Rover P4 — BrandWiki

Rover P4

Overview

Rover P4 series

manufacturer	The Rover Co. Ltd.
production	1949–1964 130,312 units
assembly	United Kingdom: Solihull
successor	Rover P5 (concurrent from 1958) Rover P6
predecessor	Rover P3
body style	4-door saloon
class	Mid-size luxury car
layout	FR layout
wheelbase	111 in‡R1R‡
width	65.6 in
length	178.25 in
height	63.25 in
designer	Gordon Bashford

The Rover P4 series is a group of mid-size luxury saloon cars produced by the Rover Company from 1949 until 1964. They were designed by Gordon Bashford.

The P4 designation is factory terminology for this group of cars and was not in day-to-day use by ordinary owners who would have used the appropriate consumer designations for their models such as Rover 90 or Rover 100.

Production began in 1949 with the 6-cylinder 2.1-litre Rover 75. Four years later a 2-litre 4-cylinder Rover 60 was brought to the market to fit below the 75 and a 2.6-litre 6-cylinder Rover 90 to top the three-car range. Several variations followed.

These cars are very much part of British culture and became known as the 'Auntie' Rovers.[2] They were driven by royalty including Grace Kelly and King Hussein of Jordan whose first car was a 1952 75.

The P4 series was supplemented in September 1958 by a new Rover 3-litre P5 but the P4 series stayed in production until 1964 and their replacement by the Rover 2000.

Engineering

Rover 75

Announced by Managing Director Spencer Wilks on 23 September 1949 the new Rover 75, then the only Rover in production, was first displayed at the opening day of the Earls Court Motor Show on 28 September 1949. It featured unusual modern styling in stark contrast with the outdated Rover 75 (P3) it replaced. Gone were the traditional radiator, separate headlamps and external running boards. In their place were a chromium grille, recessed headlamps and a streamlined body the whole width of the chassis. A steering column-mounted gear lever was fitted.[5]

The car's styling was derived from the then controversial 1947 Studebakers. The Rover executives purchased two such vehicles and fitted the body from one of them to a prototype P4 chassis to create a development mule. James Taylor's book 'Rover P4 – The Complete Story' says that this vehicle was affectionately known as the 'Roverbaker' hybrid.

Malcolm Bobbit states "The P4 set the seal on the future with a vengeance. Rover defied its critics with the P4's new look and to get some idea of the shock of the new, consider some of its rivals ... astonishment at the P4's courageous styling."[6] The P3 had almost no boot at all yet that had been considered rather more than adequate. The new car's bonnet-like extension to its rear was ridiculed; the driver sat well forward looking out over a relatively short bonnet and the rear wheels were set well back behind the back seat. All the new car's proportions were different from all the other new cars.[5]

Another distinctive feature of the Rover 75 was the centrally mounted light in the grille, where most other manufacturers of good quality cars provided a pair – one fog and one driving light – often separately mounted behind the bumper. Known as the "Cyclops eye", this did not catch on and was discontinued in the new grille announced on 23 October 1952.

Power came from a more powerful version of the previous model's 2.1 L (2103 cc/128 in³) Rover IOE straight-6 engine now with chromium-plated cylinder bores, an aluminium cylinder head with built-in induction manifold and a pair of horizontal instead of downdraught carburetters. A four-speed manual transmission was used with a column-mounted gear lever[5] which was replaced by a floor-mounted mechanism in September 1953.[7]

A car tested by The Motor magazine in 1949 had a top speed of 83.5 mph and could accelerate from 0–60 mph in 21.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 27.8 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1106 including taxes.[8] The turning circle was 37 ft.[4]

Road & Track

"... and I honestly believe (barring the Rolls-Royce) that there is no finer car built in the world today." Bob Dearborn, Tester, Road & Track. Road test no. F-4-52, August 1952.[9]

Broader range

After four years of the one model policy Rover returned to a range of the one car but three different sized engines. In September 1953 it announced it would supply a four-cylinder Rover 60 and a 2.6-litre Rover 90 adding them to the 75's 2.1-litre six. Rover's stated intention was "to cater for a wider field of motorists who require a quality car with varying degrees of economical running costs and performance".[7]

On the same day there were modifications announced which were accordingly shared by all three:

Rover also announced an all-round reduction in Rover and Land-Rover prices.[7] This was a response to a slump in both home and export sales of all British cars.[10]

Rover 90

The top-end Rover 90 appeared with a much larger more powerful 2.6 L inline-six at the same time, 24 September 1953 as the four-cylinder Rover 60 was introduced. Rover's idiosyncratic central gear change lever designed to allow three-abreast seating in front was used for this new car.[7] This engine produced 90 hp (67 kW) and could propel the car to reach 90 mph (145 km/h). It has a cast-iron block with an aluminium alloy head, a bore and stroke of 73.025 mm by 105 mm and a 6.73:1 compression ratio. This was upped to 7.5:1 in 1956.

