Hi everyone, my name is Dave, I live on the Kent coast. I am thinking of returning to the Rover fold, having owned two previously; the first a 1972 White 3500s (originally Tobacco leaf) reg. MGW 60L, which was given to me just after I had purchased my first house in 1987. It was in a bit of a mess though, but a runner. I subsequently restored the car to pretty good condition & enjoyed driving it for a few years. I had always hankered after a Vitesse, & purchased a Monza Red example in 1995, A77 XJM.This was already in good condition, I did very little work other than servicing & fitting a Rimmer Bros. stainless exhaust which made it sound fabulous. My missus ended up hankering after more kids though, when number 4 arrived that was the end of that. The vitesse remained in the garage for years & was later sold after I moved to the coast. (there was way too much work to be done on the house to even think about doing anything to the car)
Although the Vitesse was quicker & handled corners without much body roll ( I did used to give 'em some welly!) there was something statesmanlike about the P6, & it is one of these that I would like to buy, namely a 3500s, preferably '72 or '73 with leather seats. My current financial situation is not great, but as luck would have it, my 25 yr. endowment matures soon & some of the funds may find their way to financing a P6 V8 Rover, boy do I miss that lovely burbling sound & the fabulous torque. I am quite prepared to be patient & find a good example at a reasonable price, either that, or a cheapie that runs, but needs some work, so long as the structure is sound. ( the one I was given had rotted all along the length of both inner sills). There was one earlier today on Ebay that sounded quite promising, it was Blue (mostly) with cream leather interior, was not currently running, due to the carbs being removed. It had a lot of history & sounded genuine it went for £510 , I was surprised at the low price, someone got a bargain. The only problem was that it was near Manchester. Transportation may well have cost as much again!
One thing that concerns me though is the petrol situation for the V8 engine, the last time I drove the Vitesse, 4 star was still available, how do they cope with unleaded, are any modifications necessary/ timing adjustments etc.?
Although the Vitesse was quicker & handled corners without much body roll ( I did used to give 'em some welly!) there was something statesmanlike about the P6, & it is one of these that I would like to buy, namely a 3500s, preferably '72 or '73 with leather seats. My current financial situation is not great, but as luck would have it, my 25 yr. endowment matures soon & some of the funds may find their way to financing a P6 V8 Rover, boy do I miss that lovely burbling sound & the fabulous torque. I am quite prepared to be patient & find a good example at a reasonable price, either that, or a cheapie that runs, but needs some work, so long as the structure is sound. ( the one I was given had rotted all along the length of both inner sills). There was one earlier today on Ebay that sounded quite promising, it was Blue (mostly) with cream leather interior, was not currently running, due to the carbs being removed. It had a lot of history & sounded genuine it went for £510 , I was surprised at the low price, someone got a bargain. The only problem was that it was near Manchester. Transportation may well have cost as much again!
One thing that concerns me though is the petrol situation for the V8 engine, the last time I drove the Vitesse, 4 star was still available, how do they cope with unleaded, are any modifications necessary/ timing adjustments etc.?
