Nostalgia brought me here. Great to see such a lovely survivor in mint condition!!! I owned a 1985 Rover 2400 SD Turbo with manual transmission that I bought in Spain in the early 90´s. The car was a rare bird in this country and a real head-turner for that reason. The diesel version that I had was equipped with a 4 -cylinder engine of Italian origin and though I didn´t have any serious problems with that engine, the car was clearly underpowered, sluggish and noisy especially on cold starts, but the beautiful design alone compensated for some quality issues that the car suffered from later on ( I remember that I had to remove the door panels countless times in order to fix the interior plastic door handles that used to crack again and again). In spite of all that, I really enjoyed driving this car for about eight years and I keep fond memories of that.
Give yourself a pat on the back because you've got a real corker there. I'm a big P6 fan myself but I'm still jealous. My uncle was a traffic copper and his 'company car' was a V8 SD1, but his own car was an SD1 two-six because he said that the two-six was a better drive and gave similar performance to the V8 with lower running costs. You're right about maintaining the car properly, which many owners simply neglected then blamed Rover/BL for the ensuing problems. My uncle cherished his two-six and only sold it when he had to give up driving. I'm sure you'll get many miles of grin-inducing pleasure out of yours.
Nice car, treasure it. There's not too many around any more and they were a beautiful model. Really enjoyed your video. Took me back a few years. My dad got a brand new Y reg 2600 in metallic blue as his company car back in the day. He was so impressed with it he got another in 1986, a brand new C reg 2600 in metallic silver. I always wanted him to get the Vitesse but the 2600 still looked very cool. That was the last ever UK made car he bought.
Thanks for sharing.. My uncle was a Rover dealer in Ireland in the 1980's and I remember as a very young child sitting in a new Rover 2000 in his showroom in the early 1980's and thinking this was the coolest car in the world! I would so love love to own one in as good condition as yours!
I had a SD1 2600 in the mid 80s. used to drive from Manchester to the East coast and back every weekend all before traffic jams and speed cameras, 110/120 mph practically all the way, beautiful car. Had the cam seize on me even tho it was serviced faithfully, I rebuilt the engine took the split pin one way valve out of the head and had no problems with it after. Wish I kept it, best car I ever owned.
That is a beautiful car in amazing condition! Wow! I love that cabin! The car looks far more modern than its age, especially considering the SD1 was a 7-8 years old design by 1983. Pure class!
Thats in stunning original condition. What a lovely motor. My Dad had a 2300 and a 2600 and we went on holiday all over Europe in them every year. They are great long distance cars. As an aside, that radio cassette player brings back memories for me too.. I had exactly the same unit in one of my cars as a youth!
Many moons ago A friend had a 2600 that the cam had seized on and no money for repair and not being able to find a decent affordable secondhand head. I hammed out the cam cleaned up the bearing faces with just some emery until cam would slid back in. Got some straight valves from a scrap yard to replace bent ones put it altogether and to my shock it ran perfectly and was still running perfectly over 20,000 miles later when he sold it
I wished my dad got one of these, he never did, he liked Maxi 1750s. So I got an 85 2600, really comfy and fast, loved driving it. I punted if as soon as the doors bubbled though. Childhood ambition achieved!👍 Great video!
This brings back memories when I worked on these vehicles in an Austin Rover dealership. The amount of cylinder heads that I took off because the camshaft seized were countless, I used to have a bucket full of the various shims that were used to adjust the valve clearances. The other major issue these had were the heater radiator seals used to leak because of its poor design. To change them the whole dash and heater box had to removed. Done so many that I used to love doing them in the end. Knew exactly what had to be removed that I properly could have done it with my eyes shut. The 3500 Vitesse was the beast of this model and in all the SD was a good vehicle despite its issues. Happy Days
Interesting the headlights are flush with the bonnet. Earlier cars the headlights were recessed a bit and it looked odd. My dad had a 2300SE auto which I inherited when he died and even in 2300 form it was quick enough. It was nice to drive and very comfortable. Sadly it got wrote off when crashed into while parked outside.
its lovely to see such a special car still around. I drove my dads V8 at 16 round garages and it was the car i drove after I passed my test. The acceleration was amazing. Love old school Rovers
Beautiful car, always loved these. You're spot on when you say look after the car it'll look after you, just spent the weekend changing all of my oils......
