This is officially the oldest (and rustiest, barring the spares 1500 I shredded) car I've ever owned - 41 years young. It's a 1968 Rover P5B Coupe, one of the early ones with many desireable touches compared to it's later brothers.
It's got 3 previous owners and has been in a lockup for the past 19 years - as well as seemingly standing for a long time before that.
When it arrived, we shunted it off the transporter and he left me to my own devices. Firstly, I just sat there, confused by the rather radically laid out controls. Knobs, buttons, sliders and dials everywhere. The handbrake's an umbrella under the steering wheel on the right hand side, there's no steering lock and the ignition key goes in a tiny little barrel to the right of the rev counter.
Remarkably, with a little choke (and after faffing around with the keys for a few minutes, the barrel's loose so it's a case of rotating it and then some) it fired right up and sat there whispering away. I had only a short drive to get to grips with it, just to our hard standing - during which there were no odd groans, creaks or crashing but it does pull a little under braking, which is understandable really due to it's long time standing.
The power steering is almost fingerlight which is remarkable, you really do waft along and everyone remarked at how prestigous it looked cruising down the road.
Today, due to vistors, I got nothing other than the chance to catalogue the car photographically - at least, the important bits. Consider them 'before' shots, if I do something with it. Tomorrow I will start in earnest on it and I might actually get it down the drive so I can take some 'proper' shots of it, instead of the rather squashed photography from it sat on the hard standing.
So, for the meantime, the guided tour of HMS P5B. Apologies for the wall of photos and not much text - it's been a long week and I've yet to collect my thoughts, so the balance will be restored soon
I have to say I hadn't really clocked the colour when I'd been looking at it previously, I thought it was a lot greyer but it certainly is admiralty blue in the harsh light of day!
Externally, well - the car isn't actually that bad. Yes, it's very faded, the paint's had it in places as it's been resprayed in some areas and the new paint hasn't taken well, so has cracked or lifted - but it's all there.
The main issue is the condition of the doors. The rear passenger side door has totally had it, it's just gone - so I'll have to source a replacement for that.
The trim is mostly fine. There is some pitting on the chrome but the majority of the P5's trim is stainless steel - and as such weathers the progress of time with ease, hence the shine.
One wierd thing is the state of the window rubbers (and some other strips on the car). It's literally melted away and I can't figure out what happened to it. I know this thing is old (41) but it seems an odd decay process. Maybe it was left standing in the sun for ages and it did just melt it, or maybe it was stored somewhere chemicals (as I swear it was ash on the roof) were present?
This is the front windscreen one, which is just perished (but again in an odd way):
These will be replaced I think - I'd like to get the exterior of it waterproof as that's half the battle to protecting the thing for the future and makes it much more presentable and much nicer to own - no damp cockpits or steamy windows.
Boot's pretty good although the underside edge of the lid needs a bit of love. There's some holes in the inside panelling on the RHS too but I'm not sure how important that is at the moment:
The roof's come up a treat now I've roughly cleaned it - still to T-cut and polish it but it's looking good so far:
Underneath the car looks really good, to be fair. There's some surface rust as you'd expect but the only 'funky' part I've found is the rear driver's side spring hanger, it looks like a battery's leaked into that area and consequently caused some nasty live active rust.
Powersteering, woo!
Bit of metal missing here - rear valance is really quite tatty but a replacement panel is only £50. Spring hanger looks OK but will prod around a bit more tomorrow when I get it up on the ramps.
Those two big pipes carry water to the rear heater - yes, the passengers have their own controllable water heater for the rear seats, as well as individual volume controls. Luxury!
Under the bonnet is well, to be frank, excellent. Everything's seemingly been well preserved and someone's spent some time looking after it - new plugs, leads, cap, alternator, radiator, hoses, fresh fluids - these kind of things.
It's the early high-compression 10.5:1 215ci (3.5 litre) Rover V8, so makes a moderate 160BHP and 210ft.lb, enough to slingshot the 1600kg beast to 60 in around 11 seconds.
Plenty of fuses:
......but yea, the underbonnet area is really very good:
A bit of damage to the insulating pad but hey, not bad for it's age.
Internally it's just really dirty - and there is some light damage but nothing that can't be recovered, cleaned or reattached. Unfortunately most of the silencing and weatherproofing strips have had it, so they will need replacing and work. Certainly not the end of it, mind, just something that will make it a hundred times nicer when done.
Adjustable armrests?
Oh yes!
Headlining's good:
As are the rear seats & the picnic tray/drinks holder:
Check out the bolster depth!
Reserve fuel? Oh yes! All mod cons
Pull-out (from the dash) picnic tray is there too:
Which for some reason contains...
Gotta love all this minor detailing too:
What happened to this company, seriously? All this design, detail, high build quality and comfort and it just seems to have evaporated into nothingness. Crying shame!
