To recap there are three Rover P5s under restoration.   A 1964 P5 Coupe MKIIA in manual/overdrive; a 1965 MKIIC in manual/overdrive (converted from auto) and a 1966 MKIII in manual/overdrive (also converted from auto).   The two MKII cars are both admiralty blue, but the 1964 car is two tone with a light blue roof.   All three cars are fitted with Webasto sunroofs.   There is a surprising amount of difference given the cars are all a model year apart.   The photo below shows the 1964 car.

There were quite a few jobs underway that will not be seen when the cars are finished but are still important.   The first was the front seat mechanism.   These needed to be dissasembled as they were not moving freely.   The control cables were not really designed to be disassembled so a lot of car was required to remove them and make sure the mechanisms were working properly.    The picture below shows the mechanisms for the MKIIC.

Another component along the same lines were the door check straps.  Each one had to be disassembled, cleaned and lubricated.   Interestingly the front ones are slightly different to the rear ones.   Rover helpfully stamped a little picture of a front door or a rear door on the straps to identify them.

Another job like this is checking the alignment of the starting handle.   While the starting handle is not going to be used frequently (if at all), everything still needs to line up properly.   I did actually use the handle on my old P5 when the ignition switch stopped working.  It allowed me to start the car up at a Petrol station and continue on my way.

A particularly tedious job is aligning the bonnet on a P5.  This is why so many of them at car shows have misaligned bonnets.   It involves a lot of trial fitting to get it just right as there are two bolts that go into oval shaped holes to make sure the bonnet sits just right.

Finally the 1964 car is starting to have the interior fitted.  The photo below shows the rear seat, upholstered in grey leather. It should look great with the navy blue carpet.   It can’t really be see in the picture, but the 1964 car will also get the drivers window regulator from my old car.  That regulator is in much better condition.

It will be great to see these cars lined up in the sun after they are completed.   What a good display it would be at a cars and coffee event.    It is rare to see a P5 coupe at an event like this, let alone three of them.

For more information on previous updates, please see:

• May 2020
• December 2019
• April 2019

The post March 2021 Rover P5 Coupe restoration update appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The last couple of months he has been moving workshops, so the progress is based on work done earlier in the year.    My old P5 has been completely dismantled.   The new workshop does not have room for parts cars.   The parts will all go to good use and the engine is available if necessary if any of the three cars need it.

The engine was probably the best thing about my old car.    The body was quite rusty and the interior was very worn.    The picture above shows the cover for the valve adjustment in the block – a feature of this IOE engine.

The 1964 P5 MKIIA has the fuel tank fitted, the rear seat and parcel shelf fitted and the electrics complete.    The picture below shows one of the seats off the 1964 MKIIA (in grey) and two of the seats from the MKIIC (in cream).

These seats are of a very different design to the seats used in the 1966 Rover P5 MKIII.    Those seats were modified again for the P5B, but are quite similar.  The MKIII seats look more like an ‘overstuffed’ armchair.

A fair amount of progress has been made on the MKIII interior.   It was a bit dark to photograph inside the car, but the car is looking very impressive from the outside.   The Webasto sunroof can be seen at the top of the photo.   This Rover P5 MKIII Coupe is going to be quite impressive when finished.

The post May 2020 Rover P5 Coupe restoration update appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Firstly, all the electrical work is completed and tested.   This is an important milestone and something that needs to be right before the interiors can be installed.   The electrical work includes sensible upgrades such as relays for the headlights.   The blue coupe in the picture below has also been pre-wired for driving lights.   It is hard to see from the photo but the blue coupe pictured has been upgraded to Halogen lights.

Hard to see because they are covered for protection, but the bumpers have all been re-chromed.      Next, the engines are being readied for their first start – hoses, belts, fluids and the like.

The picture above shows the somewhat unusual arrangement of the combined generator and power steering pump used in the P5 3 litre.     Finally, some of the interior is starting to take shape – starting with the boot.   The P5 came with a nice arrangement of tools on the passengers side of the boot which can be seen below.

