1970 Rover P5B Coupe

This superb and stately looking P5B is a desirable, and slightly less stately, “Coupe” version which first arrived with the MKII cars in 1962. Whilst retaining the saloon’s four doors, the coupe features a 2.5-inch lowered roofline with a more rakish terminating angle accompanied by daintier B-pillars. Just 9,099 P5B Coupes would ultimately leave Solihull between 1967 and 1973.

This lovely Coupe dates from February 1970 and has been enjoyed by a total of 9 registered keepers to date. The previous keeper (2016 – 2020) undertook a full restoration of what was at that stage a tatty but sensible mileage example. Around £9,000 was reportedly spent bringing the Coupe back up to standard, with over half of that being lavished on the sublime and luxurious cabin. 

Our current owner, acquired the Rover in 2020 as the highest bidder in one of our own online auctions. At that stage the P5B had covered around 99,000 miles with our seller having only added around 1,000 miles to that sensible total during his tenure.
 

This dignified P5B offers the viewer a positive eyeful of automotive delights not least thanks to its superb Burnt Grey over Silver Birch two tone livery. The styling adjustments to the Coupe were always conceived to suggest an open car with a hard top fitted, and the darker hue to the roof panel helps underscore that visual conceit.

The Silver Birch (a fine paint name if ever there was) adorns the ample bodywork lending this example a deftness that darker colours can confound. The condition appears very good indeed. We do know that the previous owner commissioned a respray from the front edge of the rear doors back and the match achieved seems very impressive. The brightwork has reportedly been re-chromed within the last 10 years or so and is, thus, impressively bright and lustrous.

Inevitably enough there are some minor imperfections if you really go hunting for them. These include the usual touched in stone chips, minor scuffs and a couple of paint runs. There are some small paint cracks to the top of the rear wings and some minor bubbling on the bottoms of a couple of doors. Our diligent photographer has captured these for review at your leisure.

This P5B rolls on an original set of factory correct Rostyle wheels. These, like the V8 engine, are based on an American design but produced under license for Rover by British firm Rubery-Owen. The “R-O” of the company’s name giving rise to the “RO-style” name. These appear in an excellent condition with the highly polished rims and spokes contrasting perfectly with the matt black painted inner sections.
 

As already touched on, Basche’s cabin treatment drew enormous praise from testers and drivers of the day for its combination of modern ergonomics and sublime, old school luxury. With a full cabin restoration undertaken in previous ownership, this example showcases these desirable charm perfectly.

The supple tan leather exudes all the class and familiarity of a well loved pair of Churches brogues. It also serves to accentuate the delightfully over-stiffed nature of the vertically box pleated seats and their enveloping bolsters. Put these on legs and they wouldn’t look out of place in the Groucho or the Conduit Clubs. The rear cabin looks every bit as inviting, consisting of essentially two separate clones of the front perches separated by a large, folding armrest.

Of course, wood and chrome also generously feature to complete the trimmer’s holy trinity of luxurious substrates. The timber adorns part of the dashboard and continues around into the door tops, and the chrome takes care of numerous driver and passenger interfaces. The bulk of the dashboard, however, is finished in black to remind the driver that this is the most sporting version of an unsporty range. The inclusion of a tachometer and four additional auxiliary gauges in the Coupe also aims to suggest this is, indeed, a serious driver’s car.

The overall condition in here is impressive and commensurate with a costly restoration in the last few years. Despite their much lighter hues even the carpets and headlining appear to be in fine fettle. The boot appears truly cavernous and is trimmed with sensible, hard wearing vinyl matting.
 

The Buick 215 V8 was not only light for its size and output but was a compact unit, too. As such the Rover team had no problems slotting it into the wide engine bay of the P5 with its straight six predecessor being inherently space hungry. In this iteration the venerable V8 is paired with a Borg-Warner Type 35 three speed automatic gearbox.

The lightness and power of the 3.5-litre lump transformed the big Rover’s performance, originally offering up a 12-ish second 0-60mph time and a 116mph top speed.

The under bonnet presentation of this Coupe is very impressive. The inner panels look well painted and free from corrosion, and the alloy inlet tract is painted in glossy black and grey paint lifting the overall look of this nest of wires, pipes and widgets considerably. The underside of the car looks great, too. A very consistent coating of black textured underseal appears to protect the prone surfaces here, and remarkably the underside is reportedly free from any welding or patching. A rare quality indeed for a 55-year old British coupe.
 

This Rover is accompanied by an instructive archive of paperwork. This is led by the current V5 Registration Document in the name of the owner. This classifies the P5B as an Historic Vehicle and, as such, renders it MoT exempt and zero rated for road tax in the UK. A very full quota of hard copy MoTs is present which provide an audit trail of the car’s original mileage right back to the 1970’s.

The original book pack is impressively present as are some useful and period workshop and parts manuals. The bulk of the remainder consists of numerous invoices for parts procured and services rendered. There are also some earlier photographs and some extracts of a period sales brochure.
 

Despite the Rover P5 being impressively modern in some respects – witness the monocoque construction and (ultimately) modern V8 power – it was also the last of a redoubtable breed. It is no wonder the Government bought up a secret stash of this dignified old stager as the incoming P6 seemed altogether... less minister worthy, somehow. As such the P5, especially in ultimate P5B guise and Coupe configuration, are becoming increasingly desired and sought after.

This example is a gem. It offers a very moderate original mileage and a highly impressive, recently fettled condition. The cabin, especially, offers a wow factor that few (if any) modern cars can come close to rivalling. These cars aren’t easy to find in this condition, and we heartily recommend this fine and proud example to you.  

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £12,000 - £16,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.