Loving this one. Our video this week is from our friend John Clancy who brings you TriumphDVDs. But, this week’s video is not about Triumphs. No, this week we are looking at the history of Rover. Rover is one of those brands that was never very popular here in the US but was a standard in England. Additionally, the Rover brand was had heavy influences on almost all other British car brands and contributed one of the most famous engines of the classic period – the Rover 3500 V8.
This video is a preview of the documentary DVD charting the full story of Rover from the introduction of the safety bicycle in 1895 to the last cars in 2005.
Many ex-Rover engineers are interviewed to help tell the story and also to get those historic anecdotes that can only be revealed by the people who were present at the time. In addition to the Rover personnel, owners of significant Rover models relate the history: Alan Buttle demonstrates his replica of JET1, which was the world’s first ever jet-powered car following the wartime collaboration with Frank Whittle to develop the gas turbine engine.
The ‘Auntie’ P4 and P5 Rovers are covered along with the later P6. Peter Willmer (Chief Engineer -Transmissions), recalls his work on these cars which included European testing and in particular, pulling heavy trailers up the Stelvio Pass to test cooling. The later Rovers are all featured along with some of the men behind the motors before Rover historian James Taylor, concludes to tell the final collapse of MG Rover.
Appearing in the main feature are:
Peter Willmer – Rover Chief Engineer – Transmissions
John Carter – Engine Development Engineer & Project Manager
Ian Elliott – British Leyland Product and Technical Affairs Manager
John Worth – Rover Design Engineer
Chris Elliott – Rover Principal Engineer Quality Reliability Testing
Alan Wood – Rover Development Engineer
Dennis Patstone – Rover Development Department Validation Engineer
Ron Brown – Rover Design Engineer and Brand Manager
Robin Wilson – Rover Chassis Engineer
John Batchelor – Rover Chassis Engineer
James Taylor – Rover Motoring Historian
Michael Humble – Rover Dealer Mechanic at Henlys
Alan Buttle – Rover JET1 gas turbine replica (P4)
Adrian Mitchell – Rover 16 Sports Saloon (P2)
Plus a host of other Rover owners with their cars in the extra feature ‘Rovers & Owners’.
Total running time is approximately 100 minutes.
The DVD is available for order from the TriumphDVDs website.