The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the Jaguar-Rover-Triumph division), and finally the Austin Rover division of British Leyland from 1976 until 1986, when it was replaced by the Rover 800. The SD1 was marketed under various names. In 1977 it won the European Car of the Year title.[2]
In 1971, Rover, at that time a part of the British Leyland (BL) group, began developing a new car to replace both the Rover P6 and the Triumph 2000/2500. The designers of both Triumph and Rover submitted proposals for the new car known as the Triumph Puma [3] and Rover P10 [4] respectively, of which the latter was chosen. David Bache was to head the design team, inspired by exotic machinery such as the Ferrari Daytona and 365 GTC/4, and the late 1960s design study by Pininfarina for the BMC 1800, which also guided the design of the Citroën CX. Spen King was responsible for the engineering. The two had previously collaborated on the Range Rover. The project was first code-named RT1 (for Rover Triumph Number 1) but then soon changed to SD1 (for Specialist Division Number 1) as Rover and Triumph were put in the new "Specialist Division" of British Leyland.
Design
The new car was designed with simplicity of manufacture in mind in contrast to the P6, the design of which was rather complicated in areas such as the De Dion-type rear suspension. The SD1 used a well-known live rear axle instead. This different approach was chosen because surveys showed that although the automotive press was impressed by sophisticated and revolutionary designs the general buying public was not unless the results were good. However, with the live rear axle came another retrograde step– the car was fitted with drum brakes at the rear.
Rover's plans to use a new 2.2-litre DOHC 16-valve Slant-Four engine[5] with Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection were soon abandoned as BL management ruled that substantially redesigned versions of Triumph's six-cylinder engine were to power the car instead. The Rover V8 engine was fitted in the engine bay. The three-speed automatic gearbox was the BorgWarner 65 model.
LHD Rover SD1 NOS series 1 interior
The dashboard of the SD1 features an air vent, unusually, directly facing the passenger. The display binnacle sits on top of the dashboard in front of the driver to aid production in left-hand drive markets, since it avoided the expense of producing two different dashboard mouldings for LHD and RHD versions. The air vent doubles as a passage for the steering-wheel column, and the "podular" display binnacle can be easily fitted on top of the dashboard on either the left or right-hand side of the car.[6][7] This concept was not entirely new; it had also been used on the Range Rover and was used again on the Mk.1 Austin Metro, both of which were also designed by David Bache. The interior of the Series 1 was notable for its lack of wood embellishment in comparison to previous Rover saloons, with an extensive use instead of modern soft-feel plastics, and a new "skeletal" version of the Rover badge would appear on the bonnet - Bache was keen that the SD1 should make use of the latest industrial design trends and be a clean break from the past.
An estate body had been envisaged, but it did not get beyond the prototype stage. Two similarly specified estates have survived, and are exhibited at the Heritage Motor Centre and the Haynes International Motor Museum respectively. One was used by BL chairman Sir Michael Edwardes as personal transport in the late 1970s. The two cars as befit prototypes differ in the detail of and around the tailgate. One car has a recessed tailgate, while the other has a clamshell arrangement, where the whole tailgate is visible when closed.
The SD1 was intended to be produced in a state-of-the-art extension to Rover's historic Solihull factory alongside the TR7. It was largely funded by the British government, who had bailed BL out from bankruptcy in 1975. Unfortunately, this did nothing to improve the patchy build quality that then plagued all of British Leyland. That, along with quick-wearing interior materials and poor detailing ensured that initial enthusiasm soon turned to disappointment.
Series 1 (1976-82)
This car was launched on its home market in June 1976[8] in hatchback/fastback form only, as the V8-engined Rover 3500: SOHC 2.3L and 2.6L sixes followed in November 1977, when the Rover P6 and Triumph 2000 were finally discontinued. Although there was no four-cylinder version of the SD1 at this point, British Leyland produced 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 versions of the smaller Princess in order to compete with the entry-level versions of the Ford Granada, as well as more expensive versions of the Ford Cortina.
