A little higher up the pay scale from the Austin A55 Cambridge is the junior executive Rover. Not quite a Jaguar, far from a Rolls or Bentley, but maybe on a level with the Humber Super Snipe is the Rover P5. For some reason, Rover decided to make a 4-door coupe 4 decades before it was cool for the Germans to do it. Perhaps this was Rover’s attempt at going up against the more rakish Jaguars, or maybe one of Rover’s design directors spent some time in America checking out the hot rod scene. Either way, it makes for an interesting look, and gives it a level of elegance not found in the regular saloon. You can find this 1967 Rover P5 Mark III 3-liter Coupe for sale for $2000 in Chemainus, BC, on Vancouver Island.
It certainly does cut an attractive figure, so it’s hard to understand why the seller only provided one picture of the exterior. Perhaps this is its most flattering angle? The paint and body are said to be in good shape, but the straight six engine is out of the car and in pieces. The seller says he’s run out of time to finish it. The transmission is an overdrive 4-speed, so you should be able to squeeze the most out of the six without sacrificing comfortable highway cruising.
The interior looks pretty decent too. As you can see, the blue leather armchairs are in good shape, but the carpeting is missing. With these being popular as a classic in their home country, carpeting should be easy to procure – some deep pile material would probably be appropriate for this aspirational car. The elegant steering wheel looks good too.
The seller has the car stored on a lift, so he’s provided many pictures of the undercarriage. There appears to be very little, if any rust damage, and aside from some surface rust (which might suggest prolonged storage in damp conditions, not surprising on an island), it looks quite solid. The seller suggests dropping in a V8, so perhaps you could find a 3.5-liter Buick engine (or larger) and make the car into a P5B, as well as a chop-top with a V8. The queen and Thatcher have both owned one, why not you?
Rusty But Trusty 
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