From Prime Ministers to Banger Racers - Why The V8 Rover P5B Is A British Hero 

I love that you sometimes venture out to cars like this. I know they probably generally aren't as good view wise but I hope you keep doing them anyway.

Variety is the spice of life it doesn’t always have to be “how fast does it go” P5B a piece of British motoring history and nice to see you in one James.👍

"...four-door coupé which is just weird..." Oh no James, the saloon was for the gentleman, the coupé for the cad, but what a beauty. A perfect marriage of bluff front, lowered roofline and cool-flowing C-pillar... A cut-and-shut straight from the factory...

As a child I saw the film The Man Who Haunted Himself staring Roger Moore. The P5 he drove looked so classy, luxurious and regal. Always thought Rover had slided downwards after this car.

Great stuff James. One of my all time faves. I love the looks of the Coupe myself. You also get some pretty cool extra dials that look really "Flash Gordon". This car was never meant to have any sporting pretensions at all. It was a gentleman's saloon, large (for it's day), refined and suitably understated. Lovely, lovely thing.

When Rover was Rover, a trip down memory lane for me , as I worked at the Solihull plant 1959-70 , I started in the trim shop, later the main assembly line, best job was driving the gleaming new P5's off the finish line to the car park..

I love these, particularly the four door coupe version. The other claim to fame of this car is that it appeared in Roger Moore's finest film 'The Man who Haunted Himself' together with a Lamborghini Islero.

My grandfather had a copper colored P5B Coupe. Probably one of the cars I loved the most. It was a bit cold natured, but never overheated or failed in any way. I’ve always thought, “If you could put England on four wheels, this would be it!” Thanks for the great video. Cheers

Ironic to see this video as I collected an all-Zircon Blue P5B Coupe just two days ago! And yes, I’m over the moon with the way it looks, sounds and smells.

My father had a new Rover P5 Coupe in 1973, M registration, white with white leather and vinyl roof (black I think), I recall the sunroof slid back, a lovely motor car. At that time the family were in some hardship as my father had sold a 1971 Silver Shadow for the Rover. The Rover was the first time I saw 110mph on the speedo whilst on the M3 one night. I remember him saying he had the RR faster, but I had never noticed, and you couldn't see the speedo from the back in the Rolls. Some two or three years later he bought the Rolls Royce back, and has it to this day.

Very nice. My heart belongs to the P6 though, since I test drove one back when the 2000 TC version was new. Being used to American barges, this car was utterly futuristic, more like a spaceship than anything I had thought possible in a car. The smoothness, silence, stability and braking power made my dad's new, deluxe Pontiac feel positively homemade. If they didn't rust terribly in Canada, I think would have a P6 now.

I can remember our next-door neighbours had a Rover P4 when I was a boy, this was the car owned by the professional classes, and a fairly dowdy bullfrog of a car, so the Rover P5 was quite avant garde for the time, and I think it took a while for traditional Rover customers to adopt it, hard as it may seem today.

I had a 1973 saloon, in admirality blue, as my daily driver for years. You forgot to mention the height adjustable front seats, and because they go up and down so do the armrests on the doors. I loved mine but got a company car in the end. :(

Great to see the P5 getting some attention. I've got an earlier P5 3 Litre Coupe. These cars really are the proverbial gentleman's London club on wheels and the next step down from a Rolls-Royce.

That sound is still as evocative today as it was all those years ago. Awesome car.

These are cool. I remember my grandparents had one of these when I was a kid. Well they had a P5B Coupe. Which really isn't a coupe but a sportier looking saloon. I loved that car. Nice video.

I remember those wheels being described by one motoring journalist at the time as “like seeing your spinster aunt decked out in a miniskirt”.

Lovely car, yes some old fashioned black number plates would finish that off a treat

My dad had a p5 coupé called Herman. It was awesome. 1970's was a great time. You could do what you wanted and couldn't get cancelled for it.

Very good road test an excellen historical documentary. I had a P5 3 Litre for 2 weeks back in the 1980s I put ten quid's worth of petrol in it and it rant out at 11 miles! The thirst of those old Rovers was legendary. From early days it was known as the "Poor Man's Rolls Royce" on account of the quality but the poor person couldn't afford one. I think when a Mini cost about £500 the Rovers were double that figure. Many of the Rover Series got nicknamed 'Aunty' as only retired people could afford one. They were incredibly well engineered even the water pump pulley was 'balanced'. The tool-kit quality didn't match the car's though and someone showed me at a Car Dealer's forecourt how you could bend the screwdriver at 90° at the tip, it was soft as putty! My current Golf Automatic (Petrol) does 54 miles per gallon at 70mph on the motorway. So we can't exactly say the Rover is very 'green'.

great review, they're such an underrated car. when the world is going mad outside, its nice to slip away to another time and just waft about in my P5B,

Will never forget the Topgear segment on the P5B with Quentin. I think I was 8 when I recorded it! What a magnificent machine. I’m now in Australia and you still see some of them here once in a blue moon. Keep up the good work!

