Rover 60 saloon P3 1949 (7999261706) (cropped)

The Rover Sixty and Rover Seventy-Five or Rover P3 series were 1.6 and 2.0-litre

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and sm ...

s announced in the middle of February 1948 and produced by the

Rover Company The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company that operated from its base in Solihull in Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by ''Road & Track'' in ...

until the summer of 1949. Two months after the announcement of the new cars "a new vehicle for agriculture" was announced, the

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rove ...

, with the engine of the new Sixty.

Overview

For the post-war market Rover had a new engine that had been in preparation since the late 1930s with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves. It was made in two versions for the car, the Rover 60 had a four-cylinder unit of 1595 cc and the Rover 75 had a six-cylinder version of 2103 cc. The gearbox and traditional Rover freewheel were kept unchanged from the previous model. To go with the engine a new car was prepared. Although the body was similar in styling to the Rover 12 and 16, many of the body panels were in fact new but the wings and bonnet from the 12 were carried over. The car was 0.5 inch (12 mm) wider outside than the 16 but by making better use of space this translated to 2.5 inches (60 mm) inside. It was 4.5 inches (115 mm) shorter in the

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (fron ...

. Also new, and a first for a Rover, was independent front suspension but the brakes remained a hydraulic/mechanical hybrid system. Rather than having a complete

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

, the new frame, which was a box section, was stopped short of the rear axle and the rear semi-elliptic springs were attached to the body. This allowed the rear axle travel to be increased and an improved ride resulted. Two body styles were available, a 6-light saloon and 4-light

sports saloon A sports sedan (also known as sports saloon in British English) is a subjective term for a sedan car that is designed to have sporting performance or handling characteristics. History The term was originally introduced in the 1930s an ...

. The 6-light saloon had a rear quarter window (sometimes referred to a 6-window saloon) while the 4-light

had the lack of the rear quarter window (sometimes referred to a 4-window saloon). The cars were expensive at £1080 for the Rover 60 and £1106 for the Rover 75, and with early post-war production problems and material shortages it was never intended that the cars would be produced in large numbers. Eventually, 1274 of 60 and 7837 75 models were made before the car was replaced by the all-new Rover 75 (P4) at the end of September 1949, which was produced until 1959. The 75 name was also used for Rover's 1999–2005 flagship.

Powertrain

The

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

and gearbox from the car were also used as the basis for those in the original

Land Rover Series The Land Rover series I, II, and III (commonly referred to as ''series'' Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models) are compact British off-road vehicles, produced by the Rover Company since 1948, and later by British Leyland. Thoug ...

. About six "75" models were produced with triple SU carburettors – a throw back to Rover's pre-war 'Speed' performance models; one survivor has an over-bored 2,400 cc engine; the basis of the Marauder 100 engine. Rover's new 75 was announced on 23 September 1949,New Rover Car. ''The Times'', Friday, Sep 23, 1949; pg. 2; Issue 51494. it replaced this car. Rover 60 aka Rover P3 1595cc September 1948.JPG, 1948 60 6-light saloon Splendid classic car awaiting the start of the 2009 Havant Mayor's Rally (3) - geograph.org.uk - 1259832.jpg, 1949 75 6-light saloon Rover P3-75 (1948) (8051354387).jpg, 1948 75 sports saloon Rover P3-75 (1948) (8051360804).jpg, 1948 75 sports saloon

Overview

Powertrain

References

Further reading