M5 Somerset, Almond 2000TC

tonys

Active Member
Seen at about 3pm yesterday (Mon), an almond Series 2 2000TC, AOU 959J, on the M5 Southbound near J23.

It's not often that you see (well, I don't) P6s on the motorways now, and it's surprising how 'compact' they look when compared to modern cars, even a mid-range Peugeot looked much bulkier as it overtook the Rover.

Anybody on here?
 
Nobody I know.

But I do know what you mean by how 'compact' P6s are in comparison to moderns. Okay, their boot/rear legroom was always criticised as stingy, but back in the day they would nevertheless have been considered a fairly substantial saloon car compared with the average family Dolly, Maxi, Escort, etc. But today, they are about the size of Focus!
Mick 'Happy Days' posted a picture of his parked next to a Skoda Octavia (a mid-sized saloon, right?) and the Rover looks like it can fit in Skoda's boot!!

The biggest differences for me are the height and track of the P6. When I first got mine, I couldn't get it anywhere near the kerb when I parked it, because it's so much narrower than anything else you've ever driven! And if you park it by a high kerb, it's like climbing down into a Triumph Spit it's so low. Sitting in a modern now feels like perching atop Nelson's column.... with Lord's cricket ground of dashboard in front of you.... and no indication where the front of the bleeding thing is!
Safety? Or just stodge? I'm not convinced moderns are really any bigger inside to justify the bulk. They're just full of unusable space!

Michael
 
I'm pretty sure I saw the same car on the A303 in Somerset a few months ago, going at speed in the opposite direction. Whoever has the car is using it!

:D
 
I'm with you both on how small a P6 can seem next to modern cars. I quite like the fact that it is a bit narrower - you can squeeze through gaps modern cars can't get through and I feel you have more space either side of you on the road. Basically, I hate modern car design - the cars have got wider but roads haven't. In fact, with the addition of extra lanes at junctions, bus lanes, cycle lanes and parked cars everywhere, if anything, useable road width has decreased. So, why have we made cars wider? Also, love the P6's long bonnet and the sidelight prism tops. Again, hate modern cars with their short sloping bonnets as you cannot see the front of the car to help you position it properly. Anytime I have diven a new car in recent years, I have not liked it all, they all feel too big and clumsy and seem to have overdamped steering.
 
Not to mention the great (small) turning circle of the P6 compared to all my modern Hondas and many other brands.

Graeme
 
ghce said:
Not to mention the great (small) turning circle of the P6 compared to all my modern Hondas and many other brands.

Graeme

I was once told the turning circle is the same as a BMC 1100, but I'm not sure this is true. For one, the turning circle differed across models.
Has anybody got an ADO16? Maybe we can measure it! :D
 
colnerov said:
Hi, the only one I know with both is Demetris.

Colin

There is another forum user with a Riley i think, but he doesn't post too often.

To the point now. Yes the turning circles are comparable. 10.59 m for the 1100 and 10.7 m for the 2000.
However, it feels as though the 1100 doesn't have much lock (which is true given the 2.375 m wheelbase) while the 2000 feels as though it has pretty good lock (for a not so bigger wheelbase at 2.63 m). This is reasonable if you consider that the former is FWD (and an early one!) and the later a RWD. Generally with the 2000 you manage to get away on the tights much more easier than you would imagine for the size of the car.
 
I did my driving test in my Dad's 2000TC many years ago!
When we got to the stage of doing the 3 point turn the road was fairly narrow so the examiner said "It's ok if you do a 5 point turn here because the car is big and the road is narrow", but it was no problem in the Rover and I did it in three turns :D
 
As Michael says,look how small the P6 looks compared to the Skoda
securedownload1.jpg
 
tonys said:
Seen at about 3pm yesterday (Mon), an almond Series 2 2000TC, AOU 959J, on the M5 Southbound near J23.

It's not often that you see (well, I don't) P6s on the motorways now, and it's surprising how 'compact' they look when compared to modern cars, even a mid-range Peugeot looked much bulkier as it overtook the Rover.

Anybody on here?


Hi its mine it was it first run on the motorway heading from Banwell to Sherborne, having just had a 1.9 turbo diesel engine fitted, i bought the car in October/November last year.
 
Well. I'd never have guessed it was a diesel, but then I've just noticed the '2000td' !! Welcome to the forum.
 
happy days said:
As Michael says,look how small the P6 looks compared to the Skoda
securedownload1.jpg

Wow! I'd never really the P6 to be small.. but then again look how big Mini's are nowadays. It's also interesting to see the old mini against the new one...

2008-mini-cooper-s-i001.jpg

minioldnew-640x422.jpg


:shock:
 
There's certainly nothing "Mini" about the new one is there, never mind the pumped up "Countryman" version !

Maybe it wouldn't have sold quite as well if they'd called it the BMW 0.5 series ?
 
Woman I know bought a 4 door Mini Countrymanand was bragging about it
I said a 4 door Mini is fundamentally wrong and suggested it was called a Maxi
Don't think she's talking to me now !
 
I'm glad I'm not alone, Dave, in thinking they should have called it the Maxi. I mean Countryman?? Why didn't they call the Clubman that? It's obviously meant to be a modern take on the Countryman/Traveller models anyway. The whole thing has lost its way! It's no longer about evoking the spirit of ADO15 - it's just about sucking as much soul out of a brand and spreading it as thinly round as they can make it stretch.

Fiat, on the other hand, are replacing that ugly Multipla thing with a modern take on the 600..... looks very interesting and still obviously heavily influenced by the original.

Michael
 
Lost their way with the Mini, surely not, I mean they've got this....

MCCoupeMoney.jpg


Oh wait, no you're right ! :LOL: :LOL:

Oh and I love this comparison of the countryman vs real mini.

car_photo_369484_7.jpg
 
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