Rover
P6
As a
12 year old automobile fanatic in 1968 I spotted a Rover P6 on
street
for the very first time. My mother´s employer owned a white 2000 TC and I often saw this car on
my way to school. Somehow I was impressed by the exterior of the car. I started
my interest in Rover by searching for reports in car magazines and ordering
sales brochures (at that time no problem although I was a young boy and not a
potential customer). The more I saw and read about Rover P6 the bigger my
enthusiasm grew. This car was extraordinary, an "exotic" so to speak.
In 1969 it happened ... the white 2000 TC was sold and there SHE was – a ´brigade red´ 3500 V8 (see photo and Heritage Certificate), fitted with Rostyle wheels, wood rim steering wheel and rev counter. Looking at this marvellous Rover P6 I immediately fell in love with her. Fortunately, by chance, I got an invitation for a drive. An unforgetable experience! I remember exactly the smell of leather after opening the door. My ´chauffeur´ started the engine - and I was somehow electrified, my heart was thumping. Never before I had heard such a sound. Unbelievable! The drive came to an end too quickly, to my idea this trip should have continued for hours. The softness, the litheness, the gliding-along – I felt like I was under a spell.
Since that day I have been a Rover P6 enthusiast. In the time afterwards I have had some occasions for trips in my "dream car", also with the successor, a new 1972 P6 3500 S ("davos white" - see photo). I enjoyed the excursions inclusive a very fast "autobahn" trip to the international motor show "IAA" / Frankfurt.
I started to look for more
information and collected literature, I received addresses (also from foreign
countries) and had an extensive correspondence with the Rover factory in
Solihull and the German importer. I wrote to many many car magazines in Europe
and overseas countries asking for P6 road test reports, articles etc. and so in
time I collected a lot of Rover P6 information.
When I heard about the
British "P6 Rover Owners Club" in 1985 I immediately became a member (and
continuously renewed up to 2009). Supported by the club and
being a member of the World Wide Web I was able to get in contact with many P6
owners/enthusiasts and other Rover clubs all over the world.
Main part of my hobby is
collecting data of existing, sold or scrapped cars - chassis (VIN) and engine no.,
first registration, mileage, history - and also photographs. On my
database I´ve saved (more or less) details of over
17.000 P6s, of course not all still exist.
In his homeland the Rover P6
is a classic car now and it´s good to know that much work is being done to
keep the cars on the road. I´m always astonished about the sometimes unbelievable
superb condition of some P6s.
Also in far off Australia,
New Zealand and other countries P6s are taken care of by enthusiasts