The car was warmly received by the press and even received the European Car of the Year award for 1977. Its launch on the European mainland coincided with its appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1977, some three months after the Car of the Year announcement. Dealers had no left-hand drive cars for sale, however, since production had been blocked by a tool makers' strike affecting several British Leyland plants and a "bodyshell dispute" at the company's Castle Bromwich plant.[9] Closer to home, the car and its design team received The Midlander of the Year Award for 1976, because they had between them done most in the year to increase the prestige of the (English) Midlands region.[10]
Rover 2300 six-cylinder engine, in situ in SD1
Poor construction quality was apparent even in the company's press department fleet. The British magazine Motor published a road test of an automatic 3500 in January 1977, and while keen to highlight the Rover's general excellence, they also reported that the test car suffered from poor door seals, with daylight visible from inside past the rear door window frame's edge on the left side of the car, and a curious steering vibration at speed which might (or might not) have resulted from the car's front wheels not having been correctly balanced.[11] Disappointment was recorded that the ventilation outlet directly in front of the driver appeared to be blocked, delivering barely a breeze even when fully open; the writer had encountered this problem on one other Rover 3500, although he had also driven other cars of the same type with an abundant output of fresh air through the vent in question.[11] Nevertheless, in March 1977, Britain's Autocar was able to publish an article by Raymond Mays – a famous racing driver and team manager during (in particular) the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s – in which Mays explained why, after driving it for 12,000miles, he considered his Rover 3500 was "the best car he [had] ever had", both for its many qualities as a driver's car and for its excellent fuel economy even when driven hard.[12] Similar ventilation problems persisted until 1980 and were reported in tests of the V8-S version.[13]
Another area of concern was flaking paint on early models, forcing British Leyland to spend a lot of money on repainting cars.[14]
Rover 3500 (with badging and chrome door mirrors of the late pre-facelift cars)
Cosmetic tweaks and range expansion
Between 1976 and 1981 there were some very minor updates to the car including new badging (front and rear) and chrome backed door mirrors - the traditional-style Rover Longship emblem returned for the 1981 model year, thus replacing the 'skeletal' version, although the latter continued to be used on the hubcaps, and indeed a variant of this Rover logo was later used as a hubcap emblem on both the later SD3 Rover 200 and Rover 800 models as late as 1989. 1979 also saw the introduction of the then range-topping V8-S model with no mechanical alterations, available in a rather bright metallic "Triton" green amongst others with either gold or silver-painted alloy wheels depending on the body color. Interior specification included air-conditioning, thick luxurious carpets,[13]velour seats and a headlamp wash/wipe system. This now very rare model was replaced in late 1980 with the Vanden Plas (VP) model, which came with a leather interior as standard.
North American market models
US exposed headlights on top
In 1980 Rover obtained US type approval for the SD1 and re-entered the American market after a ten-year absence. The car was only made available as a single variant, using a modified version of the V8 engine and badged simply as "Rover 3500".[15] The equipment and trim levels were similar to that of the UK market's then top-of-the-range V8-S model. The main differences were a smaller steering wheel, the manually operated sunroof being a cost option and rear passenger head restraints were not available at all. Small Union Jack badges were fixed to the lower section of each front wing, just ahead of the doors, to promote the car's British origins. Canadian market cars had V8 badges instead of the Union Jack.
The five-speed manual gearbox was supplied as standard, with the three-speed automatic version being a cost option.[16]
US safety legislation (that first applied to the Citroën DS) demanded that the headlamp arrangement exclude the front glass panels. Also larger, heavier bumpers were required, increasing the overall length to 191 inches (4850mm).
Beginning in the 1980 model year, the American version of the 3532 cc V8 used in the Triumph TR8 produced 133 hp with carburetors, except in California where it produced 137 hp with fuel injection.
Beginning in June 1980, the American version of the Rover 3500 produced 148 hp with fuel injection, while the European version of the Rover SD1 produced 155 hp with carburetors.
For the 1981 model year, both the Rover 3500 and Triumph TR8 produced 148 hp with fuel injection, and 1981 would be the last year for both models in the United States.
Fuel injection for the 3532 cc V8 Rover engine was first introduced in the Triumph TR8 (137 hp) intended for California, and then introduced in the Rover 3500 (148 hp) later in the year when it was launched in America.
