Platinum VIP

The headlining was unique for the P6. I'm well familiar with Steve Walkers car, as he was my stepdad, so I've spent many hours in it & under it!
We used to have a complete set of new spare seats for it & a large quantity of new sun visors. We must have had more sun visors than cars I reckon!
The one thing that used to annoy Steve was that the steering wheel on KOW was less than perfect & he never managed to find a new one for it.
 
A few years ago,me and my dad chopped a rust free vip base unit in half and scrapped it because no one wanted it,shame really as it was a solid shell,but at least it was brown :D :LOL:
 
I think I had the interior from that car.
Around 2006 I had a 2200TC in Monza red which originally had a bronze cloth interior but by the time I got the car from a friend he had been replaced this with an immaculate VIP interior obtained from Ian. It made the car feel somewhat special.
I sold it around a year later but unfortunately cannot remember the reg number. It would be nice to think it had survived if only for the interior.
 
Give me a fully loaded rhd Nada anyday!
Shame Rover didn't get a fully loaded VDP version made!!
 
Well, Jaguar didn't get a Vanden Plas option until just after the P6 was discontinued on 1978. I suppose up to that point VDP meant sticking a tin-foil grille on the front and pretending it was a totally different car from a marketing perspective. The VDP 1500 was tellingly never referred to as an Allegro. I'd guess this was the reasoning for the Rover to be a VIP and not a VDP.

I guess the VIP also went a bit into reverse losing the then still optional leather seats, although on most VDP models leather was a "delete" option. In addition to all the options on the list I'd expect longer pile carpeting (really look at what you get in a 216VDP and how revolting the long pile usually is after 25 years) and real wood veneer and maybe a unique colour option or two. God save us from two-tone options either side of the stainless side trims!

It would be trivially easy to build your own and I guess many people effectively have, consolidating all the options from broken cars.

I also get the impression that the very existence of this model was more a try-out for the build processes and materials of the SD1 and using up piles of left-over options than a fitting swansong for the P6.

Even cooler would be a P6 Vitesse (5 speed) and VDP EFi (the auto variant).....
 
mmmm a VDP allegro, now that truly is the stuff of nightmares or a Monty Python comedy skit.

Graeme
 
Fraid i'm with The Rovering Member , can't see what all the fuss is about , same as windguard mirrors , ET headrests and the Emperiors new clothes ! :LOL:
 
I've got them but ETs don't do a lot for me either other than eat up already limited interior space. Worse than than that they don't reach up high enough to even work as a safety head restraint for me.

I think the point is with ETs, Winguards and the like is that they are iconic design features of the car. I have the same problem with Vitesse alloys on P6s, not that these wheels are anything but gorgeous, it's that they are an iconic feature of another iconic car.

You really notice this in films and TV set in the 60s, 70s and 80s. So many accessories and so many high-end models with non-period trim when at the time 1300 base model escorts and bog standard morris 1100s were everywhere.
 
ghce said:
mmmm a VDP allegro, now that truly is the stuff of nightmares or a Monty Python comedy skit.

Graeme
Click to expand...

I think it's kind of fun because it is so preposterous. It's the car Hyacinth Bucket would have driven knowing that the Rolls Royce she saw herself in was way out of her price range.

The automotive equivalent of Abagail's Party.
 
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