1976 Rover P6B V8 Goes for a Drive

My dad was a Production Superintendent on the P6 at Rover and had moved into the production planning office by about the time this particular car was built. I learnt to drive in his second P6, a 2200TC. Shortly after I passed my driving test I reversed the car off our drive one cold winter morning with full choke and my wet shoe (leather sole!) slipped off the clutch. Forward drive was thus engaged instantaneously with the result that the transmission shattered and I sat in the road going nowhere. Dad died in 1978 at the young age of 52 and hundreds turned out for his funeral. The Rover staff collection was so big that they ended up making a three foot high Rover badge of flowers as a wreath. It wouldn’t fit inside the hearse so we drove to the cemetery with it tied onto the roof. He loved working for Rover and he loved the P6 especially, so it was great to see this video. Many thanks. Someone else commented on the indicator sound which took me straight back to driving it as a youngster. The thin indicator and lighting stalks made me remember when I used to try to impress myself by smoking whilst driving. I have memories of a Hamlet cigar stroking the upholstery as I cornered with that big steering wheel… and the time I stuck fake scratches onto his new 2200’s front wing a few days after he got it home! There was a six month waiting list in those days.

Designed in an era when Rover was genuinely a quality manufacturer and also highly innovative, the P6 was way ahead of its time in all but one respect where it was woefully out of touch with the future. And that was the controls, which were designed with Haptics in mind; in other words they were made to be distinguishable by touch alone so you could concentrate on the road ahead. If only the designers had known that the future was touchscreens where you have no sense of what you are doing unless you take your eyes off the road for several seconds at a time just to change the temperature. I can understand why they thought that such controls were a safety innovation, but they were obviously completely wrong.

The car the bank manager drove to work and the bank robbers fled in, probably being chased by one in police livery. So many used on TV in the 70s, leaning on their door handles, smoking tyres. Peak Rover.

A long lived design, and rightly so. It was highly regarded in the 60s and 70s as a reliable, solid, comfortable, stylish and desirable car.

The only thing better than a late P6 Rover V8 is a early Rover P6 with a strip speedo and a spare wheel mounted on the boot as to me that’s pure perfection. We really did know how to screw together a luxury saloon back in the day with the P6 and the Triumph 2000 being two of the most beautiful looking large saloons ever produced. My Dad always liked a Rover and had a nice Rover P6 2000 tc and nearly got his dream V8 but it got written off the night before he picked it up and it was his dream car and always regretted not getting that burgundy late R plate V8 and I can still remember that lovely smell when you opened the door up to the pure luxury of a P6.

My dear friend, this is such a great and 'appropriate' video... I have just paid my deposit over a really rather amazing 1972 V8 auto, in mexico brown over a pristine buckskin interior, coupled to sundym glasses, ETs and power steering... This will complement my much-loved 1974 2200TC in cameron green, Lady Margaret, whom I have had for almost 20 years... The P6 is my top favourite all time classic... I have been loving it desperately ever since I was a little boy, and now driving it makes me a very happy (and fortunate) man. There's no more rewarding car really...

My favourite teacher ever had a 3.5 litre V8. I loved her and love her to this day

I would be delighted to own a P6. I remember seeing them here in the US when I was young, and I admired them even then. Oddly, one of my favorite features is the green switches on the dash.

Lovely to see this video, it really brought me back. I had a Rover 2000TC, which I absolutely loved, but always wanted the V8. Sadly, my love affair with the 2000TC was cut short when my wife rolled it on a dirt road in rural Victoria, Australia. She fell into a deep ditch and landed on the roof, squashing it down to the dashboard. Luckily she is only 5'1" tall, so came out of it without a scratch.

That’s the most enthused I’ve ever heard you about a car , your definitely a font of information on P6 and your 20+ years of owning one shows. I would have been one of those peasants in the 70s you would have blasted out the way 😂 as you wafted by. Really enjoyed this video Matt , great stuff , oh and the sound of indicators is a memory you never forget 👌🏻.

Pulls fuel reserve instead of choke by mistake, then talks about fuel reserve and points at the choke by mistake 😂😂 Love the review though Mat, keep it up!

I remember seeing a final version of the P6 at a car show a few years ago. It had the Webasto full roof and cream leather interior with a Royal Blue finish. Absolute beauty

I can testify how great the rear suspension is. I was driving a P6 and overtaking at high speed on a B or even C grade road. And the car was on the very rough edges of the road, and that rear hung on like it was on rails. I miss mine.

23:55 This must be one of the last 4-door cars made with opening rear vent windows (not counting the ones GM and Chrysler offered, for a short time, in place of roll-down windows). What an interesting combination of old-school luxury and innovative technology. I'm glad someone is preserving cars like this.

Took my driving test in my Dad's P6 with a manual gear box. Very posh but a 3 point turn was a challenge. Those were the days.

What a nice motor, and a great review Mr Richards, The P5 and P6 were great cars, they were the BMW/Audi type choice of the 60’s. If you couldn’t afford a Jag and you didn’t want a Triumph you went for a P6.

When I was a kid, I did think of these cars nice but rusty specially in the wings. But you have convinced me they were brilliant Car. Of course this is a proper Rover which is still going today not the Longbridge namesake.Thank you very much

I do love a P6B. The P5B, P6 and SD1 were very different cars representing different periods of Rover. Constantly re inventing themselves even with the SD3 and R8. Rover were masters of making interesting cars regardless of budget.

Also worth a mention is the very high quality of the interior plastics. Even in the Australian climate, any degradation of the plastics, (vinyl dash top aside) is very much the exception rather than the rule. The reverse of course applies to the SD1.

Growing up as a child of the 70s this was one of my favourite cars and remains so. Definitely the British Citroen DS in terms of engineering excellence and ride/handling. What a car! Love the P5B too !!