Rover P4
Nowadays affectionately known as the 'Aunty' Rover, the dignified P4 series of cars was launched in 1949 to carry Britain's Rover company into the postwar era. Rover's well-deserved reputation for building high quality cars and the marque's upmarket image ensured that the P4 series appealed to the company's traditional clientele - doctors, solicitors, bank managers and others of similar social rank.?Despite the rather staid image of the P4 series, over the years the cars had many interesting features like the original 'Cyclops' central headlight, disc brakes, a freewheel device and overdrive. The larger-engined versions were also rather nifty and could whoosh their occupants along at a very unauntie-like pace!?Production continued through several model variations - but always with four or six-cylinder engines - until 1964. In the meantime, Rover experimented with gas turbine power units in P4 bodies and created the famous JET 1. The Marauder sports car was also P4-based. ?An amazing number of the sturdy P4s have survived to the present day and most are now enjoyed and cherished by enthusiasts.
1005814478
Rover P4
Nowadays affectionately known as the 'Aunty' Rover, the dignified P4 series of cars was launched in 1949 to carry Britain's Rover company into the postwar era. Rover's well-deserved reputation for building high quality cars and the marque's upmarket image ensured that the P4 series appealed to the company's traditional clientele - doctors, solicitors, bank managers and others of similar social rank.?Despite the rather staid image of the P4 series, over the years the cars had many interesting features like the original 'Cyclops' central headlight, disc brakes, a freewheel device and overdrive. The larger-engined versions were also rather nifty and could whoosh their occupants along at a very unauntie-like pace!?Production continued through several model variations - but always with four or six-cylinder engines - until 1964. In the meantime, Rover experimented with gas turbine power units in P4 bodies and created the famous JET 1. The Marauder sports car was also P4-based. ?An amazing number of the sturdy P4s have survived to the present day and most are now enjoyed and cherished by enthusiasts.
16.99 In Stock
Rover P4

Rover P4

by Malcolm Bobbitt
Rover P4

Rover P4

by Malcolm Bobbitt

eBook

$16.99 

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Overview

Nowadays affectionately known as the 'Aunty' Rover, the dignified P4 series of cars was launched in 1949 to carry Britain's Rover company into the postwar era. Rover's well-deserved reputation for building high quality cars and the marque's upmarket image ensured that the P4 series appealed to the company's traditional clientele - doctors, solicitors, bank managers and others of similar social rank.?Despite the rather staid image of the P4 series, over the years the cars had many interesting features like the original 'Cyclops' central headlight, disc brakes, a freewheel device and overdrive. The larger-engined versions were also rather nifty and could whoosh their occupants along at a very unauntie-like pace!?Production continued through several model variations - but always with four or six-cylinder engines - until 1964. In the meantime, Rover experimented with gas turbine power units in P4 bodies and created the famous JET 1. The Marauder sports car was also P4-based. ?An amazing number of the sturdy P4s have survived to the present day and most are now enjoyed and cherished by enthusiasts.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781845847272
Publisher: Veloce
Publication date: 08/18/2015
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 192
File size: 35 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Malcolm Bobbitt has been fascinated by the motor car since buying an Austin 7 before he was old enough to drive! After a career in the electricity industry, Malcolm is now a freelance writer who chooses mainly to write about motoring history. Malcolm lives in England's beautiful lake district.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter I Starley, Wilks & The P4
  • Sewing machines, cycles and cars
  • War, boom years, the Depression
  • Spencer Wilks arrives
  • Quality, not quantity
  • One of Britain's fine cars
  • Shadow factories and the war effort
  • Enter Solihull
  • The M1 project 20
  • New era: postwar design and the P3 stopgap
  • The Studebaker affair
  • The P4 emerges
  • Arrival of the Viking
Chapter II DEVELOPMENT & CHRONOLOGY
  • 6-cylinder 75, 90, 95 & 100; 105 & 110
  • Popularizing the P4, 60 & 80
  • 4-cylinder cars
  • Auntie explained
  • Early problems
  • Creature comforts
  • Stopping power
  • First changes to the P4
  • The 2.6-litre Cyclops Rover
  • Exit Cyclops: enter a new image
  • The model range widens
  • The 1954 model range - enter the 60 
  • The 90 makes its debut
  • David Bache and the 1955 facelift
  • Expanding the range again
  • Old friends depart - new arrivals
Chapter III GAS-TURBINES & THE JET ERA 71
  • Gas-turbine - the potential power 
  • JET 1 makes its debut 
  • The Jabbeke Trials
  • The next phase: the T2 & T2A
  • T3 - a new direction
  • T3 - impressive by all standards
  • T4 - almost there
  • Rover BRM - the ultimate gas-turbine
Chapter IV MARAUDERS, COUPES & SPECIALS
  • Enter the Rover Special
  • From the Rover Special to the Marauder
  • The Marauder takes shape
  • The Marauder - 'for fast touring'
  • Fixed and drophead coupes
  • A drophead for £20
  • The Farina episode and the Italian connection
  • The Irish connection
  • Royalty and the P4
  • What might have been
  • COLOUR GALLERY
Chapter V LIVING WITH A P4
  • Owning & buying a P4
  • What to pay for a P4
  • The down-side: foibles & weaknesses
  • Publicity & the P4
  • Thirty years on
  • Profile of a P4 enthusiast
Appendix I Original specifications & general data
Appendix II At-a-glance chronology
Appendix III Production figures
Appendix IV P4 colour schemes
Appendix V Rover specialists
Appendix VI Clubs
Appendix VII Bibliography
Index
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