Talk Morgan Forums Community General Photo Gallery A bit of Rover History

The Rover empire, 1987. From Car magazine.

Hard to believe that was 30 years ago.

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Pity they just seemed to get the K series engines sorted , then went bump.

From memory we used to make radiators with...
Landrover....2000 per month
Mini (original) .....2840 per month.
SD1..... many variants based on engine size, oil coolers in bottom tank, aircon etc.
Metro......can't remember numbers.
acclaim.......1500 a month (ish).
After market for Morris 1000, Princess, Ambassador, Maxi, Maestro,, London Taxi, Caterham, JCB, Hyster, Bus and lorry rads several others.
Many specialist vehicles ( lots of military), non vehicle stationary engine coolers etc.
After market Ford, Vauxhall etc.
The OE schedule was on a JIT basis ( laughably managed at car assembly factories resulting in last minute emergency build changes to suit them.)
After leaving there I took an e-type rad in for a friend for refurb.
We even refurbed a Spitfire core block for the BoB flight.

Budster, I drove some V8 SD1's while there. An underestimated car due to that engine. The ones I drove were nice versions and well finished. Many managers had them as company cars. No Jags allowed though! Only the Jag people could have those.

Had a 2.6 auto SD1 in the early 80's. At 5 years old, the MOT tester said it was the first one he had seen of that vintage that had not needed new sills. Towing a trailer up a hill (1 horse) the back doors used to rattle.

My boss had one as a company car. Lifted the rear hatch to put the shopping in - it fell off.

The Farnell Power Supplies rep had a high spec 2.6 - he was applying his brakes one day on the M6 when everything stopped quickly. The seat came loose from the floor - as the SD1 was one of the first cars with. The seat belts integrated into the seat this was a problem. He very quickly got the lease terminated and himself into a Volvo.

Great shame - they looked great and drove well if a little thirsty. They just fell to bits very quickly.

But the 3.5 had a great engine left on the floor.

I remember what an impact the SD1 had when it first came out; it looked like a four door Ferrari Daytona. The only SD1s I've driven were both V8s - a V8-S and a Vitesse & I thought they were both tremendous. Such a shame that the build quality was so patchy; it could have been a real success.

But then the history of BL is such a litany of what might have been. They did produce their fair share of total and utter dogs, but also a number of promising cars (including the Stag and the SD1), but were let down by poor development and appalling quality control.

Consider where Triumph were in the 70s. They were one of the first manufacturers fitting fuel injection, their range included the 2500, a decently styled 6 cylinder sports saloon, the Dolomite Sprint offering some real oomph in a smaller package, the practical and elegant Stag, and the TR6 as an old school hairy chested sports car. If Triumph had been better managed it could have been occupying BMW's territory in the market place.

Mind you, Lord Stokes' concentration on Triumph at the expense of MG (which he neglected dreadfully, allowing it to wither on the vine) is among the worst mistakes made by BL's senior management. What a waste of a great brand.

I had a used SD1 2.6 from a garage that was not fit to service roller skates. I liked it a lot so bought a new 2.6 in 1982. This was inspected by the AA before I took delivery, they only found a couple of minor points. The dealer offered a free courtesy check after 3 months. They managed to bust the central locking. When I collected it there was silver spray mist on the front of my red car. They tried to polish it off & rubbed through to the undercoat. It went back to have the wing resprayed.
It failed to start once, other than that I dont remember any problems. I had a pair of wheels with winter tyres for the rear.
There used to be at least one company that would turn them into a "Ferrari"

Tim