Rover P6 2200TC Manual

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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.

First registered in Hertfordshire in July 1974, this Rover 2200TC Manual has covered a warranted 71,458 miles from new in the hands of four owners with 13 old MOTs from 1979 to 1994 charting the accumulation of mileage. Supplied with four service bills from 1989 to 1990 and an old style V5, it is said to be in good running order but has been on display at the Stondon Museum for some time so will doubtless benefit from precautionary recommissioning before use.