1969 Rover P5B 3.5l

Built on the 17th of February 1969, this lovely example of the ultimate P5 saloon was supplied by T.T. Motors of Slipping Sudbury on the 19th of March 1969 to a Mr. Lawrence Hunt of E. Hunt and Son Ltd., who then kept it for the next 36 years. Only sold following his death, it then passed on to a Mr. Clive Green.

Unfortunately, most of the car’s paperwork was lost at this point although a little does remain. Mr. Green didn’t bother registering as he sold it on almost immediately, making the second recorded keeper a Mr. Anthony Coyle. He acquired the P5B in 2005 with around 56,000 miles on the clock before adding another 4,500 of his own.

The car’s third owner purchased it on the 26th of March 2009. He drove it 200 miles home to the South Coast, and says it performed “outstandingly, a true testament to the maintenance and servicing this car has received during its lifetime.” Despite this impressive performance, he set about refurbishing it, recording the work in a photo album that comes with the car, as well as on a comprehensive checklist.

The vendor bought the Rover a year ago to be used in the BBC’s Antiques Roadtrip programme, a role it fulfilled to perfection after having the engine’s top-end overhauled. No longer needed, it is being offered for auction in the hope of finding another owner who will come to love it as much as its previous ones clearly have.

The car was used on BBC Antiques Road Trip between August-October 2019, driven by James Braxton and Catherine Southon. The episodes were aired week commencing January 6th 2020, Series 20 episodes 1-5. Here’s a link to episode 1, you can find the rest on YouTube or on catch up. They loved the car, comfortable, reliable and easy to drive.  https://youtu.be/lKY9dhINGMY

Can we all agree that Burnt Grey is a very fine colour to finish a Rover P5B in? It’s in great shape too, as you’d expect given its recent role on TV.

So, the flanks are free of ripples and car-park dinks, and the doors all fit well. There’s no visible rust, and only the very odd stonechip. It really does look magnificent, a state of affairs helped enormously by the chromework, which is both plentiful and in good order.

Lovely little details abound, like the carefully crafted front sidelight lenses, the amber reflectors set in the chrome side trim, and the big, bluff rear end that reminds us all that Rover used to compete at the very highest level against folk like Jaguar, Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

The Rostyle wheels are in a decent condition. Sure, there is the odd patch of rust and the odd scratch, but they appear straight and true and shod with matching new tyres, all of which still have the majority of their tread.

As we will never tyre of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Problems are few. There is the odd spot of rust appearing in the form of bubbles, most notably inside the offside rear door shut and the two sills. It doesn’t look at all serious – and certainly didn’t catch the MOT tester’s eye this year – but will need attention as it will escalate if left untreated.

Dear God this thing is glorious inside. The Smith’s air-conditioning unit for example, which was almost certainly installed by the dealer when the car was new, is labelled ‘Jet Steam’ and just has two controls, one for air volume and one for temperature. And really, what else do you need? If times like these test our faith in the modern world’s ability to cope with the unexpected, then getting into the Rover and setting the heater is a sure-fire way to lower your pulse rate and set the world back on an even keel.

And the Mulberry leather is reassuringly British, being both magnificent and a little faded. Like the rest of the interior, probably original, and only a little past it’s best, the driver’s seat is nonetheless both comfortable and supportive; a cream tea on the village green as the younger fellows give the bounders from the next town a good spanking. A beer with the vicar after his Sunday sermon, or a good pipe smoked while walking your Labrador in the mist of a cold autumnal morning.

It’s the same story with the wood, which is magnificent but patinated. Mind you, old money lives in shabby chic houses and drives shabby chic cars, so it’ll only be the nouveau riche who complain, and frankly my dear, who gives a damn about what they think?

And, actually, the rest of the interior is very good. The door cards are in great shape, and the passenger and rear seats are in a very good condition and only lightly creased – and the metal lower trim on their base looks sensational.

The carpets are good too, and the headlining is undamaged and still taut, even if it is a little grubby in places.