Great review James! I think the p5 and especially the P5B coupe is one of the most beautiful Rovers ever made.

I’ve always loved and respected the Rover P5❤

I have an Australian sold 1966 three litre that was converted into a P5b replica by its previous owner. It uses the Australian P76 motor and bw65 gearbox. I just enjoy the hell out of driving it and it gets so much attention. Like all old cars it takes constant fettling, but everything so far has been achievable myself and satisfying and it has taken us on many enjoyable trips and never let us down. Great car!

Easy to see why a drive in a P5B was on your wishlist. Such a goodlooking, dignified and classy saloon and that V8 engine was perfectly complementary with it. I tend to think Rover back then was something like the British equivalent of a Mercedes, absolutely the P5 is among my favorite cars of the 1960s. I tend to prefer the straighter roofline of the saloon over the one of the admittedly more glamorous coupé; 40 years before the Mercedes CLS, the latter was something like the British answer to the many American hardtop sedans. Thanks for this review!

Saw one of these of Harry's Garage Auction review this week. £35k for a car that had £100k spent on the renovation. Lovely Car. Great Video as always!

Things like this lovely old barge are exactly why I will never ever unsubscribe from your channel, James. You're a likable chap, and whilst you and I may not always agree on everything, I respect your opinion enormously. That however is a distant second to my admiration for your willingness to get in and drive just about any damn thing with wheels and an engine. I never know what's coming next, and that's a genuine joy of your channel. One week it can be something modern and British, the next something old and Japanese. The constant is that I always get something absolutely worth watching! I look forward to the next one as always.

My Great Grandad had a V8, my Grandad had the 3 litre. The 3 litre got written off spectacularly when a gravel truck overturned on it. my dad's earliest memory (as a very young child) is coming round to find himself wedged in that dashboard tray with the rest of the car filled with gravel. Somehow everyone in the car survived though. After that both went for a new P6, again one with the V8 and the other the 2000.

Looks classic, drives classic, with comfort and V8. Any American or Australian car with these specifications would cost twice to four times as much. It looks like an affordable Rolls-Royce that is far more affordable to maintain.

Love these cars. Amazing V8 engine. Could put my Suzuki Cappuccino in the boot! My favourite Rover was the P6. The P6 was really ahead of it's time. Great review thanks

A few memories there for me. Back in the late '60s when I was about 19 I had a holiday job driving for a friend of my dad's as he 'was on medication' that prevented him driving (in retrospect I think he was an alcoholic). His car was a P5B in that Zircon blue, and that was what I drove. Along with his father's Daimler limo and his MD's Corsair V4. Could you imagine a 19 year old being allowed to do that today? I can confirm the Rostyle wheels are original equipment.

I remember back in 1988 we had one of these at the garage I was working at. It was strange shade of yellow, anyway somehow when the car was parked it had been left in drive and all the doors were locked but the engine was still running. We were trying to get the door unlocked and it suddenly started to move forward on its own, everybody was running around trying to stop it from crashing into the other cars, chucking stuff under the wheels it was hilarious as it got closer and closer to the other cars. Eventually somebody wedged a big lump of wood under the front wheel and it stopped. Funny at the time though.

My old man had four of these and nothing else between 1970 and 2001 .... two Mk1 saloons, a Mk3 coupe and a P5B saloon.

I love the Rover P5, saw them as a very young fellow back in the 60s, and have loved them ever since. This is driving by the seat of the pants, none of the gizmos, or wizbangs, this is how I learnt to drive. My Mum taught me to drive in a 1969 Ford Falcon XW, yes, I’m Australian. Absolutely love the videos James, keep up the great work mate 👍🏻

My old man had one of these in burgundy red on a 1972 L plate. As a kid my mates dads were driving Granadas and Cortinas, but I felt great rocking up in the Rover. Every Sunday it was washed and polished with Turtle Wax paste and the chrome done with Duraglit. I loved the old thing and it was off the road for twenty plus years after my dad couldn’t maintain it. It was given to someone for free many years later, not sure if he used it for spares or restoration. One touch I always loved was the red plastic piece above the side lights so you could see then illuminated and know your side lights were on. Lovely old thing with many happy memories as kid in it.

