IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: Rover P5B

Today's video is on the Rover P5B! The Queen has two, so there must be something in it! Watch for more info on the V8 powered, Rover P5B.

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It’s sometimes called the Poor Man’s Rolls Royce, but as you’ll see on this test, it’s not the poor man’s anything. This car in many ways has aged better than a Rolls, the quality is comparable and the ride is just as charming.

Over 20,000 were sold in less than a decade and for a car that was far from the cheapest on the market, that’s pretty good going!

Kicking off with engine chatter, The P5 had packed what at the time appeared to be plenty of power with the six cylinder engine, but the P5B went a leap further with the introduction to the car of the Buick-supplied Rover V8 engine.

The reason Rover decided to go for Buick engine and not go to the chalkboard and design their own was down to cost: the money just wasn’t there to design something new and the Buick unit was well known and tried and tested; so essentially there wasn’t a gamble putting it into the new P5B giving it 160hp.

The car did zero to 60 in around 12 and a half seconds and the top speed was 110mph. This might seem positively lethargic in today’s modern world, but at the time it was respectable and put it ahead of many other cars. The MK3 3 litre auto of old had peaked at 104mph and took 17 seconds to reach 60, which meant buyers saw a real uptick in performance.

Performance wise within the range, the car was almost bang on with the 2000TC, which at the time was Rover’s fastest car on sale.

It wasn’t only the performance which improved, the MPG saw a slight improvement with an increase in around 3 to 4 miles per gallon. Hardly amazing, but for Rover, it showed improvement.

The engine was paired with the three speed auto with torque converter and brakes were discs all round with a servo to front.

We look at these cars today and they’re majestic and head turners, but at the time the production volumes were never intended to be massive. Although sales peaked very quickly, the early days were good, with 85 cars a week planned and production volume doubling to meet demand.

By the end of production, the average weekly number produced was around 50; hardly much to shout about.

Despite this, the P5B was never intended to set the world alight, Rover just wanted to keep the target audience warm whilst they came up with something new.

If you’re watching from abroad and this isn’t a Rover you’re familiar with, it might be because it never reached you! America for example never got these cars because the American Rover division felt the focus should be on the P6.

However if you’re watching in the Netherlands, this might be a familiar car due to the fact it was the most popular European export destination.

This is a brief overview, but I used a book for research called Rover P5 and P5B by James Taylor, which I’d heartily recommend if you’re wanting to buy one of these cars or learn more.

[davidwinthrop]

One of the most beautifully styled cars ever. I’d rather own a P5B than a classic Aston, Ferrari or Roller! Great video, throughly enjoyed watching it.

[TheTk]

My late father had a P5 coupe
Beautiful motor
Built like a tank
He also ran a haulage company
When one of his fully freighted artics
Broke down his P5 coupe pulled back to our yard although only a mile away. It was up hill most of the way
It never showed any struggle
What a car..

[dennisrobinson]

My favourite Rover, especially the coupe version.

[chriskappert]

Now you drove a real CLASSIC, not just an old car .
One of Brittain's best cars ever, unforgetable!

[johnmiller]

I lived in England for 14 years and owned a P5B a P5B coupe and a P6B over the years i spent there and actually brought the P5B coupe back to Canada in 2014

[RobinTheMini]

One of my favourites cars ever. No style like that in modern cars.

[ColinBarrett]

I'll never forget one of my Dad's friends back in the 70s describing the Rover P5B as looking a bit like an English gentleman's butler wearing a dinner jacket and running shoes! Great cars. But in fairness the mid 1950s styling was very dated by the 1970s. I personally preferred the coupe.

[mtamin]

One of your best videos for quite a long time. The camera position inside the car was just right and really showed off the stately proportions and lines of the dashboard layout. When the camera moved to the exhaust my cat who was stretched out enjoying a nice nap shot up in alarm in reaction to the burble of that 'intimidating' V8! It sounded awesome. Massively enjoyable video Steph, thanks for doing such a great job with it. Your enthusiasm for the car was so endearing actually.

[mikewysko]

Beautiful car with an excellent engine. Someone was living the life back in the day.

[cawsha]

My dad had one of these in two tone grey. It was the first car I ever went in as he brought me and my mum home from the hospital in it.

[benbrown]

The P5 and P5B were sold in Canada, coldwarmotors is currently restoring one from the ground up

[Rednerb]

My brother had one in the 70s. Admiralty Blue with a cream leather interior. absolutely beautiful car.

[Fyodor]

back in the day i worked on these vehicles, always remember the customers 8 track blasting out Frank Sinatra wow super top of the range. I drove these regularly, they were a dream machine, can still smell that leather.. what a vehicle

[huguesgillet]

So nice a car ! Beautifully styled and built. So sad Rover passed away 😩😓

[tommaroon]

Welcome back Steph, always enjoy your vids and this is a great review of a gorgeous car. The P5b is my fantasy classic car - maybe one

[simonhodgetts]

Welcome back Steph - lovely to see you again! The P5b has to be one of the most over engineered and beautifully well built cars of all time - I’m amazed that Rover made any profits on them! But, they are gorgeous cars!

[paulscountrygarage]

I ran a 1970 P5B saloon in Silver Birch as my everyday car in the 1980/90’s here in Australia. Lovely cars. I also had a P4 100 that I bought a little after the P5B.

[howardsamuels]

This car really moves... My dad had 2 of them when I was growing up in. They were his pride and joy... beautiful cars. Love your content!!!

[adeh]

These are such a beautiful car.. Timeless classic, I'd have one of these over any modern car of today

[elonmask]

Steph’s back, yeah, it’s a wonderful old car for sure, not my thing, but it’s wonderful to see it kept in such fine form.