The other two cars also have more of their interiors installed.    The Yellow MKIII has the dashboard more completed and the other blue car has the doors trimmed.

It was good to see the progress on the Rover P5 restoration.   I am looking forward to visiting again in the new year to see further progress.    The three cars should be magnificent when finished.

Update:  Restoration Progress – May 2020.

The post Rover P5 Coupe restoration update appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The first car under restoration is a 1964 MKIIA model.    It was originally delivered 26/6/1964.  Unusually for a car delivered in Australia, it is equipped with a manual transmission and overdrive.   Most cars sold here came with the Borg Warner DG automatic gearbox.   The current owner purchased the car in 1971.

The manual/overdrive ‘export’ P5 MKII Coupe is relatively rare, with only 67 RHD models being produced at the factory, this car being #23.   Overall, including home market (1956) and LHD export (312) there were 2335 manual cars in total.

I don’t know the full details of the difference between home market and export cars, but one obvious difference is the engine compression.   The original engine for this car was an 8:1 compression model vs the 8:75 compression for the home market cars.

The car was originally white, but is now painted Admiralty Blue on the lower half and Slate Grey for the roof.   It is equipped with a Webasto sunroof and will have a grey leather interior with dark blue carpets.

I really like the colour combination of this car.   In the image above, the fuel tank for the car can also be seen.    Eagle eyed viewers will see that while the car is a MKII, it has P5B side trim.   This is because the owner prefers it.   The intention of this car was to build his vision of the ideal Rover P5.  Another change is the colour matched hubcaps.   Originally the Rover P5 (MKII) was to have painted hubcaps like a Mercedes-Benz, but that was cancelled at the last minute.  The reason was probably cost.

As part of the restoration, the engine has been swapped for one from the same year.   This presumably came from the P5 MKIIA Saloon that provided parts for the restoration (77600154A).

While there were running changes throughout P5 MKII production, the biggest changes came with the introduction of the MKIIC cars.

MKIIC cars included engine improvements (larger crankshaft mains, oil drain at the rear of the head and more), speedometer/tachometer with a larger font, two speed wipers, a better fuse box, improvements to suspension, exhaust, fuel tank and many more.    This car has the improved gauge faces as part of the restoration:

In addition, the tachometer has been rebuilt by a qualified electrical engineer to be far more accurate than original.    The main work to be done on the car now is the assembly.

Accompanying the MKIIA is a 1965 MKIIC.  The C suffix model have all the improvements listed above.    This car started out life with a Borg Warner DG gearbox but has been converted to manual/overdrive.

The MKIIC car is Admiralty blue on the body and the roof and is not equipped with a webasto sunroof.   It has a cream leather interior and has air conditioning.   To fit the massive York compressor, part of the inner wing needed to be cut out!

As with the MKIIA, this car also has v8 side trim.

Of the three cars, this car is the furthest along with the final assembly.

The final car is the MKIII model.   As with the car above, it started its life as an automatic.   In this case, being a MKIII a Borg Warner 35.  It now has a manual/overdrive transmission.  The owner of these cars is not a fan of the BW35 in the P5.   The MKIII had a taller rear end ratio, so combined with the BW35 was a more relaxed performer.

Where the MKIIA is the owners idea of the ideal Rover P5 in a more traditional way, the MKIII has been built in a more brash style.   It is sporting the Rostyle wheels from a V8 and a custom Cream/Almond colour combination.   It is a very striking car.    This car also has a Webasto sunroof.    It has been in the current owner’s care since the 80s.

The MKIII will have a tan leather interior.   The interior is the biggest difference between the MKII cars, with something more like the P5B.   The front seats are more like armchairs and there is a rear heater control.

I really enjoyed going to look at the Rover P5 Coupe restoration.  It is amazing to see the marked differences between three cars of consecutive years.

My favorite is the earlier car, then the MKIII, then the all blue car.   But all of them are lovely and I am looking forward to dropping by in a couple more months to see the progress of the Rover P5 coupe restoration project.

Update:  Restoration Progress – December 2019.

