Lot Ended
Description
Meet The
Duchess; only 55,600 miles indicated, believed to be correct; wonderfully
original; stainless steel exhaust; few owners, the current since 2020; a proper
time capsule with bags of character; just how we like them
As you
might imagine, here at Brightwells we get to drive a huge variety of cars from
every decade of the motoring age, but it is always a pleasure to slip behind the
wheel of a Rover P4. Built with pride by men in overalls, they are astonishingly
smooth and refined machines and it baffles us that they are so humbly valued
today.
Launched in
1949 as the Rover 75, the 100 joined the range in October 1959 powered by a 2.6
six-cylinder engine derived from the larger Rover P5. With an inlet-over-exhaust
valve configuration and a seven-bearing crankshaft, the engine produced 104bhp.
Mated to a four-speed manual gearbox with overdrive on top gear, it was capable
of 100mph, hence the name. To handle this performance, Girling servo-assisted
front disc brakes were also fitted as standard.
Nicknamed ‘the poor
man’s Rolls-Royce’, the cabin featured rich leather upholstery with polished
wood dashboard and door surrounds. Combined with thick insulation and rubber
body mounts, it provided an exceptionally quiet and refined ride.
First
registered in Hertfordshire in September 1961 with the number WNK 90, this
wonderfully original P4 100 comes with a buff logbook showing that it was first
owned by EC Pomfret & Sons of Hitchin, a well-established shoe shop in the
town centre Arcade.
The early history of the car isn’t clear, but it was
most likely taken off the road for a lengthy period at some point, an old V5
showing that it re-emerged in September 1981 when it was acquired by a Mr N Rink
of Godalming who was to keep it until 1989.
The next owner was a Mr A
Ashley of Yeovil who was to keep the car for 30 years and use it lightly but
regularly, as recorded by old MOTs on file. An invoice shows that he fitted a
Sterling stainless steel exhaust system with a lifetime guarantee in 1994 which
is still on the car today.
It then briefly had one further owner before
our vendor acquired the car in June 2020 by which time it had been re-registered
as 220 XVG. A retired garage proprietor, our vendor has continued to look after
the car well during his six-year ownership and tells us that it drives as well
as it looks.
While there aren’t many invoices, there are 23 old MOTs
which show the mileage gradually rising from 44,650 in March 1989 to 52,481 in
September 2016 and it has only covered some 3,200 miles since. Now MOT-exempt,
the odometer currently shows 55,677 miles which is believed to be correct and is
certainly borne out by the overall condition of the car.
The red leather
interior is a joy to behold and appears to be largely original. The paintwork
also shines nicely and may even be original too – there are a couple of places
on the bonnet where it has been polished so often that you can see the red
undercoat just showing through (as pictured). The white band tyres all have
plenty of tread and complement the black paint and the gleaming brightwork
beautifully, adding some real glamour to The Duchess, as the car is
affectionately known.
A proper time capsule in a wonderful colour scheme,
this stately P4 has been starting instantly and running sweetly as we have moved
her around on site, although we did note a slight ticking from the engine bay
which sounds like a minor blow on the exhaust manifold.
As you can
probably tell by now, we like The Duchess a lot and we are sure that you will
too, so make sure you come and see her!
Consigned by James Dennison
– 07970 309907 – [email protected]