The first thing I would do on this car after taking a course in automotive welding would be to scour junkyards for a junked low-mileage Range Rover to get the Buick V8 (and the transmission) and make it into a P6 3500. $15,000 dollars later, I'd have a Brit classic that was in every way inferior to a well looked-after $5k early XJ6.

    Reply
    1. tonyola Avatar
      tonyola

      A P5 would actually be quite cool – particularly the 3500 versions. I've never seen one in the US and I doubt many were ever sold here. It's got that British staid old-school wood and leather charm, so it'll still be imposing and proper-looking even when it's not running (which will probably be frequently).
      <img src="http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/uploads/cars/rover/1719681.jpg&quot; width=500>

      Reply
      1. facelvega Avatar
        facelvega

        I once briefly thought a P5 3.5 litre would be my ideal sedan. Now I think if I ever want a tasteful early-60s cruiser, I'll get a Studebaker, or strictly among European cars, a Peugeot 404 or an Amazon. All are ultimately more interesting cars than the Rover in my book both in terms of design and engineering, and all would be vastly more practical to keep running.

        Reply
        1. Joe Dunlap Avatar
          Joe Dunlap

          What? how can you say its less interesting that those you listed. A car with horizontal front springs operating through rocker arms and anchored at the A-pillar? Keep in mind, I said "interesting", not wise. 🙂

          Reply
          1. mdharrell Avatar
            mdharrell

            Sounds a bit like the setup on my KVs. As far as that goes, you've also described their rear suspensions, with the substitution of "C-pillar" as the anchor point.
            <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5442740495_4911aae58b.jpg&quot; width="450">

          2. facelvega Avatar
            facelvega

            that looks like a terrible idea. Where can I get one?

          3. mdharrell Avatar
            mdharrell

            Right now? France:
            http://www.leboncoin.fr/collection/131106759.htm?…
            or, if you prefer, France:
            http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/164913076.htm?ca…

          4. facelvega Avatar
            facelvega

            okay, now I want one even more
            <img src="http://193.164.196.30/images/770/7703102883.jpg&quot; width="500">

    2. skitter Avatar
      skitter

      I saw a P6 on the interstate about a week ago. It was deeply cool where a P5 would have merely been notable.

      Reply
      1. facelvega Avatar
        facelvega

        Exactly. Some cars are liked by both car guys/gals and by their moms. Some are liked only by the car guys. The superior choice in our world is always the one that the common man doesn't yet know to appreciate. Which is not to say I'd turn down a good deal on a P5 if it fell across my path.

        Reply
  4. CptSevere Avatar
    CptSevere

    I only have trucks, and feel the need for a sedan. After all this, the '64 Chevy Impala four door at the gas station down the street looks even more appealing. It has a 283 and a Powerglide, no rust, is bone stock, and is not for sale because it was left to the owner's wife by her late uncle, who said it was not to be sold. It sits there, but we can rest assured that it runs and drives just fine. But not by me, dammit.

    Reply