I have had the privilege of being driven in a 1983 metallic blue V8 version years ago and two things that stood out to me from that ride was the real wood accents and the solid body as it went over bumps just like a new car. I never knew they came in six cylinder form. I like this one better than the V8! I have never seen one in red before. This looks bloody sensational in this shade of red. Keep the polish up to it. I sure hope it's garaged or at least under cover of some sort. These later builds were much better put together than the earlier models with the recessed headlights. I can tell you deeply appreciate it. Take it easy.
Cool video brings back childhood memories!! My dad had a light blue 3500 as a company car!! It would Cruise day at 130 if needed in early 90s traffic, We got on places quickly and not to mention how comfortable the seats were!!
Very nice car!, I am a Big Ford enthusiast, (owning a Mk.3. Cortina for 42 years, I totally agree with your comment on the old oil and camshaft ware) my Cortina has done over 300,000 miles on it's original engine as oil was changed every 6 months, the Rover SD1, is a beautiful shape, and your car is in superb condition, a joy to see her, a car to be very proud of, and I LOVED seeing her. thanks for uploading the video.
Thanks for posting this. Beautiful car. Have always loved these since I was a teenager... (long time ago now)... to have one of these is on my bucket list. Thanks again for posting.
Beautiful car . I remember my uncle taking delivery of his new 2600 in May 1979 ....... T reg . It was blue and me and my little brother thought it was the coolest car ever
Amazing condition for its age, you just never see these on the roads anymore. Seeing that dashboard again brings back a lot of memories. My mum owned a 1984 2400S Diesel Turbo when I was a kid, such a beast of a car that it required two batteries to turn the engine over if I remember correctly.
Love it!!!! I drove my mates in the 80's one night from Manchester to Sheffield It was fantastic and the one thing I remember is the dashboard and the clocks just looked brilliant
Lovely example,love it! Overall,the 2600 was the best Engine in the range.Just remember,frequent oil changes are critical on these (you already know this) Good quality 10w40,or 15w40 oils with a good dose of ZDDP (chose SL rated oil over the new SN as the ZDDP is reduced for SN oils) changed every 6 months,and if storing the car over winter,always fresh oil before storage.
Great video , i am still using my 2600 as my daily driving car , 551,000 on the clock still on the original engine , its been renovated twice but still all original car as i bought it 83 and took it to denmark
Bonjour Koala ! Vous avez 551 000 miles !!? Avec le moteur 6 cylindres en ligne !!! J'ai la même rover SD1 6 cylindres en ligne c'est rassurant . Ce moteur est donc très fiable ?
@@minutepapillon5060 sorry for english but yes the engine is very reliable if well maintained , only real problems i had was the cable net but i replaced the whole loom , a few years ago i had 3 of the pistons changed due to having an engine rebore but it still starts even in the winter here in denmark but spares are expensive to import so a good coat of underseal every year sorts out the rust and road salt problems , other than that i love the old beast we will rot away together in my garage lol
Hi, I remember this model when I used to see one particular car every morning on my way to school, the very same colour as this! ... It brought great memories crashing back into my mind about brilliant times we had as kids in the screaming 80’s! ... Brill Video, Well-Done. 10/10.
Wow just looks like the SDi I used to own as a young lad, same colour, wheels etc. Mine was a 2.6 VDP 5 speed with walnut capping inside. God I loved that car, engine was awesome a proper motorway maulers. The police loved them as well. The best car of my early driving, the boot floor would lift up and you could get a whole toolkit including trolley jack under there and put the floor back down and you would have an empty boot. My reg was B646DWF will never forget the fun I had! Cheers for the video mate, look after it and above all enjoy it. 🤗
Wow! Always wanted one of these! Very rare here in my country, that was the most beautiful car one could own back in the day when cars had their own unique characters not like now when everything looks and feels the same ! Nice find!
Great video and info. Looking fab in that colour. The interior looks amazing! I remember as a school boy, walking to school back in 1974, when the 3500 was launched. I would pass a parked new 3500 in brown, I loved the shape and thought wow, that's the future now!
Fantastic i like your style dockertrigger, my old man used to run an XJ6 in the 70's and SD1's in the 80's so i remember these well, So much cooler than the sea of hyundai's and kia rubbish seen on UK roads today, Looking at the hot rod guys comment below i too would love to see a princess walkaround........ the phrase icing on the cake spings to mind.
I had a D reg 2.6 which i bought when working in portsmouth auctions.loved the car, was going to sell it but got rear ended on the way home,Insurance paid up and covered the cost of the car,had it repaired then the wife was driving it and got hit in the back more insurance money thankyou,ended up selling it at the Auctions at a profit,12 months later it came through the Auctions again so i bought it,loved the car and it just kept on giving,wish i had it now.lovely example.
