1969 Rover P6 Federal

Imported in 2015, this left-hand-drive car was restored five years ago by the president of Federal Owners, the Rover P6 owners’ club for those cars sold across the pond.

New metal was let in as needed during the car’s recent restoration, so she’s all solid and covered in a beautiful bespoke shade of metallic blue.

But it’s the bonnet that you’ll notice, and yes, it’s original, even if it does look a bit like something George Barris might fit. (If you need to Google that then this probably isn’t the car for you.) 

The look came about because Rover was forced to shoehorn so much extra equipment under the bonnet that cooling became a problem, albeit one that was easily, if not prettily, overcome by carving out three large air scoops in the metalwork

The standard-fit box-pleated leather seats look amazing, and the car is even fitted with the super-cool, and hard to find, rear headrests. Further passive safety equipment is there courtesy of new inertia reel seatbelts. 

Luxury comes via sound engineering from a time when Rover could still be trusted, backed up with four electric windows and power-assisted steering. Yes, I know, imagine a time when ‘leccy windows and PAS were so upmarket as to be noteworthy.

A period radio has been sourced and fitted, and she still wears her original ice alert (the sensor is the chrome thing sticking out from the front grille). Well, she did live in Canada for the bulk of her life…

The restoration included sorting out the brakes, suspension, and axles, fitting and reconditioning components where necessary.

The original 3,500cc powerplant has been replaced at some point in the 1980s with a 3.9-litre engine taken from a Range Rover, which is fine because they’re as bulletproof as any, and tuned for torque rather than outright power, a shift in balance that suits the nature of the Federal Rover very well indeed. 

An attempt has been made to liberate a few extra ponies from the Buick V8 via the fitment of an Edelbrock manifold and a free-flowing stainless steel exhaust; should you want even more, it is unlikely that any engine ever built provides such a wide range of cheap power as this.

The automatic gearbox shifts and slurs the power well, albeit as more of a cruiser than a street racer.

The car came to the UK from Canada via America and Belgium, finally hitting the shores of Blighty in 2015. The paperwork is sketchy, so you should buy on condition, although a quick look at the online MOT history shows nothing worrisome.

We’ve never come across another Federal Rover P6, and having seen one in the flesh we’re ever-so-slightly smitten; cheap V8-horsepower is always attractive, and when it comes in a package called ‘Federal’, we want it even more.

Cars like this are hard to price: it’s not original, and even if it were it’s too much of an oddball to benchmark according to the values of other cars sold. 

That said we think at the asking price it is absurdly good value. 

The car can be viewed in Somerset, to arrange please use the 'Contact Seller' button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments or view our frequently asked questions below.