Rover Sports Register Forum

Good evening all.

I am posting on behalf of my Grandfather, and hoping that I can prevail on the collective wisdom of this forum for some advice. He has a Rover P1 Sports Saloon, 1934, which he intends to sell, and he has asked me to make some enquiries.

He purchased the car in the 80's and has, as far as I can tell, a complete set of documentation of the cars history, including insurance documentation of the previous owner/s, service history, manuals, sales posters, etc. I have taken pictures of a small number of these, and can upload them if needed.

The car was in need of restoration when he purchased it, most of which was completed before the attempt was abandoned. The chassis itself has been stored in a dry garage for circa 40 years, with most of the detachable parts in separate dry storage. Below is an overview which he gave me:

Registration: AV6351
Chassis No. 422276
Engine in car is from a 1936 model, possibly cracked?
Spare engine and gearbox, also believed to be 1936
All body steel parts sprayed and stored separately (bumper, bonnet, doors etc.)
Cream spoke wheels
Bucket seats in storage
Steel chassis painted
Ash frame restored and coated
Aluminium frame scraped
Chromework in reasonable condition
Sliding fabric sunroof refurbished

I hope that the above makes sense, it is literally transcribed from my notes so apologies if some is nonsense!

He almost certainly intends to sell the car, so my questions are threefold:

- is there a market for this car, in this condition?
- If so, is there a ballpark figure he can expect?
- Is there anything we should be considering when approaching this?

Thank you in advance for your time, and for any advice offered.

P.S. amongst his paperwork is correspondence with Rover Sports Register, newsletters etc. I believe he joined briefly in 1983. It's great to see the same community still going strong!

Hi,

Rovers are well engineered and nicely styled cars, greatly loved by their owners and all models appreciated by members of the RSR. However, the sad fact is that the wider world is less enlightened and this is reflected in the value of them. On one hand this makes them affordable for most of us to buy and practical to use. On the other hand, once restoration expenses are taken account of, it costs more to put one on the road than it is probably worth. It is something that ensures ownership of a Rover is very much with true enthusiasts who really love their cars, unlike many other marques that have simply become objects of investment.

This is, of course, my own opinion and other members may have a different view. I own a P1 Tourer, a P2 Saloon and a couple of Land Rovers. My P1 was stripped for restoration in 1982 but not completed. By 2010 what had been done needed revisiting and a decision had to be made on the future of the dry stored parts and chassis. Your post echoes a very similar story of a much loved car that is probably like one of the family, which is why I felt compelled to reply. Back in 2010 I couldn’t get anyone to take on my car and I’d contacted the Coventry Motor Museum, Practical Classics and the RSR. It was just too big a job yet, if I put it up for sale, there was a likely chance it would have been sold off for parts. I fear that you and/ or your Grandfather are facing the same dilemma.

The value of your car is what someone will pay. You will probably get more if you identify and sell off the parts separately but, hopefully, there might be a club member who will take it off your hands for a sensible price. This will depend very much on the condition of the parts and the completeness of it all. Given that it’s possible to buy a running and roadworthy example for around £12k and a barn find for half that, you might get £2k for it.

Faced with a similar problem, I hung onto my car even though the chassis then had to live outside. In 2015 I set about restoring it as I had intended almost 35 years before when my Father owned it. It needed a lot doing- more than I suspect your car does- but just over a year later it was on the road once more. I did everything myself apart from the chrome and seat trim. Even so, it cost well over £15k (I gave up counting then in case my wife caught sight!) and soaked up 3k hours of my time. But the car is simply brilliant to own, drive or just sit and look at.

My advice to you is to look long and hard at what you have and try to work out a way of rebuilding the car yourself. The bodywork is the toughest bit and it sounds like those parts may have been tackled already. Mechanicals are the easier part and there are firms who can deal with cracked blocks- mine had one of those, it is quite common on Rovers.
If you can get it back together, the value will be increased and, I suspect, you will be loath to part with it. Another great car will be saved. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience within the RSR so you can get help in dealing with any issues that might arise. Don’t be put off by visions of concours cars that you cannot match up to. Any pre war car in roadworthy condition will turn heads!

I am in the process of reassembling my P2 Saloon. If you want to come and look at what that means to a diy restorer, let me know.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

Tony Gilbert.