Update:  Restoration Progress – May 2020.

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This year the numbers of Rolls Royces and Bentleys was down considerably.   From what I understand this wasn’t the actual concours day, and I’m not sure if this is a change from previous years.   The other marques somewhat made up for it, but I was curious as to why.   The day was still well worth attending and the cars that did attend were exemplary.   My pick of the day was the silver Bentley Continental.

This years event was the first showing of a Rover 3 litre coupe that has been under restoration for a year or so.   The car is a similar spec to the one I used to own, but much better in nearly every way.   The owner has chosen a classy two tone paint job that complements the blue leather interior.   It is a sort of blue/grey colour for the roof and it looks very good.    As can be seen in the pictures the car still needs quite a bit of re-assembly but the car illustrates what lovely cars these Rover P5s are when in nice condition.

There was also an interesting pair of Armstrong Sidseleys.   The two cars were very similar in colour, but one was a ute and one was a convertible.   They each had a different colour highlight line to provide a bit of contrast.

There were also a few random Mercedes-Benzes from spectators.   I saw a few people from the MBCNSW who were in attendance.   I dove there in my 450SLC, but parked outside.  Next year if I go, I will probably drive in and park with the other ring-ins!

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This year the Jaguars were moved from the top paddock to the middle one.  This pushed clubs like Rolls Royce and Daimler down to the bottom paddock.  In itself this isn’t so bad, but it has a few flow on effects.   Firstly, the Jaguar display felt a bit cramped and smaller in numbers.    There was a nice line up of E-Types and MK II’s, but other models were in smaller numbers.  Secondly, all cars had to use the same entrance which resulted in traffic gridlock.   I’m surprised there were not more cars overheating trying to get in.   My engine fan was to fail later in the day, but luckily it was still ok at this point.   What was worse was that the cars needed to move over a series of about 5 speed humps that scraped the exhaust system on my car quite badly.

They made better use of the bottom paddock to account from going from three to two, but I’m not really sure to what end.   Instead of the Jaguars on the top paddock there was a food truck and some stands for car dealerships.   It was a bit of a nothing use for a great space.

I can live with the two paddocks, but if they keep up the same route into the event, it would force me to stop bringing my car.   I did have my car on display this year, and ideally would at future events as well.

The two displays I was most impressed with this year was the Triumph display, which had a great turnout of all sorts of interesting triumph models.   And of course perennial favorites Rolls Royce.   This year they had a number of older vehicles that were in stunning condition that I had not yet seen before.  I think a couple of them were Silver Dawn’s, but I am not an expert in 50’s Rolls Royce.    Even though it was at the shannons display, I got to see a Derby Bentley too!  As a coupe, they want serious money for it at the auction coming up in November.

For the first time since I can recall, 3 litre Rover P5’s outnumbered v8 P5Bs.   The P5 was eclipsed by the P5B, and its nice to see the P5 survivors.  There was also a great little MG from the 50s with a dolls house style caravan.   Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take a photo.   In the Daimler section there was a very impressive older Daimler, I think from the 20s, with a sleeve valve engine.

I also spent some time trying to see if I could find a match for the interior light in my Traction Avant in other British cars.   I’m sure it would have been a standard part used in other cars but I have not yet been able to identify it.    In summary, the 2018 British Car show was a great event and hopefully I will be back in 2019.

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The museum offers volunteer tours of the reserve collection twice per day.   Despite many people at the museum during my visit, I was the only one to avail myself of the tour.   I ended up with a two hour private tour of the reserve collection instead of the 45 minute highlights a big group would get.   This was the highlight of the whole museum for me.     The tour also included the Jaguar Heritage collection.

Probably the most fascinating part of the tour was some of the descriptions of an early Lanchster.   I had heard of Lanchester, but more about the cars they built during their ownership by Daimler.    However, the most interesting cars were built by Frederick Lanchester.   Like W.O. Bentley, Lanchester was a brilliant engineer but not a great businessman.  And unlike Henry Royce, who had Charles Rolls and then later professional managers, Lanchester never had a partner to handle the business side of things.

