Well now, what do we have here? Something for the old folk? Not a bit of it. Read on, callow youths, and bend thy knees at the altar of a motoring deity.
It’s difficult to overstate the impact of the Rover 3500 launch back in the hot summer of 1976. Originally carrying the working title of RT1 (Rover Triumph 1) but renamed SD1 (Specialist Division 1), the 3500 was designed by David Bache and engineered by Range Rover guru Spen King. In an age of rather more prosaic machinery it was quite fantastically futuristic. Press and punters alike were wowed by its swooping lines, state-of-the-art interior, 125mph performance, surprisingly adept handling (considering it had a live back axle) and liftback practicality.
Fuel consumption figures only just scraping into the 20s may look scary now, but ranged against the contemporary opposition the 3500’s numbers were all good, as Autocar’s road test comparisons proved:
As you can see, it was also a bit of a bargain. Autocar predicted it would be ‘one of the successes of the decade’. They were right, too. Crazed buyers happily paid over the odds to jump the waiting list. It was voted Car of the Year in 1977, ex-racer turned journo and COTY President Paul Frere calling it "the first British car for years with a worldwide appeal". Motorsport legend Raymond Mays described it as the best car he’d ever had.
Shed’s recollections from behind the wheel are slightly less noteworthy, amounting to a brief blart in a later lime-green Vitesse that ended in a low-speed reverse into a concrete post. Rear vision was poor, but that was a fair price to pay for styling that literally stopped onlookers in their tracks. It was a special car.
It ain't quite one of these...
Unfortunately, Autocar didn’t have a road test category for ‘Factory Prospects’. The June 1976 launch was marred by a Solihull dispute about, of all things, a raffle. A factory draw for five SD1s was meant to incentivise assembly workers into upping production, but by cleverly excluding non-assembly workers it resulted in a 24-hour strike.
By 1980, an unlucky confluence of global recessions and fuel crises had brought cashflow problems to BL, and the spectre of discounting to the SD1. The well-received Vitesse of 1982 reinvigorated the brand (it was meant to be called the Rapid until Aston Martin objected), but it was only a temporary reprieve. A combination of poor management, aggressive unions, quality control that was a parody of the phrase and staccato production that pendulumed uncontrollably between shortage and stockpile eventually did for the SD1 in 1986. In a decade the SD1 had gone through a rollercoaster ride from the triumph of the first 3500, through the uninspiring 2300 and 2600 sixes, dog-slow 2.4 VM turbodiesel and feeble Ambassador-engined 2000 models to the twin-plenum Vitesse that is now the holy grail of SD1s.
This one here is the almost-as-desirable Vanden Plas model with all the toys and a wood’n’moo interior. Being a 1982 car, it’s too early to have the Vitesse EFi engine, but the performance will be on the right side of adequate. Not sure what’s valuable about what appears to be a seven-character Y-reg numberplate – unless this is a ‘library picture’ of course. The lack of decent snaps or indeed meaningful information about the condition of the car is a pain. Bearing in mind the price being asked, let’s take a cynical view on the vendor’s ‘condition 2-2.5’ and assume he actually means ‘condition 3’. That means a well cared-for daily driver, possibly an older restoration that might be showing signs of age, but essentially a nice, complete car.
...not even one of these. But for a grand, who's quibbling?
The trouble with cars of this vintage and provenance is that ‘nice’ won’t always apply to the bits you can’t see (much as Scrof found out
a few months ago
). For all we can tell, this car may well be ready for the knacker’s yard, heady with the reek of death and old mens’ overcoats and imbued with all the structural integrity of a wire coathanger.
But look here, the MOT lasts till September, the car was designed to be mechanically simple, and parts are available. Even it fails the next test, so what? You’ll still have a low-mile V8 to drop into a kit car of your choosing, plus the rosy glow of satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve driven a great motoring icon for a while. This could be the perfect Shed: it’s never going to be worth less than a grand, and it could end up being worth a lot more. Mint examples are well into five figures now.
They say you can’t buy memories. Actually, they don’t, and you can see why too because that’s clearly rubbish. But for the outlay of £332 per month for three months, minus the value of the V8, this nag must surely be worth backing. It might even get through another test, and then you’ll really be in Castle Bromwich-scented clover.
Here’s the ad. Remember to show it to your union rep before making a call:
Rover SD1 3500 SE Automatic 1982 5 Door Hatchback, Petrol.Current owner 10 years, previous owner 19 years. MOT Sep 13 Tax Aug 13 History. Only 89000 miles. Condition 2/2.5 Sunroof Alloy wheels. drives well. Good engine and gearbox. SD1's are becoming rare. Valuable registration number. £995
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