Rover SD1 Vitesse - American V8 Power Meets British Engineering | Tyrrell's Classic Workshop 

One of the best automotive channels, I came here via Harry's garage. This Tyrrell's channel is excellent, many thanks

I drove an SD1 for 3 years. A 3500 Vandenplas built 1983. It had the standard 2 SU carburettors and a manual gear box. I bought it second hand in 1988 with 150.000km on the counter and drove another 100.000 problemless km with it. It had the same silver grey exterior coulour and a light bourgondie velours interior. A beautiful combination. The engine was a delight. It had power and strong torque from low revs onwards. Its 4th gear could be used from 40 km/h onwards all the way up to 200. But in those 3 years, I got married and we bought a house, with a loan of course. And the car became too expensive to keep. Fuel consumption was on average over these 100.000km 11,5l/100km. Very good for a 3,5 V8. But still. And specifically road tax was very high. Here in BE road tax is based on engine capacity and a 3,5 litre is considered to be a luxury only for the rich. So I decided to change the car and bought a second hand Ford Sierra 2,3D. It handled pretty well actually but of course it was slow. On the other hand road tax was low and fuel consumption was only 7l/100km. Much better for the budget. I keep the Rover in my memory as a very pleasant car. Probably not the best built car ever, but a very nice looking car and what a fine engine. For pleasure I sometimes started it up, opened the bonnet and put my hands on the engine just to feel how almost vibration free it ran on idle.

This engine wasn't just a Buick transplant, as insinuated. It was thoroughly re-designed by Rover for sand-casting and with proper steel liners to make it more robust and prevent the cracking and wear to which the Buick design was prone. Changes to oil routing and cooling were also made, as well as better carburation and, of course, later adding the electronic fuel injection we see in the series II SD1s and subsequent Land Rover products. By 1980 It's barely recognisable as having Buick ancestry. JRT (Jaguar Rover Triumph, later Austin Rover) had the potential use of the Triumph V8 as well by the 70's, so wasn't reliant on this engine although it clearly preferred to develop it so much so that it ended up with a 4.6L capacity and modern electronic injection & engine management. It is interesting to imagine the original powerplant plans for Rover: a jet turbine-powered sedan... Vitesse, indeed...

Thanks for this. Nostalgia for me. I drove an uprated Vitesse with fuel injection (maybe the twin plenum), at pace in the Police at 23 years old. To say it made me smile is an understatement. I couldn't wait to get to work... out of my 1.3 Ford Escort into this V8 supercar, my reward for completing the Police panda, then advanced training with a first. At the time, not much on the road could compete with the Police specials and once AR called time, we bought a lot of the parts and kept ours going for several years in Carcroft, SYP. Even when we had the 4WD Sierra Cosworth turbo later, it didn't have the grunt, responsiveness or RWD heroics of the Rover.

I had this car for several years until Gemany introduced the catalytic converter regulation. Of all the cars I had, my Rover Vitesse was my great love and will remain in my memory. PS. Many laps on the Nürburgring with the Rover Vitesse were a real pleasure. Greetings from Germany.

The "Jam Sandwich" police car of my youth. It still looks fantastic now, huge presence and impression of power even when it's sitting still. I'm envious of the owner.

Always loved this car- especially with the 3.5 power plant in it. Only ever drove my mate’s 2.6 automatic. I can’t comment on Longbridge during the 70s, but worked at Land Rover all through the 90s. The workers in the British car industry get a lot of flack over quality, but I remember it quite differently. If we stopped the track for any quality/parts defect issues, we were rounded on by managers who told us to send it through, thus meeting their targets. Our competitors in Europe, especially in the luxury car market, would have addressed the issue with the suppliers and probably sought recompense for lost production, rather than sending the work through, to be reworked on overtime- on THEIR insistence. Don’t believe everything you read!

That's the best thing I've heard on RU-vid.

That Vitesse is something else with that performance exhaust 😍

Dad had one talked about it all the time, he’s passed now but I’d love to be able to buy one and restore it

The best thing about this car is that it's not a boring Ford.

That picks up really well

If Britain could be summed up in a car this would be it, talented, classy, a little old fashioned, surprisingly powerful with a splash of help from our American friends, quite thirsty, and don't forget appallingly managed.

I would rather have this than any of the other cars you've shown. The perfect mix. People can be snooty if they like but what a sound.

I'll have one of those. And also, at last a man who's not afraid to rev an engine.

