Rover 2200 SC

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A real landmark in car design, the Rover P6 set new standards for performance and refinement when it first appeared in 1963 and was immediately voted ‘Car of the Year’.

A luxury 4-door family saloon with a well-appointed interior, the P6 featured an all steel monocoque central cell onto which all the outer body panels were bolted including an aluminium bonnet and boot lid.

Suspension was independent all round and employed a de Dion tube arrangement at the rear which enabled the car to remain level at high cornering speeds. Servo-assisted four-wheel disc brakes were also fitted, with the rear discs being mounted inboard. The original design brief insisted that the new P6 could accommodate a gas-turbine engine, a problem solved by the use of a unique double-joint front suspension setup which allowed for an extremely commodious engine bay.

In fact it was so advanced from the outset that it never needed much in the way of facelifts throughout its 13-year production run. Initially only available with a 90bhp 2-litre engine, it soon sprouted a pair of SUs in the more sporting TC model, the engine being bored out to 2.2-litres from 1973 onwards. Now with up to 115bhp on tap for the twin-carb model (the single-carb SC could still muster a healthy 98bhp), the car got a stronger manual gearbox to cope with the extra torque.

The P6 range continued to sell in healthy numbers until the arrival of the ground-breaking ‘flying wedge’ SD1 cars in 1976.

This sound 2200 SC has had three former keepers, the vendor acquiring the car in 2011. There are five old MOTs on file, its current ticket expiring in April 2016. The odometer shows that it has covered just over 76,000 miles, a figure which is believed to be genuine although there is insufficient documentation to substantiate this.

It has proven both comfortable and reliable over the last few years, the vendor describing it as the ideal car to use and improve as funds allow. On offer at No Reserve, the highest bidder takes it home.