This has triggered a few memories. In the late 80's, I bought a light metallic green 1978 SD1 that was reputedly a factory development vehicle. It was fitted with a rather large single rayjay turbo with a single SU bolted on the side that it sucked through. The turbo sat on top of the nearside exhaust manifold and the two manifolds were connected with a link pipe between the standard outlets. Boost was adjustable via a knob on the dash but it suffered horrendously from fuel vaporisation at the slightest provocation. These were the days before intercoolers or injection and it came to me with a melted piston. Apparently a common theme and the reason it was up for sale. I fitted a low compression Range Rover engine which were plentiful back then and altered the setup to blow through a twin choke webber in a pressurised chamber. It ran quite well with this setup so I had Tony Law exhausts make up a system for it. It sounded awesome and was quick but the suspension and brakes were somewhat lacking. I eventually did a deal with a guy from Pontefract (I was in Leeds) who was pestering me as he wanted to put the engine in a mark 2 Escort he was building. I'm not sure if he ever did or what happened to the Rover as these were obviously pre internet or even mobile phone days. One interesting thing about an SD1, it's the only car I've had that can fit a complete V8 engine in the boot with the hatch closed. Take the spare wheel out and in she pops. Great to see someone showing the SD1 some love, I still have a soft spot for them all these years later.
Had several myself, bonkers that in the last 80's and early 90's these were sub £300 money and every warned you to avoid them like the plague. Talking about the boot, I kept a large toolkit under that floor including a large bench vice... Also fitted 12ft scaffolding poles in the car and still managed to close the boot. Sadly all sold when a Rover 825i was offered at a good price that was fast and reliable and used a fair bit less fuel, although a V6 2.5L still used enough fuel but fuel was cheaper back then. I fancy buying another now but not seen one for £300.. :) Y reg. May have been ( DLA 316Y ) ? 2.6L SE Auto converted to V8 when the engine lost oil pressure. Luckily the SE had most of the V8 bits ready, just add engine/box and propshaft.
@@WhiteDieselShed this car had been well taken care off mechanically ,only the body rust faster than engine problems started to appear, i think mine was a 3,.6 or 4 V6 not sure if it was a V8 but i have to see it ,i kept all cars that i liked along my life but that i sold it ,only have the first model with 2600 engine now but only a bit of rust on regular spots as in other cars like mercedes also from late 70´s, thank you for the info. the 2600 wich is older it´s still working and never droped the oil preassure ,regards
That DPR prototype looks absolutely stunning and more modern looking than cars being launched 20 years later. The SD1 is the best ever looking Rover imo, I loved them as a kid and still love how they look today.
@@tomdrives it´s really a great car from that years, i had a mercedes w114 240D and a porshe 928 GTS and a bmw coupé 2800CS when the Rover was released i bought it ,first the 2600(who was stoped a few years because a part wasn´tavailable but with internet i oerdered the part needed from england) a few years later a english young man sold his this living in Portugal with a more recent dash with 3.6 or 4 ,V engine, it was fast safe and confortable at high-speeds had one earlier in time with the substitution tire with a leather cover on top of the trunk in the back and was already a fine car, the reason i bought this when new
I always loved the SD1. I owned one when i was 17, a light blue SE 3500. Absolutely brilliant car. Great to drive. Very refined for such a simple suspension design. I was into land rovers too, and I ended up acquiring a twin turbo rover V8 engine complete with exhausts and intercoolers that had come out of an SD1. The story went that a guy had bought the running turbo SD1, loved the power and decided to put the engine in a ford Capri. He pulled the motor and turbo parts, scrapped the SD1 shell and started trying to fit the V8 into the ford, only to find it was too wide to fit between the shock towers. He then sold the engine to the guy I bought it off. It was built by Turbo Technics, had 2 Garret T3 turbos on really nice cast manifolds, blowing through a front mount intercooler then modified Stromberg CD carbs. Exhaust manifolds and head bolts were studded and it had composite head gaskets rather than the stock rover tin ones. I was building a mid engined S1 coil sprung LandRover and the engine filled the bed of the landrover and looked amazing, but I sold it as an unfinished project. Would love to know if it got finished
I am still driving my Rover 75, cheers to you!.I watched your video you made about your £500 75. I had been without a 75 for about 5 years. So I found a 2.5 v6 75 conasier, I paid £1300 for it. I had it 6 months, then I bought my 3rd and current Rover 75 2.0 CDT. I got that for £398 , but it ended up costing me nearly £1500 a month later ! I had to get a new clutch, 4 new tyres , 2 new front springs . It did pass its m.o.t no bother! It has 116,000 miles on the clock . I did have the synergy 2 in it for a few months, but I was worried that it might bugger up my engine so I got it took out. I would definitely have a sd1 but my pockets aren't deep enough!