What a fantastic car, My first car at 20 years old was a Rover Three Thousand Five (P6 S1 3500) I bought that car to restore, it was a running car in Tobacco Leaf brown and I restored it to a factory look and finished it with Brigade Red. Fantastic car, lovely smooth engine, superb handling. I loved it, it introduced me to a lot of friends via the clubs and got me to a lot of places. I showed it at the NEC twice in one year, went to no end of other shows, even the Rover factory. I had a blast with that P6. It's changed hands a couple of times since myself and is now on the south coast. I'm now 31 and on my 4th Jag although a lot more modern. XK next on the list :D

That lovely little V8 sounds delightful. I do remember the Vitesse being referred to as the poor man’s Aston. Poor is a relative term!

When I was a kid, this was the most beautiful shape of a car ever. Later I learned that they were slapped together by striking workers in the factory with poor quality. But the shape and design.....just epic.

That sounds beautiful.

My friend’s Dad had one of these in the 80s and I remember being impressed with the interior and the acceleration.. It’s like a British muscle car!

It's not just the wonderful cars, but your incredible knowledge of the cars and their history. Many thanks.

Let’s see the XJC in detail, please.

What a fantastic car. Spacious, comfortable and great looking with a ripper engine. Would love to own one. 🤤

I grew up a stone's throw from the old British Leyland factory on Drews Lane in Birmingham in the late 1970s as a little nipper walking to school looking at all the cars thru the fence railings and on occasion seeing these Rover Vitesse beasts in the vast carpark at the side of the main building. Loved how immensely powerful looking they were on the road amongst the Austin Princess' and the MG Montego's lol. Those were the days. Great video, brings back the fond memories.

Tyrrell driving that Vitesse with some real finesse!

Another amazing British Leyland "If only". So many wasted opportunities. As soon as we invent time travel someone needs to go back to the 1970's and bang some heads together at BL.

When the 3500 Rover Vitesse was launched in 1982, I was working for a part of Rover at the time and fondly remember driving a metallic blue Vitesse from North Wales down to London (and back the same day) to attend a concert in 1986. What a fun car to drive and the sound it made was glorious.

I have always loved the SD1 V8 father in law had an auto, Great engine I have a 78 Range Rover and it still works great

Great video for a great car. The shape is absolutely timeless. At the moment I am restoring a 3500 from 1978 (in normal case I restore clocks and watches, but I love british cars). One day a friend called me, and asked if I want an old Rover. I said no because I had too many projects. Then he said, that if I dont take it, it will be scrapped, so I had to save it and am now very happy to own it. I hope, that it will be back on the road next year, after 30 years of standing in a barn. I can´t wait for your next video. It is always a joy. It would be great to see a video from you of a Scimitar in the future. Many thanks for your work!

Hands down the best automotive channel on RU-vid followed by Harry and Jay lenos Garage . True top class gentleman 👍

our family Dr back in the 70s in Bootle. I absolutely loved the look of them .

My father had one in the 1980s......Most comfortable car I ever sat in.

Just opened RU-vid with my first coffee of the Sunday morning as a South African in Kansas USA.. Good memories of my Dad's six cylinder 2600. Great start of the day.

Clicked on this wanting to skip the talk and go straight to the driving bit but I couldn't stop listening to mr Tyrrell's presentation, fascinating.

Wish more SD1s found their way to the States. The soundtrack is familiar, but the album cover would definitely turn heads on this side of the pond.

it brought back lots of fond memories of my first job at rover in 1984 working on sd1s and for the next 34 years with ,Rover,BMW,Ford,JLR

Brilliant! Thanks for listening to the requests from the audience; I was one of the people who asked for it! Iain, I'd love to know how the owners react to this - do you ask permission to feature their cars? If so, how does that conversation go? Do customers know that you have a growing following on RU-vid?

This must be one of the biggest sleepers in history.

When I was 15 this was a car I coverted, fast forward 40 years and it still is. What a beautiful looking car the owner has.

Just happens to have a Daytona knocking about 😂

My mate bought one in the mid eighties with some compensation he got from a bike accident, we went out in it one night for a kebab, Stockport to Birmingham and back flat out. Brilliant 😃

Absolutely love Rover SD1, my dad bought brand new one in 1979

such a great representer! i simply love the way he describes all the details, great man. A salute from germany, where guys like him dont exist. By the way, what the rover is capable of, has been shown from chris harris in a classic race...

My dad had an sd1. When he Collected me from school I could hear him coming five mins before he arrived.

Always loved SD1`s , TVR used the engines too and love the dash design where the the passenger vent is the sterring column hole for left hand drive , so it all "just" swaps over , great idea

So great to see a Rover featured. I grew up in Canada and my Dad owned a 1968 Rover 2000 TC, which was in a class of its own as a compact sports sedan. Its four-wheel discs and independent suspension saved this teenager's bacon on several occasions.

