Lot Ended
Description
Under 70k miles from new; few owners; never restored, just
impeccably maintained and always garaged; advisory-free MOT; simply magnificent,
the best we have seen
Famously ‘The
car that ran the country’, the Rover P5B was designed under the direction of the
great David Bache and immediately became the establishment’s motor of choice
when it was launched in September 1967. With all the dignity of a Rolls-Royce
but none of the ostentation, the P5B radiated sober authority in a uniquely
British way. The Queen was extremely fond of her own personal Arden Green
Saloon, JGY 280, while Harold Wilson had a pipe rack specially installed in his
ministerial car.
Although production ended in
June 1973, the Government Car Service were so wedded to the unique qualities of
the P5B that they stockpiled a batch of the last Saloons made and ensured they
remained in service with ministers and top brass army officers well into the
1980s.
In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the last
Prime Minister to be whisked into office in a P5B (specially equipped with a
secure VHF radiophone system) and enjoyed it for a good while until
her minders forced her to adopt an armoured Jaguar XJ S3
instead.
Powered by an all-alloy Buick-derived
3.5-litre V8, the P5B put 160bhp and plenty of effortless grunt under the
chauffeur’s right foot, wafting his passengers to 60mph in 11 seconds with a top
speed of 110mph, even with the mandatory 3-speed auto 'box. Coupled with
surprisingly good ride and handling and some of the most comfortable seats ever
to grace a motorcar, this really was the archetypal ‘gentleman's club on
wheels’.
By the time production came to an end in
June 1973, some 11,500 P5B Saloons had been sold, plus another 9,100 four-door
Coupe versions, and good ones are highly prized today.
This magnificent P5B Saloon is not merely one of the good ones, it
must surely be one of the very best. Believed to be wholly original, it has
never been restored, just kept in tip-top running order by all five owners and
has covered only 69,800 miles from new.
The
Heritage Certificate shows that it left the works in March 1973 finished in
Admiralty Blue with a Buckskin hide interior. It was supplied new via The
Cleveland Car Company of Darlington, and while it isn’t clear who the first
owner was, the second was a Mr T Askew of Harwich who acquired the car in 1980
and was to keep it until 2001.
There are many
invoices to show meticulous upkeep during his 21-year ownership, including an
engine rebuild in March 1998 at c.49,500 miles with new seals and gaskets as
required plus an overhaul and decoke of the cylinder heads (see photos). The
steering box and PAS pump were also rebuilt in May 1999.
The third owner was a Mr B Rise of Esher who acquired the car in
August 2001 by which time it had covered 52k miles, an engineer’s report from
that time declaring it to be: “In very good and original condition, with no
rust, and maintained to the highest standard”.
Mr Rise was keep it for 17 years and continued to look after it
carefully, with regular servicing and new parts fitted as required. Items of
note include: new electric fuel pump and Kenlowe fan in October 2001; Lumenition
electronic ignition, new front brake discs and calipers plus an overhaul of the
front suspension with new shock absorbers and bushes in 2002; uprated Halogen
headlamps in 2003; new starter motor in 2004; new rear springs and shackle bolts
in March 2006; rear brake system overhaul in 2013; gearbox flushed and fitted
with a new filter kit in 2015.
The fourth owner
was a Mr B Walker of Swindon, an ex-army officer who also owned a Rolls-Royce
and an Aston Martin and had been looking for a really excellent Rover P5B for
many years before finding this one. He clearly loved working on his cars and
kept a detailed log of all the work he did to bring the already impressive Rover
up to the standard he required.
This included
cleaning and wax oiling the chassis and the inner wheelarches; removing the
front and rear bumpers to clean the metal behind and treat with satin black
stone guard paint; new rubber bumper over-riders; wrapping the rear leaf springs
in Denso tape; removing and repainting the spare wheel carrier, noting that:
“The chassis underneath was mint and totally free of any dirt or
rust”.
He also fitted a new set of OEM Rover P6
mudguards front and rear; new set of Maxxis white band tyres; new Bell stainless
steel rear exhaust silencer and tail pipes; new gearbox sump pan gasket; new
rear fog lights; new under-bonnet lamps; new black and silver number plates; new
rear shock absorbers; alternator rebuilt; full service with all fluids changed
including rear axle and gearbox; professional rolling road tune-up plus much
else besides.
On the inside he had new front seat
foams and door card foams professionally fitted; new Hardura over-mats to
protect the original carpets; new chrome door mirrors; new boot rubber seal;
Radiomobile radio and 8-track player professionally refurbished and uprated with
quad speakers and auxiliary port in the glovebox. He also had a bespoke indoor
car cover specially made and treated the entire body with Carnuba wax paintwork
protection.
By far the most complex job was a
complete overhaul of the heater matrix with all new hoses, thermostats etc, an
extremely time-consuming task which required many specialist parts and much
technical input from the P5B experts at JR Wadhams of Lye. It was worth it in
the end though, the log gleefully saying: “Success! I now have really nice and
warm front and rear heaters in my P5B!”.
A quick
tot-up of the bills shows that over £5,000 was spent on the car during Mr
Walker’s two-year ownership, mainly on parts, and excluding the hundreds of
hours of labour that he must have put into it.
In
February 2021 Mr Walker sadly became unwell and was forced to sell his beloved
classic cars, his ownership log coming to a moving conclusion: “It took me over
25 years to find my Rover P5B and I have cherished every moment of ownership. It
has been an honour to own and pamper her into such a condition that she can go
on for another 48 years”.
Our vendor acquired the
car from Mr Walker in February 2021 and she has continued to pamper and improve
it. Aside from regular servicing which is recorded by invoices and a service
book (see photos), new parts fitted include a high-performance PerTronix
Flame-Thrower coil; uprated Facet Red Top fuel pump; new front brake hoses; new
rear brake shoes and wheel cylinders; new water pump; new front door rubbers (a
new pair for the rear doors are stored in the boot). She has also taken it to
various shows where it is always much admired, winning a few accolades along the
way.
There are no fewer than 40 old MOTs charting
the gradual accumulation of mileage from 27,730 in August 1982 to today’s total
of 69,859 miles, the car nearly always passing with no advisories. Although it
no longer needs one, the current MOT is valid until October 2027 and was another
clean pass.
Aside from all the invoices, it also
comes with a factory workshop manual; original handbooks; Radiomobile
instruction booklet; Cadulac Corrosion Preventive Certificate when new in 1973;
magazine articles on the P5B; many show plaques; 8-track cassettes; club
magazines; sundry useful spares; two sets of keys etc.
Your scribe is huge fan of these fine cars and has owned half-a-dozen
of them over the last 40 years or so, including a couple that he thought were
really excellent and took him all over Europe on various family holidays. He can
safely say that none were a patch on this one. Not only does it look
magnificent, it also drives superbly, feeling so hushed, taut and responsive
that you can scarcely believe that it is now over 50 years
old.
By far the best and most original P5B Saloon
that we have ever seen in over 20 years of hosting these sales (even the
paintwork appears to be original), it is no doubt capable of scooping some
silverware on the show circuit, should the fortunate new owner feel so inclined.
It took the previous owner 25 years to find one this good, and you could wait as
long again to find another one of the same calibre.
There is still great affection for these
quietly fine machines - you feel like you're doing a public service
when you're and about in a P5B, such is the warmth of the reception you get. We
like them a lot, especially this one, and we are sure that you will too, so
make sure you come and see it, smell it, and best of all sit in it. Ahh, those
armchair seats...
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
[email protected]