You could easily say the last traditional Rover was the P5. After this, Rovers came with 4-cylinder engines and adapted all sorts of modern structural and safety features. With 129hp from its straight six, its power was probably as adequate for its size as the Rolls Royce’s was for its size. Few of these cars remain in North America, although with British sedans being more popular in Canada, some made it into the US that way. One car that might have followed that path is this 1965 Rover P5 Coupe for sale for $1500 in Anchorage, AK.
It’s quite an elegant car, every bit the equal of its contemporaries in the luxury market when it comes to looks. If you think forward to 2014, one could say the market served by this Rover is now covered by Lexus and Mercedes – conservative design and performance for the aspirational car buyer. As you can see, night time is already coming earlier in Alaska, but there is no visible bubbling rust on this car, which is in line with the seller’s statement of no filler or rust anywhere.
The chrome is said to have been redone, but it does appear that some trim is missing, and the seller does not say if items like the door trim are included. The car apparently spent 30 years in storage, and the carburetor is now leaking profusely – hopefully this is just a case of dried up parts that need replacement. The seller suspects a diaphragm and suggests a new carb. Once running, the 3-liter’s power will flow through an automatic transmission.
Not much is visible of the rest of the car – you can see the dashboard, steering wheel, and gauges here, but not much else. However, a rust-free Rover P5 needing a carb rebuild is a fair steal at this price. Who in Anchorage wants to check this one out?
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