Have many happy memories of travelling between north England & Lubeck north Germany via Holland, in an identical car ,over an eight year period...1500ml round trips...22.5 mpgs overall.. an abundance of oldie worldie charm !!

P5B has a unique look - the only limo I was tempted to buy. Looked into one in the late 70's with a dead engine at £75 but missed it. Apparently the gov't liked them so much they bought a bunch of the run out production and garaged them so they were still in use years later.

I have the kerb weight of the P5B Coupé, but it can't be that much different from the saloon - 1589 kg. They're effectively baby Bentleys and in a counterfactual world, this would surely have been the route Rover would have taken had they not been forbidden to by the BL board. BL wanted no internal competition for Jaguar, but to me Jaguar had a significantly different customer base.

Cheers James, I still love em, I loved my 70 P5B Coupé so much that I brought it out to Oz with me when I migrated in 81! I sold it to a very happy buyer about 20 years ago because I just did not have the time to keep her in a manner to which she had been accustomed, She's still around in Tropical North Queensland today!, I drove her from Sydney to Cairns a few times, (2000 or so KMs each way) she didn't miss a beat! They're very rare over here too.

This is a fantastic video James, of a car I’m particularly fond of! My old dad has a useable classic of one of these, unrestored and manual, he also has 2 jaaaaaaaaaaag 420g’s and for his daily workhorse a 1 of 1 Phaeton, so clearly a man of great taste!

Let's watch.

Great car and upload. Thanks. A couple of anorak points. The sill below the lower stainless trim should be satin black. This was introduced on the P5B to slim down the side on view and make the car appear more sleek. It does actually do that. The front headrests should ideally be the "ET" type but these are rare and expensive. Is it my imagination or was the brake reservoir light under the right dashboard panel flickering? This could mean low brake fluid level, not something you want on a single circuit system!.

James, one of your best reviews. Love these older, but still useable classics. Can we have a few more like this please?

...Thanks again for sharing..I have always loved these Rovers..after just happening to find this one amazingly cool and stunningly beautiful Rover 3500S..sitting out there alone on the hot back lot at the LA Auto Auction.. and after viewing that one car ..sadly sitting out there untouched in the heat ....with a dead battery...my sharp-eyed Irish wife decided right on the spot to make a bid to buy it.. Then..after we won the car.. they boosted the battery.. and we drove it right home to our small apartment in Los Feliz in Hollywood..then quickly had it spiffed up with a brand new glossy Midnight Blue paint job...But finally..after a long year of tiring of just looking..and trying to find.. and then install.. some very overpriced brake parts from the sniffy Rolls Royce dealer out in Pasadena..and finally finding a mechanic in Silver Lake..right next to the first old Walt Disney Cartoon Studios.. (which is now.. just an everyday shopping center) we sadly put an ad in the Hollywood paper.. and quickly sold it to this British director David Davis..(who then was working for the Mary Tyler Moore TV Studios)..but even today.. I think back..and still. really miss..that amazingly beautiful .. so well- designed and carefully crafted..and is still..one really great car..

Lovely to see inside a P5 again. I had a 64 MK2 coop with overdrive and the 3 litre engine. I'd take issue with the four door coupe looking weird, ithinknit looked brilliant,the saloon looks a tiny bit stuffy ,the coupe roof just makes it look lower and cooler and a bit meaner. My looked imposing sweeping round at 10 mph, or flicking it into overdrive and pushing it up to an effortless ton. Beautiful motors.

40 odd years ago I privately sold one of these in reasonable nick in Connaught Green for,at the time, was an optimist £400 😮 !

I bought a P5 Coupe back in the early 80's as a youth. It was a hot summer and me and my mates were bored so we chopped the roof off! The doors never opened after that :D

I know there are two Rover P5Bs in the British Motor Museum's collection that belonged to the Queen, but I think she still has one or two tucked away somewhere. The museum also has a ministerial P5B that was used by Prime Ministers from Wilson to Thatcher; this car comes with extra lights, a siren, radio and enlarged passenger ashtray for Wilson's pipe.

