Hi from Melbourne

MikeMelb

MikeMelb

Active Member
Thought it was about time to join, having bought a Brigade Red P6B through the Personal Exports Department of Rover on 27 August 1970.
The car was delivered by Henlys Piccadilly registered PXC 182J and after using it for a year in the UK, it was across to Europe: Belgium Holland Germany Denmark Norway Finland Sweden Denmark Germany Switzerland Italy Yugolavia Greece across to Israel and then shipped home to Melbourne.
It has also seen various parts of the southern states of Australia over the last four and a half decades.
For various reasons it was unused for a number of years. It also served as early transport for my son and daughter. But has done only 157,000 miles.
Car was repainted in 1984 and at the end of 2014. Refurbished the Buckskin leather using Liquid leather products earlier this year. Numerous mechanical components have been replaced over the journey.

Now on club plates it is very much a leisure time vehicle.
Tried unsuccessfully to upload photos which appeared to be too large.
Cheers
Mike
 
Welcome Mike from Melbourne. A P6 owner since 1970, but you've only just joined us on here! Better late then never. :)
See if you can't resize your photos somewhat smaller, and try loading them again! We love pics of fellow Forumites Rovers on here.
 
There is something special about series 1 V8s, i had a 69 in same colour it drove superbly, wish i still had it but had to downsize my collection when i got hitched :rolleyes:
Clive.
 
Yes, it is nice now because it carries fond memories and emotions, so it will always remain in the family (I hope).

However when delivered and in the first few months it was/is undoubtedly the worst ever new car in over 50 years of car ownership ( tho a 1984 Holden Calais came close).
Still have the letter from Rover apologising for my experience but stating, with a logic only the auto industry can produce, that because these problems are so unusual they could not possibly agree to either replace the car or refund my money as I had requested.

PeterZRH The red is actually a little darker than the pics suggest. (The 2nd hand boot lid I bought to use to mount a full size spare to our black MX5 via an early Land Rover bonnet dish, is actually a lot redder than the Rover.)

Mike
 
MikeMelb said:
However when delivered and in the first few months it was/is undoubtedly the worst ever new car in over 50 years of car ownership .
Still have the letter from Rover apologising for my experience but stating, with a logic only the auto industry can produce, that because these problems are so unusual they could not possibly agree to either replace the car or refund my money as I had requested.
Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Whenever you can, it would be interesting to learn what you have encountered those first months of ownership.
 
Hi Demetris, 46years ago and my memory is fading but I do still have some service and correspondence records so it required a bit of searching.

On taking delivery there was evidence of overspray on various rubber components, indicating some predelivery bodywork done poorly.
We set off for Edinburgh to run the car in. Fuses blew early which led to the discovery that the bonnet release did not function properly and that the spare fuses were missing from the fuse box. On the first fuel stop the car filled with gasoline fumes. The passenger in the rear touched the back of the front passenger seat and the back panel fell off. Not seeing any obvious fuel leak, I jacked the car up only to find significant oil leaks from the final drive, automatic transmission, and engine sump. The steering box was also leaking lubricant. The transmission was clunking changes and there was a knock in the front end.
All this in the first week. Subsequently the fuel pump also needed replacement.
When I took the car back to Solihull in November 1970, the list of works included replacement of rubber around front quarter light, which had come adrift, removal of floor well carpets so they could be dried out and elimination of the cause of the water buildup rectified (they actually replaced the carpets) amongst other things which included the rectification of the overspray mentioned earlier.
Travelling in northern Finland 1971, the ignition light came on which was due to a failed voltage regulator, problem diagnosis and resolution undertaken via a telephone translator as the Finnish mechanic spoke no English and I spoke no Finnish. On having the car serviced in Malmö Sweden the comment was made that there was a washer missing from the transmission, presumably from when the car was new (or when it was serviced by the factory).

But it did prove to be very enjoyable to tour Europe and to live in. Whilst I did have a tent and stayed at various camping grounds, sometimes it was easier to sleep in the car and for that purpose the front passenger seat was turned around and when reclined toward the dashboard allowed a reasonable bed with good legroom from the back seat. As long as I could get a shower every day, which one could do at railway stations as well as camping sites I was quite happy to sleep in the car.
The only other problem encountered, as I recall, was a blown heater hose in Berlin, replaced by two hoses joined by copper pipe. There was also some rough running due to lack all 100 octane fuel in some countries.

Most of the sources of the original problems have since been replaced, of necessity.
So whilst it is now very nice car it was certainly never a model of build quality and reliability which really is what I thought I was going to get when I opted buy a Rover.

Sorry for the long winded answer, but us all blokes tend to go on a bit.
 
That all sounds absolutely shocking, you must be a tolerant person, I am not :D were it mine it would have been delivered back to the factory for a full refund or another new properly sorted car but hey UK in the 70's and all the union and labour woes that went with it.
 
I certainly tried, but it was difficult when having to deal with the "logic" expressed in the attached letter from Rover.
Nowadays one would take it to Consumer Affairs or one of those beat up tabloid TV shows.
 