Absolutely superb. Back in the early 90's as a Land Rover apprentice I lusted after a colleagues twin plenum vitesse and always told him I'd buy it given the chance. He then gave me the chance when I had no money! Regretted ever since not buying it, for what today would be considered buttons!

Loved this video! My father also had one in Canada, a 3500... He bought it from his English boss and loved it. Also, did its job and saved him from a drunk driver when he was T-boned... Thankfully everything was ok, otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this :)

I'd seen this car in the background of your last couple of videos and thought of asking if you'd feature it. But when you look around at the other machinery in your place, at any one time, didn't think there would be any chance, so thank you. I love these cars, and growing up a couple of miles away from Cowley, in Oxfordshire, there were BL products everywhere, many of which owned by people who worked at the plant, so you could see how far they were up the food chain. One of my friends dad's had an oporto red Vitesse, which I thought was fantastic, especially as I really hated almost everything else that company made at the time. I managed to get a 1983 Vitesse, single "plenum", when I was 19. It was £550, so you can imagine it wasn't exactly mint, but it was solid, had a good strong motor, and, surprisingly, all the electrical items worked. I loved this car, and still miss it today, but alas, after six months of crippling, foot permanently welded to the floor, single digit fuel consumption, it had to go. I'd never let anyone drive it before, so had never heard it from the outside, and when the guy who bought it pulled off the driveway and floored it, I felt like crying, as I really hadn't wanted to sell it. I did get another SD1 a couple of years later, this time an 85 Vanden Plas, as it was far too cheap not to buy it, and although I still really liked it, it had the automatic box, and softer suspension, so it wasn't as fun, although still just as greedy when it came to fuel! Unfortunately, the engine let go whilst racing a 205 GTI on the A40, so that was the end of that. I would love to have another Vitesse one day, this time a TP, but like you said, they are getting very rare now, and don't often come up for sale. Besides, the last one I saw they were asking £15k!!Back in the mid 90's when I had mine, a really nice one was only about £2-2.5k.

My father had one of these in blue back in 1984. I remember driving to Spain in it and every time he parked it somewhere, when we got back, there was always a crowd admiring it! Still gorgeous today

We used the alloy V8 alot here in Australia... my Dad had them in his Leyland truck and I could lift the engine block up as a boy... we even used them in beach buggies because they were so light and powerful

Wow brings back memories. I had a twin plenum vitesse, for a year or so. Also fitted one to a Triumph TR7 convertible and twin turbocharged it using Janspeed manifolds (another name from the past ey😉) This was years before the internet so it was down to studying books like David Hardcastles book on the Rover V8. My engine even had a girdle and was stroked for a bigger capacity, the turbos were T0-4Bs🤔 Miss both cars🤗 Great channel this, thanks🤗

Just love the sound of those Rover V8's. My friends Grandma had the Vitesse Auto.

Found one of these in Ecclestone quarry back in the 80s while diving, believe it or not the lights were still on, we arrived early in the morning so it must have been stolen and dumped very recently. We reported it after finishing our dive. Lovely car.

My brother had an SD1 back in the eighties, such a lovely car to look at. I remember he had some horrible electrical problems with it, lol. I Particularly remember a trip we did from Geraldton to Perth in West Aus at night. It was about 360km and I drove most of it. It was my first experience driving a European car On an empty dark highway and it was fantastic, yep we broke the speed limit a few times that night... You didn’t mention that the same engine was used in a bunch of other British car brands. I had the pleasure to own a Triumph TR7 V8 in the mid nineties, a 1982 model I think. Fantastic car with such an awesome V8 exhaust note! I really wish I still had that car now... sigh.

As a young driver in the 80’s I always had desires on this V8 Rover and it’s beautiful rumble. Great to see that they are still around and there are some extremely clean examples of them around today. Superb insight into the history of this car, love the detail. Keep up the great work on the channel.

When you first started showing up on RU-vid there were always a ton of XJSs in the background... then it all went Lambo, Lambo, Lambo. Show us some XJS! This SD1 is a step in the right direction :)

My dad owned one of the rare twin plenium versions manual versions, and sent it off to a Rover specialists upgrading everything including the engine, sent it to 4.2 or 4.5 it was lumpy on tick over, due to the camb, he used to go to work in it, took the lads on a golf trip to Ireland, would sit all day at 120+, was an absolute beast of a machine, wonder where it is now, sold it decades ago for £2000, I drove it in the car park where I live, the engine ticking over lumpy, stalled it Police watching so no burns outs, all my friends watching, so cool, such a car

My father, a private pilot and accountant, Dennis Pritchard had a 1985 3500 vanden plas auto, metallic silver with Grey velour and burrwood trim, which was about two years old at the time. Very, very quick car, especially when the kickdown was used. One of the first hatchbacks. Went to the unveiling at Henley's car show room in Bellingham, south London. Never had any problems at all, had it for five years. Fabulous design.