What a beauty car mate. A cracking car. Great V8 racing machines back in the 80s. I had a lovely V8 3500, it was gold and as you said I ran mine into the ground. The transmission went. Great car, look after it.
She's an absolute stunner! Waft along with the old slushmatic autobox, luxury for a fraction of the price of a Euro shitbox. Reminds me of my youth. Thanks for sharing.
As a spotty Herbert in the 90's I had an SD1 and loved it! Also had a 525 and 528 shark nose which I probably loved slightly more but the SD1 never let me down, I had just come back from living in the US and so gave it a slight Cal look by lowering it, colour match steel rims with chrome embellishers and taking off the go faster strips, it was a rare manual.... think I paid £250 for it and sold it a few months later for £700ish. If only! Can't keep everything you buy.... modern stuff just leaves me cold when I think of our motoring greats and the stuff we used to smash, crash and abuse!
Very nice car.I say that because I have had one for 8 months now.Ive had the big engine ones including the twin plenum. I bought mine so I could find out if BL held back the performance of the engine so it wouldn't overshadow the v8 So far the exhaust ports and inlet ports have been made larger and performance filters are fitted.Response has improved and acceleration,next in line will be cylinder head and cam.Hope it can handle the strain
Bloody love the looks of these. Proper old skool gangster type motor! Love a go in one one day don't think I could bring myself to own one purely through fuel costs.
Eishhhhh not seen an SD1 in decades!!!! - lovely old thing. Remember driving one in 83 2600SE same as this. Lovely drive, powerful for its time. Lovely looker , styled by one of the big Italian designers if memory serves. You have a lovely car sir, emjoy
Nice motor, always liked the styling. My late uncle had a couple of these 2600s and I remember how smooth and quiet they were all those years ago. Unless they were cossetted, they seemed to rust pretty quickly and the build quality was hit and miss. Nice to see one being cared for!
Worked in a dealership in the 80s ferrying them around on trade plates lovely to drive very comfy, the vitesse was a beast really quick. Most of them ended up with dents in the back bumper rear visibility for parking was poor.
The interior smell of cars always takes you back in time. Also the strong smell of petrol and oil mixed with wood and leather. Dad's first car was a Hillman Minx.
Nice, very nice. Back in 83 colleagues of mine used to drive these. The V8, V8 S (?), and the 2.6. In fact, the had stripes, sirens and blue lights. They loved the very quick version of the V8 (was that the S?) especially in a straight line. Lots of grunt carrying lots of kit. HOWEVER...they all said the 2600 was a much 'better' all round, quick driving machine, particularly on the twisty bits. I did a 5 week 'standard car' course and we had the...delights...of Hillman Avengers, Vauxhall Cavaliers and a newmodel, Ford Sierra (!) When/if we passed the course with a sufficient grade we were allowed a treat; to drive one of these Rovers 'in anger.' Fabulous car. We did our skid pan training in a 3500, with bald tyres on oil and water. Moreclike sailing than driving :-) I know what you mean about the dash too, love it. I also love the fact that the vent in front of the passenger was swapped over to the other side of the car on left hand drive versions and the steering column went through the hole,; that's why it's where it is. Clever. One last point and I'll shut up. The lads who drove the Rovers were quite critical of the cars on the fleet. At the time there were XJ12 Jags...a 2 door coupe would you believe, Range Rovers and 3 litre Capris. A couple of them chose the Rover SD1 as their personal transport. The 2.6, not the V8. Thanks for sharing that and enjoy it.
Good for you.......a cracking example of the marque. Love the interior and the instrument binnacle. Obviously gone to a good home. It's a shame some people only see the bigger engines versions (of any car) as best. My Capri is 'only' a 1.6 but the usual question is......'is it a 2.8' ?
A neighbour had a 2600 and asked me to work on it. The key was balancing the twin SU carbs well and sorting the ignition timing. That car used to scream nicely!!! S-6 is in perfect balance if all timing and fueling is spot on
You spot on mate re changing the oil ! I bought lots of 2.6s out of the auction when they were 3 or 4 years old , bought and sold them , another problem I saw was people put cheap oil in them and it used the sludge and block the oil ways and cam went , great design of the car though and yours the Mk 2 a much better car .
