The History of Rover car maker & VIN decoder

The Rover automobile company, headquartered in Great Britain, specializes in the development of Rover and Land Rover SUVs and cars. The history of this company dates back to 1887. William Sutton and John Kemp Starley established the production of bicycles and in 1889 the company began producing the first cars. At first they were ordinary carriages, with a weak engine, producing only 8 hp, the first model was the Rover 8. Because of its characteristics, this model sold quite well. The Rover 8 with rack and pinion steering was equipped with a gear lever which was located on the column, and soon the company managed to break into the middle class car market, creating improved and attractive models as - Rover 12, introduced to the public in 1911. Its 28 horsepower engine gave it a top speed of 80 km, which was undoubtedly satisfying.

When Rover created the P5 in 1958, there was no doubt that it was the answer to Jaguar and its unsuccessful Mk VIII. David Bach was the designer of the P5, and to give him credit for that, the car turned out quite stylish. The P5 was designed for a long, comfortable ride at high speed, and 1962 pleased the P5 Coupe. Soon, in 1963, the engine power was increased to 134 hp, and in 1966 the model was updated again. When the P5 came out in 1968 with a licensed Buick V-8 engine, it was a shock. This engine once again solved all the little issues with dynamics. The modified P5B - from Buick, rated at 160 hp, easily rivaled any Jaguar model of that period. It was so good that it was discontinued only in 1973, producing about 70,000 cars. The proof that the car was of the highest level is that the model was permanently settled in the Royal fleet and it was actively used by the Queen herself.

The turbocharged Rover Jet 1 concept was mounted on a P4 chassis, and it was tested by Peter Wilkes personally. On the highway, he accelerated to - 240 km/h, given that he was just afraid to push the pedal harder. Rover cars with an identical engine have achieved decent results in motorsports. Richie Guinter and Graham Hill, driving a Rover-BRM in 1963, set a world record for average speed in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours, a feat they repeated in 1965. At the 1961 auto show, the public saw a gas turbine concept T4, which clearly indicated the coming production P6.

The public saw the Rover P6 in 1963, a successful combination of quality construction and build. This made it an icon of the compact car 'business' class. The press and public were really impressed, and in the same year the car won first place in the Car of the Year competition. The Rover P6 3500S, the name given to the eight-cylinder V8 unit fitted to the P6 in 1971, had bigger brake discs and wider tires.

In 1966, Rover and Leyland merged in a spectacular way. This company eventually became the state-owned British Leyland plant. The Rover SD1 replaced the P5 and P6 overnight, and had an incredibly aggressive design borrowed from the Ferrari Daytona. It was launched in 1976 as a hatchback with 155 bhp and a 3.5 liter V-twin. The daring design, trendy interior and excellent driving characteristics won it the Car of the Year award in 1977. Also in 1977 came the SD1 version, which had two 2.4L and 2.6L six-cylinder engines. For Rover in the crisis 70's Alec Issigonis develops his own Mini, its production continued until 2000.

The technical order of the company, which was rebuilt in 1983, forced the Rover sports division to prepare a fresh variation of the car and as a result it was extremely fast and won a series of victories that year, and in 1984 Rover won the championship. Rover also bravely won the German DTM in 1986, simply crushing Mercedes and BMW at home. To pass homologation of the new car, the company managed to release Rover SD1 Vitesse. The car was not as comfortable, but stood out for its delightful driving, and accelerated to 100 km in almost 8 seconds.

In the 1980s, an alternative model was also created, the Rover Metro 6R4 all-wheel drive, equipped with a V-twin engine. At the Turin Motor Show in 1986, a version with a 2.4 liter turbocharged engine was shown, it could reach 152 km.

The next Rover 800 was launched in 1992, and two years later the Coupe version came out. The Rover 600 introduced in 1993 filled the empty space between the Rover 400 and the Rover 800. In 1994, after Rover was under the sway of BMW, the range was revamped with the introduction of the 200 and 400 series. Towards the end of 1998, the Rover 75 was introduced to the world. Do not forget to use Rover VIN decoder in order to avoid potential problems when buying a used car.

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