The car we looked at had an epicyclic gearbox, years before Henry Ford adopted it for the Model T, twin crankshaft engine for smoothness, was much faster than the competition and many other clever touches.   Sadly, the Lanchester brand ended up building a series of forgettable cars under Daimler ownership.

Another interesting part of the museum was a collection of test cars showing off different safety ideas of the 70s.   One in particular looks like a mousetrap – it was designed to come up during a collision to improve pedestrian safety.   There is also another one to try and show American regulators how silly a proposed law was that focused on rear visibility.    It is fitted with a large periscope as the only way of complying with the regulations.

The collection also contains three interesting Rover P5 models.   The main collection houses one of the Queen’s P5Bs and the overflow collection has the other.   There is also the Prime ministerial P5B, and interesting for me, a 1965 P5 Coupe with a manual transmission.   A similar car (transmission aside) from my old rover and identical spec to a couple of cars being restored by a friend of mine.    Continuing the Rover theme, there is a Rover Speed 14 Streamline Saloon, a rather performance oriented model by the company.

Also of interest was a very impressive Daimler Green Goddess.   This is a very imposing car and you can certainly understand the stir it created when first unveiled.   However, if I could have taken one car home from the museum, it would have been the Bentley R Type Continental.

The post British Motor Museum Reserve Collection appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

There was a fair amount of interest right around Australia and the Auctioneers did a good job of generating excitement.   Therefore the earlier and better lots sold for good prices and in my view probably above market.    The later lots that were in poor condition or basically parts cars sold for next to nothing.    Most of the cars were registered previously on numeric plates that were worth orders of magnitude more than the cars.   These were being auctioned off separately.

The lot started off with a couple of Cadillacs and a Buick with the best one fetching $41,000 and the other two mid teens.    Then the Flynn Collection Auction turned to the rovers.

In my view, the best rover there was the blue P5B Coupe.   It has been the personal car of the late Dr’s mother and felt like a good original car that was a little tired.   Fitted with an aftermarket sunroof the engine sounded good and the car looked nice from a couple of meters, but closer up there were various dents, scratches and so on.  The car had clearly spent a lot of time in the sun as the door rubbers had actually melted and the leather at the top of the seats felt like cardboard.    In the end it sold for $14,000 to an online bidder which is not surprising as it was better in the photos than it was in the flesh.  The only over rover to hit the $10,000 was another P5B Coupe.     From there, most of the better P5s sold for around $2-$5,000, The better P4s from $1-$4,000 and the P6’s from $500-$1200.   A couple of nicer cars beat these ranges and many P6’s sold for less than $100 in the end.   At the end of the day the very best of the cars were in fair condition only, and the prices reflected that. It was also evident that the cars went to a wide variety of people, I captured the bidder numbers below to illustrate how many different people walked away with a car.  The Flynn collection auction certainly dispersed the collection.

The next day was the parts, and there were some real bargains to be had.   For example a whole pallet of P5 seats for about $50, a rebuilt Rover v8 for around $100, various wheels, workshop supplies and so on.   You needed to but the parts by the pallet so the cost per part was very low.    Whole shelves of spares (e.g. Distributor caps) also went for low prices.

All in all it was an interesting experience to go and see this Auction.  I hope many of the parts and scrap cars can be used to keep good cars on the road and they don’t end up op the scrap heap.  I wonder what the late Dr Flynn would have thought of the whole thing?