Fuel injection for the Rover V8 was introduced in Europe, along with other modifications such as having a hotter camshaft, when the 1982 Rover SD1 Vitesse was launched with 192 hp.
strike: [Publicity material claimed it was capable of reaching 148hp (SAE) at 5100rpm[17] but the car as sold actually peaked at 133hp (at 5000rpm).[18][19] ]
Since August 1978, a carbureted engine, with antismog equipment, had already been on sale in Australia with 102kW (137hp). Beginning in the 1981 model year, Australia received a version of the fuel injected federalized engine with 106kW (142hp).[20]
Despite the necessary modifications, Rover chose not to set up an assembly plant in the US but built and shipped the cars from the Solihull factory.
The SD1 gained positive reviews in the American press and was competitively priced against rivals such as the BMW 5 Series and corresponding Mercedes-Benzes.[21] Nevertheless, the car achieved just 480 sales between its launch in June 1980 and the end of that year. The whole of 1981 attracted 774 sales, although most of these cars had actually been built and stockpiled the previous year.
North American Rover 3500
Rover ceased the supply of American market SD1s at the end of 1981, although unsold cars remained available from dealers well into the following year.
Reasons for the commercial failure of the SD1 in the US are open to speculation. The weak value of the American dollar against European currencies at the time rendered imports relatively expensive in comparison to a home-built product. A significant rise in oil prices during 1979 led to many motorists opting for more fuel-efficient cars. Public awareness of the SD1 may have been low as the dealership network across America was small, while Rover's expenditure on the aforementioned modifications, testing, and approval for the US market left limited budget for publicity and advertising. (To save money the official press launch was combined with that of the Triumph TR8.)[22]
Production shift
Major restructuring of BL following the Ryder Report resulted in the SD1 production line being moved to the former Morris plant in Cowley in 1981. The Solihull plant was turned over to produce Land Rover models, following on from that marque's separation from Rover in 1978. The hugely expensive extension to Solihull, which had been built specifically for the SD1 and Triumph TR7, was mothballed, and was finally brought back into use in 1997 for the Land Rover Freelander and in 2016 for the Jaguar XE and F-PACE.
1981 also saw the beginning of "Project XX" – a venture between BL and Honda for a new executive car expected to replace the SD1, although it was not anticipated for production until the mid-1980s. Project XX ultimately emerged as the Rover 800 Series in 1986 and would be the replacement for the SD1.
Series 2 (1982-1986)
A 1983 Rover 2000 (a Series 2 car with revised headlights, interior, and C-pillars)
Early in 1982, Rover unveiled the Cowley-built, facelifted line to the public (although the final Series 1s were also built at Cowley). These cars benefited mostly from small cosmetic changes on the exterior as well as a quite extensively redesigned interior. The biggest interior change was to the instrument binnacle, which was made both flatter and longer than the original, with the ancillary gauges and digital clock moved out of the driver's line of sight almost over the centre of the dashboard, whilst the dials themselves followed modern practice being under a glass hood instead of being deeply recessed as before. Wood trim on both the dashboard and the door cards were included after criticism that the original interior looked downmarket. Car spotters can distinguish the two series by the headlights, which were chrome-rimmed and flush fitting on the Series 2, recessed on the Series 1, the deeper rear window, now fitted with a rear wash wipe, and the new plastic wrap around bumpers which replaced the three-piece rubber and stainless steel ones. Other details, which are not as easy to assign include the full-width rear badge strip under the tail lights, engine size badges on front wings, and a range of new wheel trims and alloy wheels. The automatic gearbox was now a French built GM Turbo-Hydramatic 180 model ( TH180 ), still offering three speeds but better ratios. The electric window switch pack moved from the centre console to the driver's door (and is well remembered for lacking edge finishing trim around the recesses), and a fully automatic choke appeared – eliminating the manual choke lever which had a tendency to break.
