By Dean Sprague
I had just sold my 1963 Volvo 544 B18. The buyer was coming to pick it up the very next evening. Normally you wouldn’t drive a car you just sold if you didn’t have to. In fact, I went out to get in our other car a 1969 MG Midget to drive it to work at the Navy base; I was still on active duty. Then something happened, a little voice inside my head said drive the Volvo so I changed keys and left the MG in the drive.
I was on the freeway going down a long steep grade when I saw a concrete truck crashing into cars behind me. He took out 15 cars before he got to me. Not everyone involved in that crash survived but I did thanks to my sturdy Volvo. However, what the concrete truck didn’t destroy the emergency crew did using the “Jaws of Life” to get me out of it. I still have fond memories of that old Volvo because my injuries were limited to a very sore neck and a bruise or two. No one would ever have survived that in a MG Midget. Lesson learned, follow your instincts.
After a solemn discussion with the would-be buyer of my “totaled” Volvo and a return of his deposit I waited for a check from the truck driver’s insurance company. When it arrived it was time to look for another vehicle. I abandoned my quest for the car of my dreams (not a large enough check) but I did find a car that I just discovered I always wanted but barely knew even existed. It was one of those things you just stumble over, if you were looking for one you would never find it. It was a two year old 1968 Rover 2000 TC in mint condition. The body was dark green (my favorite color) with black leather interior sitting on new tires wrapped around optional chrome factory magnesium wheels. It had the instrument upgrade option and a fully synchromeshed 4-speed transmission. This 4-door sports saloon had the look and feel of something very special. It rode like a 3.8 Jaguar Mk2, handled like a two seat sports car and looked like a baby Rolls Royce inside. The engine bay was meticulously appointed. The 2 liter 4-cylinder 124 HP engine was adorned with an alloy cam cover and chrome dome nuts everywhere. Even the twin SU carburetors were polished. A vacuum booster powered the four-wheel disk brakes with the rear disks sitting against the pumpkin. This provided some of the best stopping power I had ever experienced. The plush leather seats were as comfortable as armchairs. In fact the fit and finish both inside and out was impeccable.
This Rover called to me… but apparently to few others because the domestic car dealer that traded it in was very anxious to see it go. It was one of those negotiations that you just couldn’t terminate. Every time I headed for the door (“to think it over”) the price was further reduced. I knew the car was quite expensive when new but this one was 2 years old with less than 10K on the clock. It started looking liked a bargain to me as the price kept dropping. I really wasn’t sure what it was worth but when the price finally dropped to about the same, as a nice used Ford Cortina I felt it must be a deal. Quite to my wife’s frustration and without further research or thinking I purchased the car. Actually she really loved it but my impetuous irresponsible behavior didn’t give her sufficient time to get comfortable with the acquisition, but she eventually came around.
You may be familiar with the Land Rover SUVs, trucks and other vehicles designed for off-road and other practical uses but this was one of their automotive offerings. The car was part of the Rover P6 series. It was voted the European Car of the Year 1964. The P6 included the 2000, 2200 and the 3500 V8 models. It was produced from 1963 to 1977. The target market was younger and middle age affluent professional workers and executives. The design was crisp, open and modern. It was constructed using a uni-body type frame for strength and safety forming a skeletal crash cage providing a shell for bolting on of the non-structural body panels. It was considered ahead of its time winning many industrial awards for safety. Even the interior was carefully designed and padded with safety and comfort in mind.
They produced 322,302 Rover P6s but where are they all today? I go to British car shows all the time and almost never see one. There are a few still out there but spare parts are getting difficult to find and most NOS parts are depleted. In fact most trim and body parts are now un-obtainium. Combine this with the inherent complexities involved in constructing a car of this quality and uniqueness reliability and cost of ownership became real issues. Unfortunately, most of them ended up like the Dodo bird or terminated their existence in the auto jumbles (junk yards).
I have owned quite a few salons and I must say very few drove as well as my 2000 TC. It was reminiscent of my Jaguar 3.8 and later S Type. It had an easy feel over the road but stiffened notably when pushed. It was the kind of road car you could spend the day in and not crave escape at the end. Unfortunately, like everything else you must accept the bad with the good. I mentioned earlier it was a complex car for the period. I should have realized that when I received all the paperwork at the dealership. I got the original owners manual, service records, notes and even the tool kit. I noted all the required services had been performed in addition to several required repairs. In my experience with the car I discovered the brakes were very difficult to service particularly the rear inboard disks. I had problems with the gearbox. One day the shifter lever just came off in my hands. Of course the car had electrical problems and a few oil leaks,it was British you know. In spite of all that and several more problems I still loved to drive it but when I got discharged from the Navy and went back to college I needed a more reliable/affordable daily driver. The Midget was gone by now so I had room for another sports car. We traded the Rover for a new primrose yellow 1971 Triumph TR6 (end of the year demo), the perfect daily driver. I realized we needed to get something more practical so I rebuilt an old Mini Morris Cooper so we would have a car to carry groceries, extra passengers and such. Well, it worked for me anyway.