Always loved these…… back in the late 80’s/90’s a good friend had a two tone bruiser, memory says it was lower and stiffer, modern tyres on rostyles, with much later injected V8, auto box and some free flowing (loud) pipes…… brutish weapon… I used to drive a friends P6 3500 manual, which was deeply unpleasant and I owned an immaculate 1982 ROVER SD1 3500SE which I sold in 1994 to a classic dealer…… incidentally, I took an immaculate black P5 saloon to a sale for the same dealer, which failed to reach its then reserve of £1000……. wish I’d bought it, as in truth the 3 litre would be my choice nowadays. If you fancy a trip in an SD1….. follow in the Car Perverts tracks and find out if Charlie Brumfield still has his Rolls Royce Meteor LHD Rover SD1……. 27 litre V12, tank powering version of the Merlin, without the Superchargers……. only 650 bhp and enough torque to restart a planet…… I’d watch that 😳, don’t forget your ear defenders and spare pants…….. Carry on……. as you were…. 🙂🇬🇧

At last! A car with enough space for JM to be comfortable! Still one of my very favourite 1960s cars seen in many Downing Street news casts of the day! 👌🇬🇧

As a teen I had a friend with a P5. Wasn't quite at the level of Jaguar refinement but it was a very pleasant place to sit as the car just wafted along.

Loved this video as my wife and I had, for a short period of time, a 3.5 ltr P5b coupé. Lovely to look at, lovely to drive; but when we arranged to have a towbar fitted, the engineer told us that there was little or nothing left to fasten the towbar to - eeeeekk !

Always wanted a 5B but ended up cleaning up a 6B. Loved that thing, rebuilt to 3.9 with 4 barrel, extractors and mild cam…but body/suspension std rebuilt. Loved it to bits with surprising open road behaviour. Now I’ve reminded myself about to I might be online soon looking again 😂

Triangle turny windows need to make a comeback

This upload reminds me of just how badly I miss my P5B...... Must chase the garage up as it's been sat there for way too long. The roofline of the Coupé sits 2 inches lower than the Saloon. It has a different C pillar and a top speed difference of 3mph from what I can recall. Definitely underrated Classic so I am glad to have purchased mine before the prices went crazy.

Really like these, i remember years ago seeing one drag racing a mk2 golf and blowing the doors of it at the lights was a hilarious sight and obviously modified quite a bit, sounded great too and i would often see it doing rolling burnouts and such around the area.

My grandfather had the 1963 3-litre version which he bought from the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia. He treasured it for the rest of his life and I absolutely loved that car as a kid!

Beautiful old car 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Lovely to see these cars getting some attention. I have to say though, that I have a soft spot for the P4 110. This was the car my dad had when I was young (I was born in 1973) and I would love to be able to afford one now, I have great memories of it. Thank you for the video.

I read that ‘Coupé’ refers to the roof, not the number of doors. The word comes from the French for ‘cut’, that is the height of the roof has been cut lower. Something like that. M.

Absolutely gorgeous car! My neighbour had a coupe that was converted to a 2 door back when the car was current, never seen another 2 door in the flesh since the factory never made them, but there are some period conversions about still, plus some that have been done more recently.

My boss has a P5B. They are such a gorgeous beast of a car, and always gets attention when it's parked out the front.

Love my P5B coupe,bought it on timed auction without any knowledge of condition.And it,s a 9 out of 10,and I have found it,s history except for the last 4 yrs,but I am certain he was a ROVER enthusiast!

British bank robbers used to love these cars.

I’m lucky enough to own the P5B from Wheeler Dealers. It’s been a pleasure to own and work on. People love seeing it and always toot and wave. Thanks for your film.

Loved the P5 and P6, especially the V8. My uncle had one of the first a SD1 3500, which was awesome. My dad had a mk3 Cortina 1.6, so remember being quite jealous …

I would recommend driving the SD1, my parents had 2 Rovers SD1 back in the day's a 2600 straight 6 from '81 that i have drivin a lot, and later on they owned a SD1 3500 Vandenplass from '83, simply the best Rover ever (facelift), drive it u wont be disapointed at all, great car, great handling, i have pushed it beyond 210 km/h, and it corners very well for such a big car

Really can't beat that V8 rumble as it goes past.

Unbelievable that in 1963 they were producing all three the P4 P5 and P6 👍

Grandfather had one. It had a telephone in it. One of the first in the country to do so, as memory recalls. He had a P6 too, now that I think about it. Therefore no surprise my uncle had a series of SD1s after Grandfather passed away. Family had a thing for Rovers.

Had a dark green one in '71 terrific motor, class coupe.