The centre console is a wedge of carpet and leather, adorned only with the gearlever and an ashtray. It’s delightful, as is the underside of the steering column, which sports four twist-action handles for the fuel reserve, cold starting, the bonnet lock, and to send cold air into the cabin.

The steering wheel is pencil thin, all the better to guide the stately P5B with nothing more than fingertip pressure; those of you who grew up reading LJK Setright will appreciate the reference, while those who didn’t have a lifetime of reading pleasure ahead of them. And literary references be damned: it’s got a sodding Viking on it – and who needs more in their life than a Viking in their car?

Other than a pull-out picnic tray for the passenger, obviously. A piece of automotive design genius that conceals the car’s toolkit (which the vendor tells us looks unused) within, it’s not something we’ve seen before and while we’re not sure what we’d ever use it for, every other car will now seem strangely barren with the absence of one.

The boot contains a Rover workshop manual and not one, but two fire extinguishers alongside the toolkit. They, like the British Empire itself, are time-expired and more use looking backwards than forward, but a glorious reminder of a quieter, more gentle period nonetheless. A moment in time when a chap had the time to stand and think, to sit and just be. To smoke in the pub, and wear a hat without the slightest scintilla of irony. When a man needed the foresight to buy a couple of fire extinguishers, just in case his brand-new pride and joy went up in flames.

The only real area for improvement bar the driver’s seat is the period Smith’s air-conditioning unit, which doesn’t work. We are led to believe that re-commissioning it and converting it to run on modern gas is possible, which would be a very cool thing to do…. (Don’t worry, we’re here all week.)

The vendor rebuilt the top-end of the Rover’s engine with new camshafts, followers, pushrods, and duplex timing gear, etc. The work was, he tells us, done to a high standard and we can confirm that the car drives very well.

The alternator looks new too, as does the ignition coil and the boot-mounted Bosch battery.

The quality of the Rover’s engineering is never more evident than on the fusebox, where each fuse is neatly labelled and easy to identify. No scrabbling around trying to find the right section in the handbook you’ve left at home, just big, easy to read lettering that means you’ll be up and running again in a matter of minutes.

The underside looks strong, but the new owner will need to spend a day or so touching up the underseal if it is to remain that way for another half-century.

The Rover’s MOT certificate expires in June 2020, and was gained without a single advisory point. The car comes with a number of expired MOT certificates, old tax discs, and a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the recent work that has been done to it.

It also has the original service handbook, and the original maintenance and instruction manuals. Wonderfully, it has managed to hold on to the original ‘Inventory of Accessories, Tools, etc.’ that was supplied with the Rover when it was new, along with a limited edition brochure for the model. The history suggests (but not warrants) the recorded mileage as genuine. The care that the car has received from its low owners shows in its condition, the vendor is knowledgable in preparing classic cars and could not find any serious rot uinderneath in his time with it.

It also comes with a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate confirming its original build specification, plus a photo album showing the car’s restoration along with a list of all the work the previous owner carried out as part of that process. There’s a copy of a magazine article featuring the car too.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained in recent years to the very highest standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Or, even better, why not contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call? You get to direct us in real-time, giving you a virtual personal viewing experience while maintaining the lockdown. We like to call it ‘The Market’s 2020 Vision’…

As you might have gathered, we’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for the Rover. Glorious in her later years, she’s a stunning testament to a period in Rover’s history when it competed at the very highest levels and was the supplier of choice for Her majesty’s Government.

Far from perfect, she is nonetheless a very strong and well-fettled vehicle, capable of being pressed into use as an everyday driver with no fuss. Or, given its well-documented history, provenance and apparent originality, she’d make the ideal basis for a rolling restoration back to her former glory.

All of which makes our guide price of somewhere between £8,000 and £12,000 seem a bit of an insult. The Rover P5B is, in our opinion, still chronically undervalued. With even the best cars only fetching £20,000, we think there is still room for appreciation, especially when you consider what its contemporary rivals are fetching now.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.