James Taylor - Rover SD1: The Full Story 1976-1988

OTHER TITLES IN THE CROWOOD AUTOCLASSICS SERIES

ALFA ROMEO 916 GTV AND SPIDER Robert Foskett

ALFA ROMEO SPIDER John Tipler

ASTON MARTIN DB4, DB5 & DB6 Jonathan Wood

ASTON MARTIN DB7 Andrew Noakes

ASTON MARTIN V8 William Presland

AUDI QUATRO Laurence Meredith

AUSTIN HEALEY Graham Robson

BMW CLASSIC COUPS James Taylor

BMW M3 James Taylor

BMW M5 James Taylor

CITRON DS SERIES John Pressnell

FERRARI 308, 328 AND 348 Robert Foskett

FORD CONSUL, ZEPHYR AND ZODIAC Graham Robson

FORD ESC ORT RS Graham Robson

FROGEYE SPRITE John Baggott

JAGUAR E-TYPE Jonathan Wood

JAGUAR MKS 1 AND 2, S-TYPE AND 420 James Taylor

JAGUAR XK8 Graham Robson

JENSEN V8 Mark Dollery

JOWETT JAVELIN AND JUPITER Geoff McAuley & Edmund Nankivell

LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH Peter Dron

LAND ROVER DEFENDER, 90 AND 110 RANGE James Taylor

LOTUS ELAN Matthew Vale

MGA David G. Styles

MGB Brian Laban

MGF AND TF David Knowles

MG T-SERIES Graham Robson

MAZDA MX-5 Antony Ingram

MERCEDES-BENZ CARS OF THE 1990s James Taylor

MERCEDES-BENZ FINTAIL MODELS Brian Long

MERCEDE S-BENZ S-CLASS James Taylor

MERCEDE S-BENZ W124 James Taylor

MERCEDES SL SERIES Andrew Noakes

MERCEDES W113 Myles Kornblatt

MORGAN 4/4 Michael Palmer

MORGAN THREE-WHEELER Peter Miller

PEUGEO T 205 Adam Sloman

PORSCHE 924/928/944/968 Glen Smale

PORSCHE CARRERA THE AIR-COOLED ERA Johnny Tipler

RELIANT THREE-WHEELERS John Wilson-Hall

RILEY RM John Price-Williams

ROVER 75 AND MG ZT James Taylor

ROVER P4 James Taylor

ROVER P5 & P5B James Taylor

SAAB 99 & 900 Lance Cole

SHEL BY & AC COBRA Brian Laban

SUBARUIMPREZA WRX AND WRX STI James Taylor

SUNBEAM ALPINE AND TIGER Graham Robson

TOYOTA MR2 Nigel Burton

TRIUMPH SPITFIRE & GT6 Richard Dredge

TRIUMPH TR7 David Knowles

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI James Richardson

VOLVO AMAZON Richard Dredge

VOLVO P1800 David G. Styles

ROVER SD1

THE FULL STORY 19761986

James Taylor

ROVER SD1

THE FULL STORY 19761986

James Taylor

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2016 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2016

James Taylor 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 192 5

Disclaimer

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace and credit illustration copyright holders. If you own the copyright to an image appearing in this book and have not been credited, please contact the publisher, who will be pleased to add a credit in any future edition.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Rover SD1 was the new kid on the block when I first became interested in the products of the Rover Company. By that time, of course, there was no Rover Company any more, and Rover was just a name used for the car that fitted into a certain bracket within the British Leyland range hierarchy. However, the SD1 had been largely designed by the old Rover team, and was built at the old Rover factory in Solihull. So it felt like a real Rover, and I joined many others in hoping that it would become a success.

As we now know, the multiple problems that beset British Leyland in the 1970s meant that the SD1 never really fulfilled its true potential. Quality was so variable that buying one in the first five or so years of its life was a calculated risk. I have owned four of them, and one of them (a late model 2600) was a really good car. That says it all, really.

Yet the SD1 was fundamentally an excellent design. I followed its progress throughout its production life, and was lucky enough to meet and interview several people involved with it. So I owe a major debt of gratitude to Gordon Bashford, Spen King and David Bache, all of whom enlightened me about the background to the design. There were many others, too, some of them acknowledged in the narrative.

In putting this book together, I also drew on the knowledge and enthusiasm of several other people. In particular, I must single out Ian Elliott, who had the unenviable task of preparing most of the UK press releases about the car, and who saw much of the story from the inside. On the enthusiast side, thanks go to Chris Powell, historian of the Rover SD1 Club, whose research provided valuable information that was not available elsewhere. I am very grateful also to Paddy Carpenter, of the Police Vehicle Enthusiasts Club, for providing a number of photographs relating to his specialism. Several overseas enthusiasts added their knowledge of SD1 sales outside the UK, so thanks go to Rob Turner and Tony Cope in Australia, John Miller in New Zealand, Rob Hafkamp in the Netherlands and to Joo Peres and Jos Almeida in Portugal. Others have certainly added to my knowledge over the years, and Im sorry I cant remember and list every one of them here.

Most of the photographs and illustrations have come from my own collection. However, I must add special thanks to photographer Craig Pusey for the photographs of his Vitesse and to Lisa Stevens at the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust in Gaydon. Please note that all publicity material and photographs originally produced for or by the British Leyland Motor Corporation and British Leyland Ltd, including all its subsidiary companies, is now the copyright of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust; anyone wishing to reuse this material should contact BMIHT for permission to do so. Finally, in quoting VINs I have gone for additional clarity by inserting a hyphen between the prefix code and the serial number (eg SARRRWVF3AA-000803). This hyphen does not appear on the identification plates or on documents associated with the cars.

James Taylor

Oxfordshire

October 2015

The oldest-known Rover SD 1. Wearing chassis number five and registration number JYF 227N, the car was built in 1975 as a pre-production model.

CHAPTER ONE

EARLY DEVELOPMENT, 19691972

THE ROVER STORY

Although the Rover name remained constant during the production life of the SD1, the Rover identity was in an almost constant state of change. To document those changes in detail as they occurred would unnecessarily complicate the story of the car, so they are explained here as a way of providing some context for the story that follows.

Rover began making cars in 1904, and before that had been involved in the bicycle and sewing machine industries in Coventry. However, it was not until the 1930s that the company really made its name, under the guidance of brothers Spencer Wilks as managing director and Maurice Wilks as chief engineer. Rover became makers of One of Britains Fine Cars, as their publicity material put it, building discreet and elegant cars of high quality that were largely aimed at the professional middle classes.