Further range expansion
1982 was also the year when SD1 buyers could finally opt for a four-cylinder engine since the two-litre BL O-Series engine of the Morris Ital was now fitted to the car, now called the Rover 2000 - marking the first time an engine from the Austin-Morris division of BL would appear in a Rover. The engine was particularly aimed at company car fleets where its size enabled it to beat a taxation threshold. This broadened the SD1 range and made it more affordable to potential buyers, giving British Leyland an all-round rival to the Ford Granada, which had always featured a four-cylinder version, although unlike the SD1 or earlier P6 had never been available with a V8 engine. The Rover 2000 was not particularly fast, with a continental magazine stating that the most one could say was that it was faster than diesel and turbodiesel cars in the same class.[23]
Another four-cylinder engine became available in the 90bhp (67kW; 91PS)Rover 2400 SD Turbo. This was the only diesel-engined SD1, utilising the HR492 motor from Italian VM Motori also used in the Range Rover Turbo D model, chosen for its petrol-like smoothness. BL had intended for a diesel version of the Rover V8 engine to be used in the SD1 (as well as other models) but the problematic development programme was cancelled in 1983 in favour of engines bought-in from outside manufacturers.
Vitesse
The flagship model was created when Rover introduced a 190bhp (142kW; 193PS) fuel-injected version of its V8. Applying technologies pioneered in the US and Australian markets (where strict emissions regulations meant the inclusion of high compression carburetted engines was not feasible) the new derivative was originally only available in the Vitesse model, but from 1984 onwards it was also offered in the luxury Vanden Plas range, badged as the Vanden Plas EFi. To meet the demands of the luxury executive car market, where automatic transmission tended to be preferred, Rover first offered an auto as an option in the Vitesse, but later withdrew the option and lured the customers to the plush Vanden Plas EFi instead which had all the standard comforts of the Vitesse, such as electric mirrors, windows and locks, a trip computer, headlight washers, an adjustable steering column and a four-speaker stereo (something special at that time). Additionally, it added as standard leather seats (velour cloth was a no-cost option), an electrically operated sunroof (available on all models) and cruise control; the only option being air-conditioning.
The SD1 twin-plenum Vitesse was produced as a homologation special to aid the model's performance for the 1986 European Touring Car Championship season, and featured a new twin, side-entry throttle plenum fuel injection system. Power output was unchanged from the standard Vitesse. it is unknown how many were produced.
End Of Production
The SD1 continued until the launch of its successor, the Rover 800 Series, in July 1986. the third product of the British Leyland/Austin Rover venture with Honda, which had been in development since 1981 as "Project XX" and also formed the basis of the Honda Legend.[24]
Despite production ending in 1986, stocks of new SD1s remained available well into 1987, with the latest civilian spec examples were registered under the "E" registration prefix, with some stockpiled police specifications being registered even later, the fastback version of the 800 arrived in 1988. The Rover V8 engine remained in volume production and continued to be used in Land Rover products until 2003.
List of model names
The car was never marketed as the "SD1". The models produced (throughout the life of the range, not all at once) were usually named according to their engine size.
Rover 2000
Rover 2300
Rover 2300 S
Rover 2300 SE
Rover 2400 SD Turbo
Rover 2600
Rover 2600 S
Rover 2600 SE
Rover 2600 Vanden Plas
Rover 3500
Rover 3500 SE
Rover 3500 Vanden Plas
Rover 3500 Vanden Plas EFi
Rover V8-S
Rover Vitesse
The initial June 1976 launch was for the 3500 only. A little over a year later the 2300 and 2600 were added; the V8-S was a short-lived model introduced later (remembered for its headlamp wipers, gold alloys and the option of bright metallic "Triton" green paint), and dropped before the first mild facelift, after which the range was 2300, 2300 S, 2600 S, 3500 SE and 3500 Vanden Plas. The 2000 appeared at the time of the major facelift, with 2400 SD-Turbo, 2600 SE, 2600 Vanden Plas, Vitesse and 3500 Vanden Plas EFi appearing at various times afterwards. At the very end of the life of the car the range was briefly reduced to 2300, 2600 Vanden Plas, and Vitesse (now with a flush chin spoiler, deleted front fog lights, 190bhp (140kW) and deleted side graphics)
Foreign production: the Standard 2000
After its replacement by the Rover 800 series in the UK in 1986, the SD1 emerged in India as the "Standard 2000". From 1985 to 1988, it was assembled at the now-defunct Standard factory in Madras (renamedChennai in 1996). However, the Indian version of the SD1 – powered by an elderly 2.0L engine with only 83hp (62kW), and with raised suspension – was a failure since the under-powered engine did not justify the high price. Standard ceased car manufacture soon after.