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The sheer arrogance of them, astounding, not even an inch given for your inconvenience, my blood would boil :D. Rover certainly got a lot of bad press later on with SD1 and such but I would have thought back in 1970 there would have been more integrity. Being a company "appointed by the Queen" means not a lot as one presumes this would be the service she would have got too? lol not bloody likely lol


Graeme
 
All oil over/ water under the bridge now.
But yes, when I contemplated an SD1, for a brief moment, I bought a Holden instead. A cousin bought an SD1 to his regret but didn't keep it long.
However with time and enthusiastic owners these cars all become Classics and end up much better than they were new.
 
Thanks for the reply Mike.
My TC is a '70 too, although i am too young for being around when it was built, letting alone having bought it in the first place. Therefore there is no chance to know what it was like when new.
It is rather sad that Rover allowed a new car in such a state to reach the customer. I cannot imagine what was the norm 40+ years ago, but certainly these days something like this would not have been acceptable. Also sad is the response from the factory to someone that splashes out to buy an expensive new car.
I would like to believe that the unacceptable quality control and attitude was part of the downturn after BL's take over, and things were very different in the days of the independent Rover company.
 
For many at the time it was the luck of the draw, one hoped not to get a Monday or Friday car!
Whilst it was common, particularly in the UK, to blame unions my view is that it has far more to do with management philosophy and behaviour. At the same time as Leyland was imploding Volvo and SAAB were introducing Group Assembly to improve worker participation, (not that that saved either of them in the end),the Germans had unions represented on company boards, the Yanks and Aussies didn't really give it much thought and that was reflected in the product and the Japanese were showing everyone how it should be done. The Italians were probably most subject to union control, yet my 1979 Alfasud Sprint was a great car (once the missing from delivery oilseal on the RH driveshaft was installed).

Not sure what your field is but if you are interested in the era and general issues of leadership and management, a book by Carl Duerr "Management Kinetics" McGraw Hill 1971, is an entertaining read. He was brought in by the Norcros (Greeting card holding company) to try to turn around their Jensen Motors from 1968-70 and was kicked out by the banks as I recall.
He uses Jensen as a case study, referencing the fact that he had union employees manning the Jensen stand at motor shows whilst members of the same union were picketing other manufacturers and when it was necessary to reduce employee numbers he removed the quality inspectors on the basis that quality needed to be owned by the production workers.
 
MikeMelb said:
Thought it was about time to join, having bought a Brigade Red P6B through the Personal Exports Department of Rover on 27 August 1970.
The car was delivered by Henlys Piccadilly registered PXC 182J and after using it for a year in the UK, it was across to Europe: Belgium Holland Germany Denmark Norway Finland Sweden Denmark Germany Switzerland Italy Yugolavia Greece across to Israel and then shipped home to Melbourne.
It has also seen various parts of the southern states of Australia over the last four and a half decades.
For various reasons it was unused for a number of years. It also served as early transport for my son and daughter. But has done only 157,000 miles.
Car was repainted in 1984 and at the end of 2014. Refurbished the Buckskin leather using Liquid leather products earlier this year. Numerous mechanical components have been replaced over the journey.

Now on club plates it is very much a leisure time vehicle.
Tried unsuccessfully to upload photos which appeared to be too large.
Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike
Unusual new vehicle experience you had to say the least.
I love the way you have kept her in pristine usable condition all these years.
I too bought a new Rover ,but under the then "New Zealand tourist Delivery scheme" . Where by if one bought a new car whilst overseas and kept it for a year , one could import the same unit into NZ duty free .
Maybe Rover PR machine had smartened up their act by 1972.
I bought a new 72 Rover P6b in West OZ and took her out into NZ in 73. Using this duty free scheme.
I had absolutely no build quality problems with my P6 during its first year in the terrible conditions of the Northwest iron ore mines of Australia. She survived shabby roads ,120F heat and errant kangaroo at night.
In fact when heading for NZ ,I hit a load of bulldust on the unsealed Nullarbor Plain and stuffed the rear suspension , it was fixed under warranty on my arrival as I limped into Melbourne from WA.
I also complained that the dash lights didn't work either after the incident . The mechanic left a note on the drivers seat . "Please use the large knob on the left side of the dash binnacle to brighten the lights". Aaah Um .
I did sell her at one stage but bought her back .
I am still finding red WA dust hidden away in various places of this car as play around with pulling things apart.
Picture is of my wife and 10mth son at the SA/Vic border 1973 in the poor old Rover and a shot left rear suspension.
Next pic is taken last year in the Coromandels NZ
Gerald
 

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Hi Gerald
sounds and looks like a great car and trip(s).
You live in a beautiful part of the world

We also find red dust,mainly due to a 1976 trip to Canberra returning via the Flinders Ranges and various creek crossings. When I removed the rear (C pillar)quarter panel trim to release the external panels for painting there was plenty of red dust.
Basically the car was little used for many years as we had a 1954 Sunbeam Alpine (Talbot based) as our club and leisure car for 29 years but when that was sold at the end of 2014 decided to have most of the Rover repainted. Boot, roof and bonnet bare metal. Have since had the BW35 rebuilt and a couple of weeks ago had the exhaust from manifold to rear resonator replaced. A friend asked if I was having it done in stainless but as the engine pipes had lasted 46 years I hadn't even contemplated it.

We also have a "summer bonnet" a series 2 with flutes in it, mainly because about 15 years ago our daughter would not let me have flutes put into the original bonnet. As usual, she was right.
 
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