GTP Cool Wall: 1976-1986 Rover SD1

1976-1986 Rover SD1

  • Total voters
    114
  • Poll closed .
GranTurismo916

GranTurismo916

15,465
United States
Orange County, NY
GTP_GT916
Nii916
1976-1986 Rover SD1 nominated by @Liquid
Rover_sd1_club.jpg


Engines: 2.0L I4, 2.3L I6, 2.6L I6, 3.5L V8, 2.4L Diesel I4
Power: 2.0: 100 hp; 2.3: 123 hp; 2.4: 90 hp; 2.6: 136 hp; 3.5: 133-190 hp
Torque: 2.0: 120 lb-ft.; 2.3: 134 lb-ft.; 2.4: 142 lb-ft.; 2.6: 152 lb-ft.; 3.5: 198-220 lb-ft.
Weight: 1263-1524 kg
Transmission: 3-speed automatic, 5-speed manual
Drivetrain: Front engine, rear wheel drive
Body Styles: 5-door liftback
Additional Info: "Actually sold under various names according to engine size; Rover 2000, Rover 2300, Rover 2300 S, Rover 3500 Vanden Plas et al. Top of the range model was known as the Rover Vitesse

Saw use in both touring car and rally racing."​
L-Rover-SD1-3500-VP-Efi.jpg

Rover_sd1_club_day_blue_%2812%29.jpg

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Dad had a few of these when he worked for Rover. They were cool when I was 5, and at no stage since has that opinion ever changed, infact, it's only now I realise what a great looking car they were.

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I remember he had a VDP auto for a while,... I will never forget seeing the Auto shifter for the first time... compared to the other cars we'd had it was like a spaceship control.
 
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One of my mates had one of these when I was c.18 YO... V8... it went sideways forever :D

The Vitesse is a lovely looking thing.

Cool.
 
Okay, it's not the kind of car that makes me go "whoah", but...

The Rover SD is a car that has aged very well. No, don't get me wrong - it doesn't look any younger than 40 years old. But what was once just a great car is now a piece of nostalgia on wheels. And I'm a nostalgic for ages I've never lived. So, cool, yeah.
 
The SD1... It was such a great idea, too bad it was a idea executed by British Leyland. Per usual, these car had all sorts of niggles and some weren't even built right. Much like the Triumph Stag, in fact. How ironic, eh?

And yet, it isn't uncool. It had versions for all owners (either cheap to run or that great V8), it did both touring car and rally racing, and it has a design that you recognize right away. Not even its troubled life as a product of one of the worst eras in British car history can diminish its coolness. Not quite sub-zero, due to the fact that it's a car that needs a lot of care to be run properly, but it is very cool.
 
On the one hand, it's a modern Rover. On the other hand it's an SD1.

One of those rare instances where I have no option but to vote meh. Those two factors balance each other out.
 
Not often do I look at a POS vehicle and think "I'm actually kinda glad this existed". Nothing else from BL has aged so gracefully.

Cool.
 
BL products tend to be uncool to seriously so. The SD1 was one of very, very few examples of a quarterly decent attempt. The 3.5l V8 and Vitesse versions are probably the least worst.

Meh.
 
This is one of the very few BL cars where you now look back on it and think "It actually wasn't so bad". And it's sort of aged nicely, still a poor car but compared to rest of the stuff BL made......

Made a great looking touring car too.

Very low cool.
 
mustafur
Made by people who went by the motto: "that will do."

Seriously uncool.
Click to expand...

Can you parrot something other than Top Gear?

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As for the SD1: Yes. As a 5-door hatchback-cum-coupe this car was the Sierra before the Sierra and the Vitesse was the Cosworth before the Cosworth. One of the last truly great motorsport cars to have some real semblance to its roadgoing counterpart. Then it had its fame in The New Avengers, The Professionals and Don't You Want Me Baby?

And they look great. Even when you see one today it will make your head turn. Engine sounds great too. Kicks off at 0:55



Touring cars and rallying?

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This car has all the right bits to be as Uncool as hell, yet, it isn't. The rare example of a BL car that sucked but it somehow hit the target. Plus it has some motorsport pedigree and has a V8!

Super Cool.
 
As much as I think the old BTCC versions look as awesome as they must be hillarious to drive, it seems to me that even very tidy road versions still look rather shonky. Uncool.
 
Massey Ferguson helped produce a 4WD drive version for UK special ops forces... and the Met's SD1's had longer beefier reverse gear ratios for high speed reversing manoeuvres.
 
MatskiMonk
TMK 428Y basically looks like a poor cut 'n' shut with a Volvo estate, probably because that's what it is.
Click to expand...

I was about to say. Both original prototypes were a shade of gold. One a greener '76 model and the other a Midas Gold '77 3500. The red cut and shut is still in use while the true estates remain at the Heritage Motor Centre.

Prototype #2:

6166998864_9b58e0411c_b.jpg
 
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