The Ageless P6

Thank you again for providing such an excellent magazine, for keeping the motoring enthusiast informed of current developments in the domestic and racing worlds, as well as recovering those of the past, and for featuring more technically orientated topics. Over the decades, our Motor Sport library has grown into a reference encyclopedia which cannot be compared with any other anywhere else in the world.

I am confident Sir, that whichever way you and your staff look at it, yours has turned out a great success story — a success analogous to that of the Rover Car Company. It has been over 10 Years now since the company disappeared into the mists of modem progress, never to return, but it did not disappear before leaving us with a product to be driven, enjoyed and remembered for time immemorial.

As with great classical music, this car, as pointed out in its sales brochure, needs a long association for one to realise its hidden virtues — and so, after an association of three years, I have come to believe the Rover P6 to be the most brilliantly engineered automobile, at least in modern times.

The first impact is its ageless body design there is no other car that looks as good, from any angle, Inbred by its engineering refinement. Once within, I cannot imagine anybody being uncomfortable — the interior equals the exterior in excellence. The 2000 TC is a pleasure to drive. The gear ratios are perfect, all controls in perfect condition, the seat adjustment child’s play, the smell of leather invigorating, the visibility excellent, the engine music filtered to a pleasant hum, and the ease of opening and closing of everything. The ride can only be described as excellent and the wire wheels are an additional touch of class. Can anyone tell me of a better car in its class? If Rover were to resurrect the P6 and the P6 BS (P9) I am sure they both sell like hot cakes.

Fuel economy is another interesting area of the 2000 TC. In the present age of the scare-mongerer, oil prices are shooting up, so more people are looking for more economical cars. However, I am content with driving the Rover because of its inherent potential in this area. Probably because of the refinement of the engine and transmission, a figure of well over 30 m.p.g. town (rapid acceleration through the gears at a limit of 2,500 r.p.m. in each gear) and about 40 m.p.g. country can be obtained.

However, by accelerating slowly through a gears and “driving gently”, the town economy drops below 30 m.p.g. This seems to suggest that “careful driving” is a fallacy, in this case. The engine has a 9:1 compression ratio and definitely runs better in cooler, damper air. So perhaps you British are better off than I in terms of climate?

Klemzig, S. Australia – R. I. Lapins