Rover Sports Register Forum

Today I received the following email.

Hello, I want to ask, if you have additional informations about this car.
We are selling this car for a friend.
All I know is, that it is a prototype, which was driven in Ceylon and it has
Overdrive, a 6 Cyl. 60 HP engine.
It has never been refurbished and it is in a good, driveable condition.

It would be very nice, if you know more about this car!

I packed the pictures, we were able to take with this mail, and I hope,
you can help us

Regards Tobias

A few questions spring to mind for me, and I am by no means an authority on early P2s

Is this a prototype?

Could it possibly have overdrive in 1936?

Picture 1 shows no running board, but the bottom on the wing looks the wrong shape!

The grill is not typical Rover, has it been changed at some point?

Would a 36 model not have an 'advance & retard' control on the steering wheel?
Also I don't see any trafficator switch!

The paintwork under the bonnet is obviously different from the outside.
I would asume the outside has been painted at some time in the past!

The waterpump fan looks wrong, the petrol pump is an SU....for 1936?
I thought early P2s were fitted with SU carburettors! The fuel line looks dangeruos!!!

The tie bar from the bulkhead to top of radiator looks to be bent!

These are only my observations. As I said I don't know much about these cars. Any members who has further information please let me know.

I have emailed Tobias to ask for chassis number and body number. I will let you know the outcome

Comments gentlemen please

This appeared on Ebay a couple of years ago? and subject to a debate on the Yahoo forum. Not sure it was in Celon then and not original.

Its got the 1940 onewards rocker cover but is a real bitsa

Actually just thought I would try a Search on it - Ebay found it straightaway It was August this year! Time does fly - I suppose a link will not work?

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/old ... ssage/5067" target="_blank" target="_blank

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROVER-P2-1937_W0Q ... 286.c0.m14" target="_blank

Thanks for the information Phil, I remember seeing that on ebay but forgot about it when the email came in.

It will be interesting to hear Tobias's story!!!!

This ties in with the writing on the wing, the ebay sale was said to be located in Germany and

fahrbereit means ready to start or in running condition in German

I received the following email today from Tobias.

Hello, so i looked for the numbers, and the chassis number and the motor
number are the same! The number is 743****

I thank you for looking for any Information for our car! Also, if you
knew somebody, who is interessted in this car, you can contact me!

Regards

Tobias

It seems the plot thickens as the chassis number he has supplied indicates this car is in fact a 1947 model

The first number (7 in this case) suggests it was built in 1947
The second number (4 in this case) indicates it is a 16hp model
the third number (3 in this case) indicates it is a Sport Saloon (4 light)
The last four digits (starred out) indicate the serial number, commencing from 0001 in each series for each model-year

Scroll to the bottom of this page for chassis identification

This car was made around 50 before my car if the numbers run sequentially.

If indeed this is a 1947 car it certainly would explain the carburettor (Solex FFIA standard equipment) and the SU fuel pump. Looking again at the pictures I notice it has the later non harmonic bumper brackets fitted, again revealling it to be a later 47 model, also the dashboard is flat at the bottom, another late 1947 innovation to allow the fitment of a radio under the dash.

So I wonder why he would think it was a 1936 prototype.

Can any member shed any further light on the subject?

Another couple of items have been pointed out to me. This car appears to have no sunroof, did Rover ever make a P2 without one?
Also it seems to have no wiper control knobs on the dashboard and no wipers on the exterior

I suspect the sunroof has been filled in when the upholstery was done? Never heard of a 16 with an all steel roof! I wonder where the wipers went

Far from being a prototype its probably one of the last P2's

It looks more like a home-bodged special than a prototype to me. The only way I can see that being any kind of factory prototype is if it were trying out some P3 engineering under the skin. Has it got coil springs? Has it got a 3/4 length chassis? It has got the spindles for wipers in the usual place for a late P2 or P3 but there is no sign of a wiper motor under the bonnet.

Evening all

I think Stewart is correct it probably a Ceylonese bodge job .
I say this because some 3 or 4 years ago I had a call from a non member called Peter Cahill , no other details known about him.
He claimed to be speaking on behalf of a friend who had recently imported a partly customised Rover 16 from Ceylon and was interested in selling it 'what would be a fair price to ask' .
The only info he could give me was the Ceylon Reg no CL1145 and eventually he dug up the chassis number 7430637, he promised a photo for me to see the extent of customising and asses the value but a photo never arrived .
Next appearance on ebay as mentioned above, and the message to Paul Williams about the car from Tobias bears a similar trend.
My experince of local garages work on overseas cars was very often 'lets fit the nearest/most suitable thing we can lay our hands on'.
In fact you want to see some of the 'customsing' repair work done to the London Transport buses that were shipped to Ceylon in their hundreds from the London river berths in the late fifties/early sixties, repairs just to keep them on the road. I fixed many ships enroute to the far east with normal cargo in the holds and topping off with 10/12 red London buses on the hatch covers, destination blinds and adverts included. I was told by the local agents they were quite a sight viewed from the banks as the ship transmitted the Suez Canal.

Regards
Andrew