Loved seeing these in the 80's bouncing over curbs with Mr Walkinshaw at the wheel in the BTCC. Great story and history Ian.

Love it! What a cracking bit of kit! And it does what it says on the tin (vitesse). Rover/Leyland was an enigma - brilliant engineers vs rubbish management

That dash is a work of art.

I've always loved these. The twin throttle V8 sounds really fruity and powerful. The car has real character.

Just to say one of best videos I've seen on youtube. Not the V8 but I had a 2.3 straight 6 SD1 on a V plate 1980 the car was 5 yrs old when I bought it and had heard all types of horror stories about the 2.3 engine, but, it never missed a beat, all you said about that car was true, a great trip down memory lane, thank you.

Ouch! Back down memory lane. I used to work for Rovercraft back in the day, so this became one of my favourite engines and cars to work on. So many things were different back then, and i was not a question of re mapping or bolting on goodies, it was down to the engineering talents of the Law brothers Simon and Nick. Watched many a V8 on the rolling road exceed demands. Great video as usual.

I remember the SD1 from my old Rover mechanic days. I was also a mechanic in the Toyo Fast Road championship!. We raced an Maestro Turbo. The SD1'S where absolutely stunning on track for such a big car . Back to the boat engine theme. Remember the later Rover 825 diesel. That had individual cylinder heads because it was a marine engine.

I had an SD1, the computer broke just after midnight Jan 1st 2000. We were joking about the millennium bug at the time. When I eventually found it (under the passenger footwell) Someone had written on the top in sharpy "Congratulations, this is the last car off the production line in Solihull". There were some other details and a name. The garage that replaced it threw it away, I was furious. It wasn't a Vitesse but it was very fast, I've had several Rover v8's in my youth and the SD1 really moved. I got it airborne over a hump in the road which greatly impressed my young son and nephew:)

Of all the the incredible cars I've seen on this channel, quite oddly, this is the one I want the most. It just seems like tremendous fun!

The dust in em vents is giving my ocd a worry

I keep watching this......really must complete my Vitesse restoration !

The sound of that V8 is absolutely glorious through that performance exhaust. It's very reminiscent of Steve McQueen's 68 fastback Mustang in, 'Bullitt.' What a sublime machine, despite it's build quality issues, I can forgive the SD1 for any of it's failings. It's a superb piece of styling by David Bache, it looks far better than any contemporary mass produced car on offer today, it oozes character and charisma. Brilliant video- many thanks! :)

Great to see you back Iain. I'm in Melbourne in isolation and it's late at night. I noticed the new episode had been uploaded 10 Mins earlier and bloody hell you've already got 30 comments. You'll be up to 3 million in no time.- Well done - keep up the good work.

This is a wonderfully produced and presented story. Thank you.

This was such a great car. A friend of mine used to have one of these in manual (a twin plenum), and we drove from the UK to Le Mans in France in it several times back in the day. It was so comfy and practical but looked awesome with a really staunch, low-slung stance on the road - and that assertive front end gave it real presence. For a big car, it never looked clumsy - unlike the Porsche Panamera of today, which I suppose is a similar sort of car. I remember driving the SD1 down "the road to Morley", a beautiful, curving, sweeping road that goes for miles and miles with barely any traffic - and although the steering was a bit light and uncommunicative, the car handled beautifully. Grippy, neutral, engaging and fast, with great punch from that V8. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

In 1975 I had a crisis like every other owner of the Chevy Vega GT. The idiotic aluminum bore 4-cylinder engine was scored beyond repair. In a wrecking yard I found a 63 Olds F85 after reading an article in a hot rod magazine. It had the all Aluminum, iron sleeved 215 V8. It weighed just 20 pounds more than the Vega engine. Long story short, after a thorough rebuild, it fit nicely into my Vega to make the finest swap project I've ever owned. An adapter plate and some custom welding let me even use the Vega 4-speed transmission and clutch. It got over 25 mpg and was very quick for the Era. People who swapped small block iron Chevy V8's into Vegas usually ended with a straight-line monster that couldn't handle or stop. The aluminum 215 was the perfect mill for the job.

Absolutely no need for a stereo in the mightily SD1.