Auction Results:

Lot 1: 1935 Cadillac 38, $41,000, Online
Lot 2: Buick 40, $15,000, Bidder 555
Lot 3: 1939 Cadillac 39, $17,000, Bidder 557
Lot 4: 1970 Rover P5B Coupe Blue, $14,000, Online
Lot 5: 1976 P6 3500 Red, $2,000, 557  (This car looked good from 2-3 meters but up closer was not so great)
Lot 6: 1949 P4-75 Cyclops, $3,000, 571 (This was probably the nicest Cyclops there)
Lot 7: 1971 Rover P6 3500 White, 572
Lot 8: 1957 Rover P4-105R Brown, $4,000, 606 (This was one of a number of Roverdrive cars for sale)
Lot 9: 1964 P5 3 Liter MKII Sedan Grey, $2200, 567 (Apparently this is the one the Dr used the most)
Lot 10: 1969 P5B Sedan Green, with re-trimmed interior, (I didn’t catch this one but it sold for good money)
Lot 11: 1967 Rover P5-3 Liter MKIII Coupe White, $6000, Online
Lot 12: 1968 Rover P5B Coupe Grey, $10,000, 576
Lot 13: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan White, $2,000, 545
Lot 14: 1966 Rover P5 3 Liter MKIII Coupe, Green, 558 (This was one of the best value buys of the night)
Lot 15: 1972 Rover P6 3500 Cream, $3,000, 557
Lot 16: 1959 Rover P5 MKI Sedan Manual Black, $4,000, 538
Lot 17: 1958 Rover P4-105R Blue, $700, 526
Lot 18: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan Green, $200, Online (another good value buy)
Lot 19: 1972 Rover P6 3500 Yellow, $1400, 575
Lot 20: 1962 Rover P5 3 Liter MKII Sedan, $350, 576
Lot 21: 1958 Rover P4-105S Brown, $2,100, 518
Lot 22: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan, $3600
Lot 23: 1971 Rover P6 2000 Yellow, $1,000, 558
Lot 24: 1968 Rover P5 Sedan, $600
Lot 25: 1957 Rover P4-105S Grey, $2000, 589
Lot 26: 1969 Rover P5B Sedan Blue, $1300, 530
Lot 27: 1972 Rover P6 3500 Yellow, $500, 514
Lot 28: 1974 Rover P6 3500 Brown, $800, 581
Lot 29: 1958 Rover P4-105 Black. $4,500, 610
Lot 30: 1971 Rover P6 2000TC, $500, 561
Lot 31: 1962 Rover P4-110 Grey, $900, 542
Lot 32: 1971 Rover P6-2000TC White, $750, 552
Lot 33: 1970 Rover P5B Coupe Grey, $7500, 583
Lot 34: 1971 Rover P6 3500 Yellow, $1100
Lot 35: 1974 Rover P6 3500 Blue, $700, Online
Lot 36: 1972 Rover P6 3500 Yellow, $?
Lot 37: 1976 Rover P6 3500 White, $800, Online
Lot 38: 1969 Rover P5B Sedan, $2300, Online
Lot 39: 1972 Rover P6-3500S Yellow, $1600, 605
Lot 40: 1968 Rover P5B Coupe White, $6800, 594
Lot 41: 1965 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Maroon, $1600
Lot 42: 1971 Rover P6 3500 Brown, $500, 576
Lot 43: 1970 Rover P5B Coupe Grey, $4700, 567
Lot 44: 1955 Rover P4-75 Sedan, $2100, 596
Lot 45: 1960 Rover P5 3 Liter MKI Sedan Dark Green, $500, 519
Lot 46: 1969 Rover P6 3500 Sedan Brown, $300, 526
Lot 47: 1956 Rover P4-90 Sedan Black, $600
Lot 48: 1960 Rover P5 Sedan MKI Blue, $600, 622
Lot 49: 1969 Rover P6-2000TC White, $1600, 613
Lot 50: 1963 Rover P4-95 Blue, $500, 575
Lot 51: 1969 Rover P6 2000TC Cream, $900
Lot 52: 1955 Rover P4-90 Sedan Black, $500, 620
Lot 53: 1974 Rover P6 3500S Brown, $100, 541
Lot 54: 1969 Rover P5B Sedan White, $2250, 573
Lot 55: Rover P6 2000 White, $250, 546
Lot 56: 1954 Rover P4-90 Black, $500, 612
Lot 57: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan White, $1300, 530
Lot 58: 1962 Rover P5 3 Liter MKII Sedan Light Grey, $100, 605
Lot 59: 1962 Rover P5 3 Liter MKI Sedan Light Grey, $900, 551
Lot 60: 1974 Rover P6 3500S White, $1100, 582
Lot 61: 1958 Rover P4-105S Cream
Lot 62: 1973 Rover P6-3500S Green, $1000
Lot 63: 1965 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Grey, $850 (this one was in quite good condition for the price)