Rover's stated intention was to cater for a wider field of motorists requiring varying degrees of performance and running costs.[7]

The Rover 90 shared with the Rover 60 and Rover 75 the October 1954 modifications: a bigger boot, wide rear window and flashing directions indicators all announced at the Paris Motor Show.[11]

The 1956 model was launched in September 1955. Independently adjustable separate front seats were made available at extra cost and at the same time the engine's compression ratio was increased from 6.73:1 to 7.5:1, lifting power by 3 horsepower to 93. Free-wheel was dropped and Laycock de Normanville electric overdrive made available. More sensitive power brakes were provided of a redesigned pattern.[12] The recesses in the 'B' pillars that previously housed the trafficators in pre-1955 models were deleted in this update. Pleats were added to the seats, this treatment continued on subsequent P4 models.

In September 1956 the shape of the front mudguards was rearranged with the side lamps and flashing indicators in different positions. A small chrome reflector on the headlamp rim allowed the driver to know the side lights were functioning.[13]

Testing the Ninety in 1954 The Motor magazine recorded a top speed of 90.0 mph and acceleration from 0–60 mph of 18.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of 20.3 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1297 including taxes.[15]

A road test of a Ninety published in MotorSport magazine in September 1956 described the engine as virtually inaudible when idling but the steering was "spongy and heavy" and "the roll when cornering was considerable" nevertheless, reported MotorSport, firm suspension caused "very appreciable column shake and body judder".[16]

When it was replaced by the Rover 100 in October 1959, 35,903 had been produced, making the Rover 90 the most popular car of the P4 series.

References

Culshaw. Complete Catalogue of British Cars Macmillan, 1974^
"Denis Jenkinson, being totally impressed with the Rover... remarked that the car had tackled the torturous journey just as if going to Auntie's for tea. The term of endearment stuck and forever after the P4 has carried its 'Auntie' nickname."^
Used cars on test: 1963 Rover 110 Autocar, 24 August 1967^
The Rover Company limited Solihull, Birmingham^
New Rover Car. TRADITIONAL FEATURES ABANDONED. The Times, Friday, Sep 23, 1949; pg. 2; Issue 51494^
Malcolm Bobbit. Rover P4 Veloce, 2002^
New Rover Cars – Return of the central gear change. The Times, Thursday, Sep 24, 1953; pg. 9; Issue 52735^
The Rover 75 saloon Road Test The Motor, 1949^
The Times, Thursday, Oct 23, 1952; pg. 5; Issue 52450^
The Rover Company Limited.The Times, Monday, Dec 14, 1953; pg. 13; Issue 52804.^
Rover Changes. New Cars At Paris Motor Show. The Times, Thursday, Oct 07, 1954; pg. 6; Issue 53056^
Price Increase By Two Car Firms, New programmes for Rootes and Rover. The Times, Wednesday, Sep 21, 1955; pg. 5; Issue 53331^
Rover changes. The Times, Tuesday, Sep 11, 1956; pg. 11; Issue 53633^
The Rover 60 saloon The Motor, January 20, 1954^
The Rover 90 saloon The Motor, 7 July 1954^
One of Britain's Finest Cars — The Rover 90. MotorSport, page 46, September 1956^
Earls Court Comparisons. 100mph Rovers, The Times, Tuesday, Oct 16, 1956; pg. 15; Issue 53663^
The Rover 105R de luxe The Motor, 13 February 1957^
Rover. Cars for 1960. The Times, Wednesday, Oct 21, 1959; pg. 7; Issue 54597^
M. Sedgwick, M. Gillies. A-Z of Cars 1945-1970 Bay View Books, 1986^
The Rover 80 The Motor, 1 March 1961^
"Rover". The Times. 21 October 1959, issue 54597, p. 7.^
Rober 100 Is Superior, Lively The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 November 1960, retrieved 5 October 2021^
The Rover 100 The Motor, 24 February 1960^
Rover, The Times, Thursday, Sep 27, 1962; pg. 7; Issue 55507.^
Rover 2000 goes for the unconventional, The Times, Wednesday, Oct 09, 1963; pg. 17; Issue 55827^