Very handsome cars with great road presence and good build quality. The sort of vehicle that the local doctor might retire with. Rover often included interesting engineering into their cars, which is appealing also. I'm old enough to have owned one of these when they were just a used car and I never did. I think one was on my list at one point, but I ended up with a Triumph 2500TC. It was a nice car, but not in the same class as a P5B. ☹

My dad bought one of these in 1970 , he kept it into the late 80's before rust finished it off. It was the first car I used at 17 after passing my test in 1974 , happy days.

They were so cheap secondhand in the late 80s that a student friend brought a P5B Coupe for tooling around campus. The MOT was a work of fiction and we found out why it came with a spare gearbox the first time we needed to reverse out of s parking spot. Great fun though.

One of my mom's cousins had one of these. He bought it new back in the day and sold it sometime in 2004/2005, just a few years before he passed away. It was an awesome car.

Great family memories as a child, car seemed huge, acres of leather, powerful, & wonderful soundtrack, felt like royalty! Thanks J!

I am privileged to own one of the very last (49th from end of production) P5B Coupé's. "Margaret" is silver birch over arden green and made in April 1973.

At last Solihull's stout, stately gentleman's barge gets the JayEmm treatment - I have a deep, deep fondness for these, especially the P5B Coupes as my Grandad's cousin had two in quick succession in the early '70s and I later bought two myself. They fit nicely into that huge gap between the big Jag MkX / 420G and a Bentley S Series saloon. The aroma that wafted from mine every time I opened the garage door was utterly sublime, oil, wood and leather, there's nothing quite like it. 'PGU 726L' and 'ELC 941J' where are you now...? No rev counter in the saloon James, but you do get one in the coupe. Considering the low volume production and the banger racing attrition the survival rate isn't that bad - production numbers for the P5Bs were 11,501 saloons and 9,018 coupes. If you buy a good one you won't regret it. If you've not seen it you should check out the 1970 film 'Villain' in which Richard Burton tools around London (and Bracknell!) in a beautiful burnt grey / silver Birch P5B Coupe, it gets a fair bit of screen time.

I love the P5 and the P5B. Lovely cars!

Having owned a P5 P6 and SD1 , the P5 is the coolest looking , the SD1 is a motorway bruiser and the P6 makes a great summer daily .. and my first thought was that car needs black and silver plates

Buick (GM) thought that 215 ci was too little, Al was too expensive, and by 1966 had learned how to make thin-wall iron castings for larger engines. Maggie inherited Harold and Jame's P5B. The P6B was beloved of the rozzers for car chases.

My all time favorite British car is a 1965 P5 Coupe. Manual overdrive 3Ltr. In a green colour scheme. Heaven

It's beautiful. May I point out her Majesty also drives a Jaguar X-Type, which makes that car, one I love but the world seems to hate, seriously cool as well.

I absolutely love these. They ooze class from every nut and bolt.

They turn a drive into an event! i am more a p6 lover , having used a p6b as my daily until recently due to moving house . I shall have another, . Great fun to drive and you do get attention everywhere you go .

One of my all time favourites

I went to the Gaydon museum last week and saw the Queen's personal P5B, JGY 280. Needless to say it is immaculate.

Love that it still has the correct original reflective numberplates and not horrible black ones. PLEASE don't change them !

Regal looks , extreme builtquality , reliabilty , great comfort and safety . What's not to like at this fenomenal Rover ?

A car of real beauty. I loved them back then and still do.

My favourite car of that era.

Excellent! This is the vintage British car I would want if I were ever to part with my Charger R/T. 😎

It would have been a nice touch to include the Queens personal Rover P5b JGY 280 in the jubilee procession today. The car is completely roadworthy and in the museum at Gaydon. By all accounts, HM was very fond of it and could be seen driving it in the 1970's.

That's a stunning looking P5B!

I used to own a black one (71 model) with maroon interior when I was in my early 20s. I wish I still had it. It’s first owner was the Tattersall’s Club in Sydney. So I’m guessing it’s early life was chauffeuring drunk toffs. I bought it in 1978.

The coupe is a gorgeous bit of styling

Never knew these cars existed. That blue colour is fantastic. Thank you for showcasing these older cars. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

Tremendous. Another beauty. Thanks James.

A stately, classic motorcar! Fun review and a nice change. Keep thinking this video could be the birth of a new, additional JM on these type of cars channel. Cold War Motors has one of these in restoration and their channel features a review of the six cylinder car JayEmm mentions in his review. Thank you😎👍