The factory was secured after production ceased with Rimmer Brothers acquiring the entire stock of unused parts for resale in the UK. This has meant that a number of parts which had not been available for some time could again be bought new.
In touring car racing, the 3.5 L Rover V8 engine produced approximately 340bhp (254kW; 345PS) by 1986.
The SD1 also saw use as a rally car in 1984 and 1985, contesting the British Rally Championship in the hands of Tony Pond. Pond won the Group A category of the 1985 championship, but the car was retired at the end of the season in favour of the Group BMG Metro 6R4.
In 2022 David Coxon, Captain of Test Card F led his team to IOE Victory, the highest honor in 24 Hours of LeMons Endurance Racing Series.
Rover SD1s fitted with V8 engines were highly popular with many police forces in the United Kingdom, with forces across England, Scotland and Wales operating SD1s extensively throughout the 1970s and 1980s, primarily for use on traffic police duties on major roads and motorways. Police specification SD1s had the speedometer moved to the centre of the dashboard for visibility from both the driver and passenger seats, had painted trim on the front bumpers replaced with matt black, and received uprated four-piston front brakes and an automatic transmission. As was the case with civilian SD1s, police specification SD1s tended to suffer from build quality issues, with some forces opting to retire their fleet of SD1s early and purchasing Ford Granadas and Vauxhall Senators to replace them. Near the end of the SD1's production, some unsold Vanden Plas 2300 and 2600 SD1s were painted white and fitted out to police specification.[26]
West Midlands Police, whose area of operations covered Rover's Castle Bromwich, Longbridge and Solihull factories, was the first police force in the United Kingdom to operate an SD1 in service, with a demonstrator Series 1 example being loaned to the force in 1976 for service on the M5 and M6 motorways.[27] The Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, were a major operator of police specification SD1s, with the force's first SD1s to enter service in 1978 introducing their 'jam sandwich' livery.[28] On 8 May 1987, a pair of Metropolitan Police SD1s made an emergency 27-mile drive through heavy central London traffic from Junction 7 of the M11 motorway to deliver a liver for transplant at the Cromwell Hospital in South Kensington within 34 minutes, with onboard video recorded from the backup SD1 later broadcast on Police Stop! and Police Camera Action! as 'The Liver Run'.[29]Grampian Police were unique in taking delivery a single SD1 Vitesse model equipped with a manual transmission in 1984, intended for stopping speeding high-performance vehicles on the Stonehaven Bypass that had been bought by oil industry businesspeople in nearby Aberdeen;[26][30] this SD1 has since been restored and donated to the Grampian Transport Museum.[31][32]
The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which had first been built in 1948. The Marina was also sold in some markets as the Austin Marina, the Leyland Marina and the Morris 1700.
The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Allegro was designed as a replacement for the Austin 1100 and 1300 models. In total, 642,350 Austin Allegros were produced during its 10-year production life, most of which were sold on the home market, less than a third of 2.1 million 1100s and 1300s sold in the previous 11 years.
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40% share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover, and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation.
The Princess is a large family car produced in the United Kingdom by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1975 until 1981. The car inherited a front-wheel drive / transverse engine configuration from its predecessor, the Austin/Morris 1800 range. This was still unusual in Europe for family cars of this type and gave the Princess a cabin space advantage when compared with similarly sized cars from competing manufacturers.
The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names.
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company in the 19th and 20th centuries. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg formed S. Bettmann & Co. and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them under his own trade name in London. The trade name became "Triumph" the following year, and in 1887 Bettmann was joined by a partner, Moritz Schulte, also from Germany. In 1889, the businessmen started producing their own bicycles in Coventry, England.
Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group, it was last used in 2009 to denote the top-luxury version of the Jaguar XJ (X350).
The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced from 1980 to 1998, first by British Leyland (BL) and later by the Rover Group. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro. It was intended to complement and eventually replace the Mini, and was developed under the codename LC8. The Metro was named by What Car? magazine as "Car of The Year" in 1983 as an MG, and again as the Rover Metro in 1991.
The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car that was produced from November 1982 to 1986 by British Leyland, and from 1986 until December 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Austin Maxi and Austin Allegro, with the van version replacing the corresponding van derivative of the Morris Ital. The car was produced at Morris' former Oxford plant, also known as Cowley, with 605,000 units sold. Today, the redeveloped factory builds the BMW Mini. An MG-branded performance version was sold as the MG Maestro from 1983 until 1991.