Rear heater and speaker controls (all very dirty, as is the whole interior. Never been cleaned I think and just sat):
Umbrella handbrake is fun:
The clincher?
Survey says, so far, possibly!
Oh and here's a quiz for you - what's odd here (barring the hideous carpet which I will soon be putting straight):
Ten internets to who works out what great feature is stashed in this shot!
Tomorrow I will T-cut, wax and polish the paint in order to give it a little protection and life, as well as treating and priming any exposed rust spots on the surface in order to preserve the outer panels. I will also set about cleaning the interior (as it's scummy for the most part) and doing some minor fettling.
Unfortunately I didn't get any 'before' shots, I set straight about washing it as it arrived late and I just wanted to get the worst of the grime off it. The silver roof came up a treat, as did all the trim.
That's what it looks like when wet- and the kind of colour it should be!
After that, the mechanical and bodywork will start. Firstly, get it running really smoothly and make sure everything's "safe" (lights, fuel lines, brake lines, fluids etc) and then book it for an MOT. That way they can tell me what needs doing - and I can go from there!
Should be........fun! ;D
It's got 3 previous owners and has been in a lockup for the past 19 years - as well as seemingly standing for a long time before that.
The final iteration of the P5 appeared in 1967. Now powered by the 3.5 L (3528 cc, 215 cu in) Rover V8 engine also used in the 3500, the car was commonly known as the 3½ Litre. The final letter in the "P5B" model name came from Buick, the engine's originator. Rover did not have the budget or time to develop such engines hence they chose to redevelop the lightweight aluminium concept Buick could not make successful. They made it considerably stronger which added some weight but still maintained the engines light and compact features. The Borg Warner Type-35 automatic transmission and power steering were now standard.
The exterior was mostly unchanged, apart from bold '3.5 Litre' badging, a pair of fog lights which were added below the head lights, creating a striking 4 light array, additionally chrome Rostyle wheels with black painted inserts were fitted. The P5B existed as both the 4-door coupe and saloon body style until end of production. 9,099 coupés and 11,501 saloons had been built when the P5 series ended in 1973.
The 3½ Litre saloon variant was a favourite of high-ranking Government Ministers, and served as Prime-Ministerial transport for Wilson, Heath, Callaghan and Thatcher. As testament to their value, the last batch of P5Bs to roll off the Rover line were reserved for government use, and they were still familiar sights in Westminster for more than a decade after production had ended.
When Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street in 1979 after her election victory, she was driven in a 1972 model- and it was during Thatcher's eleven year tenure that the P5 was eventually phased out as a Prime-Ministerial car, in favour of the Jaguar XJ. During Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister, she ordered a dozen black Rover P5s, so that no-one in the government would be driven around in the new Rover SD1.
The Queen also used to own an Arden Green Rover P5B Saloon 'JGY 280K' which is on display at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire and was seen in the May 18th, 2003 episode of BBC motoring show, Top Gear.
The exterior was mostly unchanged, apart from bold '3.5 Litre' badging, a pair of fog lights which were added below the head lights, creating a striking 4 light array, additionally chrome Rostyle wheels with black painted inserts were fitted. The P5B existed as both the 4-door coupe and saloon body style until end of production. 9,099 coupés and 11,501 saloons had been built when the P5 series ended in 1973.
The 3½ Litre saloon variant was a favourite of high-ranking Government Ministers, and served as Prime-Ministerial transport for Wilson, Heath, Callaghan and Thatcher. As testament to their value, the last batch of P5Bs to roll off the Rover line were reserved for government use, and they were still familiar sights in Westminster for more than a decade after production had ended.
When Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street in 1979 after her election victory, she was driven in a 1972 model- and it was during Thatcher's eleven year tenure that the P5 was eventually phased out as a Prime-Ministerial car, in favour of the Jaguar XJ. During Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister, she ordered a dozen black Rover P5s, so that no-one in the government would be driven around in the new Rover SD1.
The Queen also used to own an Arden Green Rover P5B Saloon 'JGY 280K' which is on display at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire and was seen in the May 18th, 2003 episode of BBC motoring show, Top Gear.
When it arrived, we shunted it off the transporter and he left me to my own devices. Firstly, I just sat there, confused by the rather radically laid out controls. Knobs, buttons, sliders and dials everywhere. The handbrake's an umbrella under the steering wheel on the right hand side, there's no steering lock and the ignition key goes in a tiny little barrel to the right of the rev counter.
Remarkably, with a little choke (and after faffing around with the keys for a few minutes, the barrel's loose so it's a case of rotating it and then some) it fired right up and sat there whispering away. I had only a short drive to get to grips with it, just to our hard standing - during which there were no odd groans, creaks or crashing but it does pull a little under braking, which is understandable really due to it's long time standing.
The power steering is almost fingerlight which is remarkable, you really do waft along and everyone remarked at how prestigous it looked cruising down the road.