Lot 64: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan, $1850
Lot 65: 1971 Rover P6 3500 White, $300, 619
Lot 66: 1973 Rover P6-3500S Yellow, $1100, 546
Lot 67: 1971 Rover P6 3500, $350, 537
Lot 68: 1974 Rover 3500S, $1100
Lot 69: 1974 Rover P6 2000 TC, $100
Lot 70: 1969 Rover P5 3.5 Sedan Green, $1000, 530
Lot 71: 1970 Rover P5B Grey
Lot 72: 1974 Rover P6 3500S White, $700, 533
Lot 73: 1962 Rover P4-100 White, $200, 592
Lot 74: 1976 Rover P6 3500 Orange, $100
Lot 75: 1968 Rover P5B Green, $1200, 525
Lot 76: 1969 Rover P6 3500 White, $50, 595
Lot 77: 1959 Rover P5 MKI Blue, $400, 595
Lot 78: 1958 Rover P4-105R Beige, $300, 520
Lot 79: 1957 Rover P4-105R Grey, $600, 617
Lot 80: 1970 Rover P5B Sedan white, $4400, Online
Lot 81: 1951 Rover P4-75 Cyclops, $400
Lot 82: 1954 Rover P4-90 Green, $100, 592
Lot 83: 1960 Rover P5 MKI Sedan, $100?
Lot 84: 1973 Rover P6 3500S, $500, 595
Lot 85: 1951 Rover P4-75 Cyclops, Beige
Lot 86: 1969 Rover 3.5 Blue, $100, 532
Lot 87: 1962 Rover P4-100 Green
Lot 88: 1971 Rover P6-3500 Blue, $100, 558
Lot 89: 1951 Rover P4-75 Cyclops Black, $50, 595
Lot 90: 1966 Rover P5 MKIII Coupe White, $50
Lot 91: 1963 Rover P5 MKII Coupe Grey, $350
Lot 92: 1950 Rover P4-75 Green, $50
Lot 93: 1960 Rover P5 3 Litre Sedan, $50, 595
Lot 94: Rover P5B Sedan Grey, $50, 545
Lot 95: 1957 Rover P4-105R Green, $50
Lot 96: 1960 Rover P4-95 Sedan Black, $50, 533
Lot 97: 1955 Rover P4-90 Black, $50, 526
Lot 98: 1960 Rover P5 3 Liter Blue/Black, $50, 548
Lot 99: 1971 Rover P5B Sedan Maroon, $300, 551
Lot 100: 1960 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan, $50, 595
Lot 101: 1972 Rover P5 3500S white
Lot 102: 1963 Rover MKII Coupe Green, $200, 621
Lot 103: 1960 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Blue, $500
Lot 104: 1958 Rover P4-105R, $20
Lot 105: 1970 Rover P5B Coupe Blue, $900
Lot 106: 1969 Rover P6 2000TC, $250, 552
Lot 107: 1964 Rover P5 3 Liter MKII Sedan Manual, $20
Lot 108: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan Maroon, $100, 530
Lot 109: 1968 Rover P5B Sedan, $50
Lot 110: 1975 Rover P6 3500 White, $50
Lot 111: 1975 Rover P6 3500 Yellow, $50
Lot 112: 1963 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan, $20
Lot 113: 1959 Rover P4-105R Grey, $70
Lot 114: 1965 Rover P5 3 Liter MKII Sedan Green
Lot 115: 1970 Rover P6 2000 TC Beige
Lot 116: 1961 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Green
Lot 117: 1961 Rover P4-100 Black, $175
Lot 118: 1951 Rover P4-75 Cyclops Black
Lot 119: 1973 Rover P6 3500 White, $25
Lot 120: 1950 Rover P4-75 Cyclops Grey, $175, 536
Lot 121: 1967 Rover P6 2000 White, $10, 678
Lot 122: 1950 Rover P4-75 Cyclops Grey, $450, 561
Lot 123: 1960 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Grey, $10, 612
Lot 124: 1957 Rover P4-90 Blue, $20, 534
Lot 125: 1969 Rover P5B, $650, Online
Lot 126: 1968 Rover P5B Maroon, $350, 584
Lot 127: 1955 Rover P4-90 White, $125
Lot 128: 1966 Rover P6 2000 White
Lot 129: 1958 Rover P4-105R
Lot 130: 1959 Rover P5 3 Liter Sedan Grey, $20?
Lot 131: 1972 Rover P6 2000TC White, $180
Lot 132: 1960 Rover P4-100 Grey
Lot 133: 1974 Rover P6 3500 White, $20
Lot 134: 1965 Rover P5 3 Liter MKII Grey, $230
Lot 135: 1961 Rover P4-100 Grey
Lot 136: 1969 Rover P6 3500 Brown
Lot 137: 1967 Rover P5 Sedan White
Lot 138: 1974 Rover P6 3500
Lot 139: 1968 Rover P5B Coupe Purple, $3100
Lot 140: 1969 Rover 3500, $20
Lot 141: 1957 Rover P4-105R Grey, $700
Lot 142: 1966 Rover P5 3 Liter MKIII Coupe
Lot 143: 1962 Rover P5 Sedan Dark Grey

