Rover was still an independent company when the car was released in 1963, and the P6 was considered a brave attempt to guide the brand away from the traditional conservative Rover image. Cleverly focusing on a new generation of the emergence of younger affluent middle management customers, the Rover P6 captured the zeitgeist of the confidence of the 1960s and along with the Triumph 2000, created a new market for executive cars.
Development of the P6 started in the 1950s, influenced by the post-war research of the Rover-BRM gas turbine cars. It was also unique for the novel use of a chassis skeleton, in which every body panel was removable inspired by the practice used on the Citroen DS.
The development of the twin-carb version in 1966, saw off criticisms that the original P6 was too slow compared to its arch-Triumph rival but it was their next move in 1968 that sealed the P6 as one of their greatest cars. The P5B’s Buick-derived V8 engine was transplanted into the P6, making it the fastest affordable 4-door family cars available in the UK.
Despite the energy crisis of the early 70s, the P6 sales held up reasonably well, thanks to many customers ditching their larger cars for the compact and lightweight P6. Over 327,000 P6s found homes over its 13-year production run, ending in 1976 to be replaced by the striking but troubled SD1. Rover’s legacy and respected lineup of cars did much to ensure the brand name, along with MG, became the sole survivor of the BL regime.