Back in the day I had the 3500SE but same colour and year and looked almost identical apart from mine had a spoiler on the back. What an amazing car it was the second car I ever bought and it was so brilliant it just ran and ran. I traded it in for an RX7 convertible but all my best memories are of the old Rover.
I had a Y reg 2300s manual in the same colour combo.the metal sliding sunroof and metal mirror covers cental locking,all round electric windows and the trip comp,we're the height of luxury.
markpirateuk My old neighbour had a the V8 Vanden Plas. On the odd occasion he let me drive it, was a blast! I Owned a 1.3 Austin allegro estate, slightly different driving experience, I'd say..
Tom O'Hawk Yeah the old man bought it for me, first car.. And it was an estate, bloody awful drive😕 It was known as the passion wagon, for reasons I won’t go into 😋
Amigo mío, tienes un coche realmente único, este es uno de los mejores coches que fabricó Rover, antes de que fuese absorbida por BMW, y para mi uno de los mejores coches fabricados y producidos en Gran Bretaña, con piezas e ingeniería británica, lo tienes muy bien cuidado, da gusto verlo, además el SD 1, es un coche que me gusta mucho, por que a pesar de su antigüedad, es un coche muy cómodo y confortable, con el que se pueden realizar largos viajes sin problema, puedes atravesar el país de punta a punta con él, y llegarás sin problema, el coche aguantará perfectamente el ritmo moderno de conducción actual, en resumen sigue conservando así este coche, por que tienes un gran coche, y un auténtico traga kilómetros. En hora buena por tener en tan buen estado una auténtica joya sobre ruedas del automovilismo británico. lástima que Rover acabase colapsando, como colapsó ninguna empresa se merece tener un final tan triste e ignominioso, como el que tuvo Rover.
Nice video and great to see a nice SD1. Probably the most exotic saloon car the average person could buy in its day! Notice it was bought from a Brentwood dealer - I may well have seen it driving around back then as I used to live Romford later Billericay. Been living in New Zealand since 2001 and you do occassionally see them here also.
Hiya, after the Dolomite, the Rover SD1 Another car with memories of when I was a kid, my brother had one, a mark1 model from 1976, avocado green, 3.5 v8, it went like a rocket! The cars themselves were a revolutionary design but we're let down by poor build quality mainly due to British Leyland workers of the time, who were more Intrested in going on strike than building cars!
I used to work in the automotive industry. I can tell you that cars that are poor quality are poor quality due to the engineering. Nothing to do with the workforce.
Richy, The Tinkerer & Wanderer. I used to be a train driver and used to run the car trains. You always knew when they were coming up for a strike, the car storage areas would be filling up. Go on strike and as soon as the storage areas were nearly empty, back to work they go until the next time the storage areas filled up. Weird huh!!
My gaffer had one of these in gold. I had to take it a couple of times to a garage for tyre changes. I remember him saying make sure you keep your foot on the brake when you start. Good job it tried to jump forward when the car was parked several inches from a wall. Also the strange shaped steering wheel.
We had one of these. S model with a manual gearbox. Head went twice. Both times due to a plastic oil valve in the head blocking. First time we didn't know about the valve, second time valve removed, problem sorted. Central locking was a bit of a mystery as well!!. But fun and great to drive. Also had a couple of V8s. Different animals but still good. No wonder the police used them!
Well done, uploader! I lusted after these as a kid because they reminded me of the slinky scifi cars used in "UFO"...the excellent Jerry Anderson tv series. In Australia they were mostly the V8. They sold well here but Australia's strong sunlight wrecked havoc on the interiors (designed for gentler climes, no doubt) and, as you say, people didn't do basic maintenance so they became problematic. Anyway...I still reckon they are great cars and if I had the money I'd buy one in good nic like this one and restore it fully. I'd drop a Holden 3.6 V6 in it as they fit the engine compartment of these really well and the Holden engines are bullet-proof and plenty strong! Well done, my friend. Look after it.
It's even got the 80,s traffic light perfume air freshener on the interior mirror. Lol. I remember those well. Absolutely beautiful condition for the age and a really nice, comfortable car to drive. I used to have a metallic blue 3500 Vitesse and I'd give anything to be able to have that car again today. It was extremely quick in its day. The 2600 was under rated because it was always compared to the 3500 but it was also a great car and pretty quick. The 3500 was dreadful on fuel though and i suppose the 2600 isn't much better. I also had the 2000 which was a nightmare in comparison and badly underpowered. I didn't have that for long needless to say. Lol. I envy you my friend, happy motoring!