The post The Flynn Collection Auction appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

This car is equipped with the 3 liter six.   Most collectors prefer the 8, but the six has its fans due to its refinement.  It is much smoother, and some would regard more in character with the car.    The sixes were also built when Rover was an independent company and are better built than the 8s which came out under BL.

The nice coupes went for good money but this one isn’t as nice and so went rather cheap. I paid $230 for the car so you can imagine the condition.  Not as cheap as some P6’s that were going for $50 or less.

The poor car couldn’t even start for its turn at the auction.  It was later discovered that the car was just out of fuel.

As the car is in Canberra, tomorrow I need to assess if it can make it back to my relatives house in Canberra.  From there, can it make the journey back to Sydney under its own steam?

The drive back may end up like one of the those Top Gear challenges, but not the ones where they have reliable cars!

The post The $ 230 Rover P5 MKII Coupe appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Apparently Dr Flynn built this collection up over years.   Most of the cars were kept registered on ACT numeric plates. The plates were worth far more than the cars that they were attached to!   They cars were not purchased to be restored, it would appear they were hoarded more than cherished and apparently various attempts over the years to purchase them were rebuffed – they were simply kept registered and had some level of maintenance mechanically.   Sadly, many of the cars were purchased in far better condition than they are in now.     In addition to the cars, there are over 400 lots of parts and workshop contents to be auctioned.    As with the cars,  there are whole pallets of engines and transmissions of unknown quality, interior parts, hoists etc.

Everything needs to be picked up in the 2-3 days after the auction, so with the large number of cars for sale at the same time, the location and this restriction the prices should be below market.    Hopefully most of the parts find buyers as it would be a shame to see them go to the crusher.

The catalogue consists of the following models.  This does not include the cars listed as parts cars in the parts auction.

Models:

• P4-75: 10 (including 8 Cylops)
• P4-90: 7
• P4-95: 2
• P4-100:  4
• P4-105: 2
• P4-105S: 2
• P4-105R: 6
• P4-110: 1
• P4 (unknown): 1
• Total P4: 35
• P5 MKI Sedan:  11
• P5 MKII Sedan:  9
• P5 MKIII Sedan: 0
• P5B Sedan: 18
• P5 MKII Coupe: 3
• P5 MKIII Coupe: 4
• P5B Coupe: 8
• Total P5: 53
• P6 2000:  6
• P6 2000TC: 5
• P6 3500: 25
• P6 3500S: 5
• Total P6: 41

Update 22/11/16:  The auction is now concluded and the results are outlined here.

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