History lesson

[Demetris]

And now, how about some history? Do you want to know how the first incarnation of the P6 rear axle / suspension system looked like?
Here it is, in a 1901 De Dion - Bouton!


The accecibility is obviously much better here.
Complete with decorated leaf springs...

 

[roverp480]

Notice the difference, De-Dion -Bouton has variable length drive shafts whereas the Rover P6 has variable length cross Tube

 

[Vern Klukas]

The P6 approach with a sliding tube is very rare, almost all De-Dion designs have used a fixed tube.

Yours
Vern

 

[Demetris]

The P6 approach with a sliding tube is very rare, almost all De-Dion designs have used a fixed tube.

Yours
Vern

Indeed, the idea behind Rover's design was to avoid the locking of splines under torque, that was notorious in quite a few independed rear suspension systems at the time.

 

[unstable load]

I had an Alfetta and that was a really nice handling car, but had a bit of squirrel in it in certain power on conditions.
A quick Googoo turned this up....
http://hooniverse.com/2016/02/11/thursday-trivia-131/