I had 6 SD1`s, I loved all of them. My favourite was my Vitesse, which was identical to the one in this video........Why did I sell it????? :-((( I was a real pleasure to drive, understeer, oversteer you could make it do whatever you wanted... I now have a 4.6 Range Rover P38 with basically the same engine.

I have a US spec 3500 in Santa Barbara I am restoring. This video gives me so much inspiration! Thanks for sharing a wonderful car!

Times have not been good for finances the last few years, but I am determined to get my SD1 SE back on the road. Just gone out to sit in it... One day my old friend.

I always like your history lessons! Great show, keep the episodes coming!

Quality car, thanks for sharing. I love the sound of those old V8s! It's such a shame that the build quality with British Leyland wasn't consistent. Most needed rebuilding/attention after a short time because of circumstances already mentioned. It's nice to see that some people have managed to keep them tickin' over

The SD1, the most beautiful car ever produced by BMC/BL imo. I still get emotional when I see one, and even now, they still look like a stunning fresh design. The SD1 had so many more years left in it, and so much more to give, providing it kept up with changes in emissions regulations. Such a shame that the board and the unions could not see eye to eye, and just get on with the job of producing cars, and concentrate on producing QUALITY cars. The Rover 800 was a piecemeal attempt to replace the SD1 I think, but it never looked as exciting and cutting edge as the SD1, not even today. If I ever come into a substantial amount of money, the SD1 is the car that I'd always promised myself, not the Ford Capri. And the search would be on to find an exceptional one, to cherish til the end of my days. I just LOVE em.

Tom Walkinshaw was working for HSV ,Holden special Vehicles which he developed the 1988 VL: commodore Group A for racing ,one of its new tech was a twin throttle intake set up maybe from his p[ast experiance racing Rovers lol

The rover v8 was one of the great sounds of my childhood.I am nearly 38 years old and i still love the engine to this day.This vitesse sounds awesome

Congrats on getting onto trending Iain and team! Very much deserved.

Thank you for letting me hear that engine again and 140 mph was so smooth in one of those beast's so smooth.

Never heard any word of this Rover. I'm from Georgia U.S.A. all of my life.

I bought one in/around 1992 for about £300 at a Car Auction . . . . . it didn't even get me all the way home, before it broke down - Ha ha ha ha Still, I fixed it, and then enjoyed about 2-3 good years in that wet, damp-smelling, rusty car driving from Preston, to Cleveleys every day at 5.00am on almost empty roads - I even fabricated a side exit exhaust that exited just in front of the rear wheel arch - lovely A Great tail-happy, easy to control, car, in wet conditions - big, Big, BIG, fun for a young lad in his late 20's & for embarrassingly cheap money (except for the running costs!)

What an absolute gem. Thanks for showcase, much appreciated.

Love this channel. All the stuff on it and the knowledge and ease on which mr Tyrel explains everything. And yes, the Rover, awesome motorcar. I have the humble 3500 carb Vanden Plas and that is already lovely to drive. Again, love the channel and all the content. Kind regards to al car lovers out there. 😃

I love how this guy just stands there without a script, sharing an enormous knowledge of these cars.

Thank u 4 an amazing vid . I'm 55 now and I remember these beasts! Reminds of mad max interceptor! I think a true muscle car of it's time back in the day especially in this guise. I can c u r a true enthusiast of great cars . God bless u son.

Your videos are unbeatable, crammed full of interesting information that is very professionally presented

I owned three Vitesse's between 1985 -1991. This for me is a sheer delight

I had a 1985 Vanden Plas in silver, loved it. wished it was the 3500 instead of 2600. Such a fantastic looker.

It’s great to see some old classics again. Brings back memories of my old 3.5 SD1, Lovely sound.

Excellent delivery and so good in fact that I watch your series even if the car in question is not my cup of tea, somehow it still ends up being very interesting to watch. Keep em coming!!

I have been lucky to have owned many Rover SD1 V8s including mrk 1 SD1 V8S, VDP V8 single plenum, Vitesse V8 single plenum and stacks of SE V8 manuals. I enjoyed converting lots of non V8 SD1s to V8. Great car and design lines taken from the Ferrari Daytona, awesome! 👍

Looked forward to this for months, one of the best cars I ever had!

My late father had an automatic version of this car and I recall it’s amazing performance as well as it’s stunning looks. Your video bought back some memories of my driving it whilst he was abroad on business trips which I enjoyed a lot. I’m not surprised you’ve reached the number of subscribers you mentioned as I always look for honesty and integrity when I subscribe and your videos always portray that to a high degree. Many thanks and please keep them coming. Regards, Chris