The Rover 800 series is an executive car range manufactured by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland, and its successor the Rover Group from 1986 to 1999. It was also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the decade-old Rover SD1.
The Austin Montego is a British family car that was produced by British Leyland from 1984 until 1988, and then by Rover Group from 1988 until 1995. The Montego was the replacement for both the rear-wheel drive Morris Ital and the front-wheel drive Austin Ambassador ranges to give British Leyland an all-new competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall Cavalier.
The Rover V8 engine is a compact V8 internal combustion engine with aluminium cylinder block and cylinder heads, originally designed by General Motors and later re-designed and produced by Rover in the United Kingdom. It has been used in a wide range of vehicles from Rover and other manufacturers since its British debut in 1967.
The Triumph TR8 is a sports car built by the British Triumph Motor Company from 1978 until 1981. It is an eight-cylinder version of the "wedge-shaped" Triumph TR7 which was designed by Harris Mann and manufactured by British Leyland (BL), through its Jaguar/Rover/Triumph (JRT) division. Because of its outstanding performance, the TR8 was often dubbed the "English Corvette". The majority of TR8s were sold in the United States and Canada.
The Triumph 2000 is a mid-sized, rear wheel drive automobile which was produced in Coventry by the Triumph Motor Company between 1963 and 1977. It was introduced on 15 October 1963. It was styled by Giovanni Michelotti.
The Triumph Vitesse is a compact six-cylinder car built by Standard-Triumph from 1962 to 1971. The car was styled by Giovanni Michelotti, and was available in saloon and convertible variants.
The Triumph TR7 is a sports car that was manufactured in the United Kingdom from September 1974 to October 1981 by British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which changed its name to British Leyland (BL) in 1975. The car was launched in the United States in January 1975, with its UK home market debut in May 1976. The UK launch was delayed at least twice because of high demand for the vehicle in the US, with final sales of new TR7s continuing into 1982.
The Rover P6 series is a saloon car produced by Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, West Midlands, England, UK.
Land Rover Group (LRG) was a division of British Leyland (BL) and later the Rover Group that was in existence between 1981 and 1987. LRG brought British Leyland's light commercial vehicle production under one management, consisting of the Land Rover utility 4x4 range, the Range Rover luxury 4x4 and the former Leyland Sherpa van range. LRG operated two factories in the Birmingham area – the Solihull plant and the Freight Rover plant at Washwood Heath.
Rover is a British automotive brand that was used for over a century, from 1904 to 2005. It was launched as a bicycle maker called Rover Company in 1878, before starting to manufacture autocars in 1904. The brand used the iconic Viking longship as its logo. The rights to the brand are currently part of Jaguar Land Rover, which continues to produce Land Rovers, but no Rover automobiles are currently in production and the brand is considered dormant.
The Austin Drawing Office was the design and engineering department of the British Motor Corporation. From the early 1950s, the resulting projects of the office were known by the initials ADO. The numbers were assigned to vehicle and engineering projects, some resulting in production models. The ADO numbering system continued well beyond BMC's absorption into British Leyland, who continued to use the convention until the late 1970s.
↑ Hogg, Tony (ed.). "Rover 3500: Rover, Rover, now you can come over". Road & Track's Road Test Annual & Buyer's Guide 1981 (January–February 1981): 160.
↑ Ambitious sales targets for new Rover car. The Times, Wednesday, Jun 30, 1976; pg. 5; Issue 59743
↑ Hutton, Ray, ed. (19 March 1977). "Rovers in Europe – with what? Opportunities aplenty – but no cars". Autocar: 14.
↑ Hutton, Ray, ed. (11 June 1977). "News: The Midlander of the Year Award...". Autocar. 146 (4205): 18.
↑ De Leener, Philippe (16 September 1982). "Gedetailleerde Wegtest: Rover 2000" [Detailed road test]. De AutoGids (in Flemish). Brussels, Belgium: Uitgeverij Auto-Magazine. 3 (78): 93.
†Rover, Land Rover, and Triumph were not part of British Motor Holdings but became part of British Leyland in 1968.
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