Rover SD1 | Spotted
Cheap and cool classics are something of a rare breed nowadays - but they aren't extinct
You wouldn’t be alone in finding old cars more appealing than ever right now. As new cars become more expensive, more ugly and more annoying, so a time of greater freedom becomes ever more attractive. Undoubtedly some very worthwhile improvements have been made when it comes to safety and emissions, albeit with plenty of desirability sacrificed in the process.
This has made old cars expensive. Even more expensive than they were, because it seems that more people are now clamouring for the limited stock, to remember when motoring meant freedom and not death by a thousand bongs. Whether sports car, hot hatch or supercar, it feels like values are stronger than ever. Or asking prices are, at least.
But it is possible to spend relatively little and buy a cool old car - buying British is the answer. A decent MG B can still be bought for £6k, £15k TVR Chimaeras exist, and there are four Westfields on PH at less than £11,000. In some instances, the brand cachet might not be there; the experience most certainly will be.
And for those who want the space, there’s the Rover SD1. Arguably no one model has represented the best and worst of British car-making quite so well. The Rover looked daring and stylish inside and out, drove with real polish - yet was so poorly assembled during a period of industrial angst that its reputation was permanently tarnished. Never mind the European Car of the Year award and touring car successes; too many broke or crumbled, which somewhat sealed the Rover’s fate.
However, 40 years on from the end of production (and almost 50 since the ECOTY honour), the SD1 is now looked on rather more favourably. The survivors, at least. Because the design is still spectacular, the venerable V8 is in plenty, and a funky spec - as was the fashion at the time - seems almost guaranteed. While still not commanding megabucks.
This one began life as a 3500SE in Oporto Red with a beige cloth interior, but at some point in its life has been upgraded to a 4.6-litre V8. Even with modest power from the factory, a swept capacity increase of almost a litre is surely going to make for quite the performance uplift. This SD1 has also been treated to some Vitesse exterior parts, so it both looks and sounds the part. Indeed for a car that’s now 44 years old (and 44 years before this was 1938), without the best reputation for quality, it looks very tidy indeed.
A low mileage of little more than 80k will help; one of the previous owners kept the Rover for more than 30 years, too, and you aren’t likely to do that without somewhere nice to keep the car. It’ll surely benefit from a bit of TLC (because everything that’s 44, whether on four wheels or two legs, would do), but what a cool car to lavish some effort on.
Plus it's only £12k. No doubt there was a time that SD1s were being traded for a week’s wages, but that’s a long time in the past now. In 2026 it doesn’t look like very much money for such a handsome hunk of V8 fastback. Not when so much else from the 20th century costs as much as it does.
I really wish I'd bought one when they were still stupid cheap. There's one that lives near me somewhere - I heard it pull out of my local petrol station on full chat and it sounded amazing.
I really wish I'd bought one when they were still stupid cheap. There's one that lives near me somewhere - I heard it pull out of my local petrol station on full chat and it sounded amazing.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I really wish I'd bought one when they were still stupid cheap. There's one that lives near me somewhere - I heard it pull out of my local petrol station on full chat and it sounded amazing.
Who hammers at engines ? Am guessing you arent a hands on mechanic, would be more keeping on top of rust with cars of this era.
When new it was a fairly upmarket cars, the first owners would be the previous generation or two whose equivalents now would have say a 5 series or similar, it was quite a posh car when new, well out of the reach of most working people. It was for managers and higher ups along with Granadas, Carltons and the like, those folk very much did not tinker wearing overalls, it would have been sent in to Henlys, Lookers or similar for servicing or warranty work.
Go and watch a few videos of these in touring, and even rally car guises, they were pretty cool, the Vitesse was a properly desirable car back then, best part of 50 years ago, when most had a Hillman Imp, Vauxhall Viva, Hillman Hunter or Ford Cortina.
Most were 2 litres, 2.3, 2.6 and even a very rare diesel, but a V8 had serious kudos, with about what 140 bhp (for the normal V8, 190 for the Vitesse) and some torque when most cars had under half that and very little torque.
This one needs a little height out of the suspension, I am not one for over lowering cars but not one for massive arch gaps, some SD1s were worse than this even but a couple of inches out of it would help massively. They were always a good looking thing to my eye.
I really wish I'd bought one when they were still stupid cheap. There's one that lives near me somewhere - I heard it pull out of my local petrol station on full chat and it sounded amazing.
Who hammers at engines ? Am guessing you arent a hands on mechanic, would be more keeping on top of rust with cars of this era.
When new it was a fairly upmarket cars, the first owners would be the previous generation or two whose equivalents now would have say a 5 series or similar, it was quite a posh car when new, well out of the reach of most working people. It was for managers and higher ups along with Granadas, Carltons and the like, those folk very much did not tinker wearing overalls, it would have been sent in to Henlys, Lookers or similar for servicing or warranty work.
Go and watch a few videos of these in touring, and even rally car guises, they were pretty cool, the Vitesse was a properly desirable car back then, best part of 50 years ago, when most had a Hillman Imp, Vauxhall Viva, Hillman Hunter or Ford Cortina.
Most were 2 litres, 2.3, 2.6 and even a very rare diesel, but a V8 had serious kudos, with about what 140 bhp (for the normal V8, 190 for the Vitesse) and some torque when most cars had under half that and very little torque.
This one needs a little height out of the suspension, I am not one for over lowering cars but not one for massive arch gaps, some SD1s were worse than this even but a couple of inches out of it would help massively. They were always a good looking thing to my eye.
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