Today, due to vistors, I got nothing other than the chance to catalogue the car photographically - at least, the important bits. Consider them 'before' shots, if I do something with it. Tomorrow I will start in earnest on it and I might actually get it down the drive so I can take some 'proper' shots of it, instead of the rather squashed photography from it sat on the hard standing.
So, for the meantime, the guided tour of HMS P5B. Apologies for the wall of photos and not much text - it's been a long week and I've yet to collect my thoughts, so the balance will be restored soon
I have to say I hadn't really clocked the colour when I'd been looking at it previously, I thought it was a lot greyer but it certainly is admiralty blue in the harsh light of day!
Externally, well - the car isn't actually that bad. Yes, it's very faded, the paint's had it in places as it's been resprayed in some areas and the new paint hasn't taken well, so has cracked or lifted - but it's all there.
The main issue is the condition of the doors. The rear passenger side door has totally had it, it's just gone - so I'll have to source a replacement for that.
The trim is mostly fine. There is some pitting on the chrome but the majority of the P5's trim is stainless steel - and as such weathers the progress of time with ease, hence the shine.
One wierd thing is the state of the window rubbers (and some other strips on the car). It's literally melted away and I can't figure out what happened to it. I know this thing is old (41) but it seems an odd decay process. Maybe it was left standing in the sun for ages and it did just melt it, or maybe it was stored somewhere chemicals (as I swear it was ash on the roof) were present?
This is the front windscreen one, which is just perished (but again in an odd way):
These will be replaced I think - I'd like to get the exterior of it waterproof as that's half the battle to protecting the thing for the future and makes it much more presentable and much nicer to own - no damp cockpits or steamy windows.
Boot's pretty good although the underside edge of the lid needs a bit of love. There's some holes in the inside panelling on the RHS too but I'm not sure how important that is at the moment:
The roof's come up a treat now I've roughly cleaned it - still to T-cut and polish it but it's looking good so far:
Underneath the car looks really good, to be fair. There's some surface rust as you'd expect but the only 'funky' part I've found is the rear driver's side spring hanger, it looks like a battery's leaked into that area and consequently caused some nasty live active rust.
Powersteering, woo!
Bit of metal missing here - rear valance is really quite tatty but a replacement panel is only £50. Spring hanger looks OK but will prod around a bit more tomorrow when I get it up on the ramps.
Those two big pipes carry water to the rear heater - yes, the passengers have their own controllable water heater for the rear seats, as well as individual volume controls. Luxury!
Under the bonnet is well, to be frank, excellent. Everything's seemingly been well preserved and someone's spent some time looking after it - new plugs, leads, cap, alternator, radiator, hoses, fresh fluids - these kind of things.
It's the early high-compression 10.5:1 215ci (3.5 litre) Rover V8, so makes a moderate 160BHP and 210ft.lb, enough to slingshot the 1600kg beast to 60 in around 11 seconds.
Plenty of fuses:
......but yea, the underbonnet area is really very good:
A bit of damage to the insulating pad but hey, not bad for it's age.
Internally it's just really dirty - and there is some light damage but nothing that can't be recovered, cleaned or reattached. Unfortunately most of the silencing and weatherproofing strips have had it, so they will need replacing and work. Certainly not the end of it, mind, just something that will make it a hundred times nicer when done.
Adjustable armrests?
Oh yes!
Headlining's good:
As are the rear seats & the picnic tray/drinks holder:
Check out the bolster depth!
Reserve fuel? Oh yes! All mod cons
Pull-out (from the dash) picnic tray is there too:
Which for some reason contains...
Gotta love all this minor detailing too:
What happened to this company, seriously? All this design, detail, high build quality and comfort and it just seems to have evaporated into nothingness. Crying shame!
Rear heater and speaker controls (all very dirty, as is the whole interior. Never been cleaned I think and just sat):
Umbrella handbrake is fun:
The clincher?
Survey says, so far, possibly!
Oh and here's a quiz for you - what's odd here (barring the hideous carpet which I will soon be putting straight):
Ten internets to who works out what great feature is stashed in this shot!
Tomorrow I will T-cut, wax and polish the paint in order to give it a little protection and life, as well as treating and priming any exposed rust spots on the surface in order to preserve the outer panels. I will also set about cleaning the interior (as it's scummy for the most part) and doing some minor fettling.
Unfortunately I didn't get any 'before' shots, I set straight about washing it as it arrived late and I just wanted to get the worst of the grime off it. The silver roof came up a treat, as did all the trim.
That's what it looks like when wet- and the kind of colour it should be!
After that, the mechanical and bodywork will start. Firstly, get it running really smoothly and make sure everything's "safe" (lights, fuel lines, brake lines, fluids etc) and then book it for an MOT. That way they can tell me what needs doing - and I can go from there!
Should be........fun! ;D