Sd1’s were my dads dream car, he died on the14th September 1985 and never got to own one. Had a princess when he passed at 36, RMR777S. Love any SD1, miss my old man🥺😍
I’ve always liked the Rover SD1. I recon the most desirable back in the day was the Vitesse 3.5 although I never knew these rare examples you mention even existed.
VDP and vitesse were stunning… I had an 827 fastback vitesse and an 820 turbo fastback vitesse… my uncle had a 3500 sd1 when I was a kid and it was just mega in my eyes
The Vitesse was the best one, especially with the twin plenum fuel injection system. I believe Tom Walkinshaw Racing did a lot of development on the SD1 and Tom himself raced them in the European Touring Car Championship.
Great video Tom. I had six SD1's in total starting with YME356T a bog-standart 3500 in gold like the oe NOF that anto rogers is driving in the video, and ending with OSF598Y a non injection 3500 VDP which must have been built during the troubles. I say this because driving it in 1990/91 down the M90 to the forth road bridge, probably it's first ever motorway run because it had resided in north east Scotland, it overheated and refused to start on the bridge Toll. After towing it off to the car-park adjacent, I got out the tools and started diagnosis. Milky oil in the cap and presuurising the coolant system was a dead givaway. A cylinder head gasket. Hell, I had some blue hylomar in the tool box so I started to strip the heads off, only to find that the left head had never been torqued to spec. It had been tightened, but not torqued and the original gasket was pretty burned out. Two head gaskets later and I ran the car until it was written off in a accident with a large bolder hidden by overgrowth in a ditch into which it slid avoiding another car on a single track road. I was absolutely gutted because I loved the VDP and had recently manualled and gas shocked it. I still miss it to this day.
Well done Tom. This was a great video, well put together and very fascinating ! That white KAT Rover SD1 turbo was a steal at that auction back in 2018 and such good value for money for such an extremely rare car ! Wow !
Had one in the early 80s 3.5 litres thirsty as hell and rusted as you watched but a lovely ride. It was the car that converted me to auto boxes as well, never bought a manual again
Really good Tom never knew about the turbo versions have a real soft spot for the sd1 had one as a family car late eighties was so ahead of its time especially after the princess and landcrab we had before. It also started my love of BL/rover to.
Had a 3500 and then bought an SD1 to keep it company. And I found out how many there are hidden away, after I was continuously being told about various cars stashed away and only used on sunny days. And that's in Tasmania. Eventually sold the both of them to a mad Rover enthusiast who already had 3 SD1s, one of them in full body kit and some of the Rover race teams tricks and secrets. That one he got straight off the track in the UK, brought it to Australia, and road registered it. And I've stuffed more 4.4 Leyland P76 motors in a wide variety of cars than I can remember. The P76 was BLs Aussie effort and still the only car made that you can put a 44 gallon drum in the boot of and close it! You should have a look at them.
Very good video! I own a 1980 Rover SD1 V8 standard that came out of 30 years in dry storage . No rust,and I'm selling it! But its in Ontario Canada across the pond! 20:2220:2220:22 Cheers Gary
Hi Tom , great interesting video, the Vitesse version spec was derived from the Met police MRD Northolt dept, after the dept done mods to sd1 to beef up brakes performance etc. The Met bought all existing stock even the Vanden Plas 3500 , the public complained of this abs the Vanden Plas badge was removed. I used to work for Radio branch and maintained the Radio equipment in those cars . Regards mark
I had, as i was told an Ex Essex car that had found it way to a scrap yard where it had been picked up by the roof pillars so it wasn't saveable that had wind up windows and a manual steering instead of power assist. It also had the extra speedo for the passenger still in it and all the extra wiring that was used was still in place. The LSD and the four pot front brakes were still in it but the yard hadn't spotted that so at £25 it was a good deal.
In the late 80s I owned a vdp with the janspeed twin turbo kit, it was delivered new to janspeed. things I remember are , it used to burn ht leads untill they would arc onto the turbo, changing spark plugs was a weekends work ( turbos had to be removed ), after a long run on boost the 'suck through ' SU carbs would ice up an stick, which was exiting. Other than that, it was one of the quickest cars on the road, even the new sierra Cosworths didn't trouble it too much. Koni springs and dampers and a Vitesse boot spoiler to try to stop the rear from becoming light at speed. But no silly sticker, it was a vanden plas after all
Good video, another interesting car you may want to look into was it's predecessor the Rover P6 which also had an interesting variant with the Lucas Injection v8 Rover P6 featuring wide arches and spoilers either rally or touring car, can't remember which as it was mentioned in a magazine I owned around 30 years ago but could be interesting for people to see.
I had 2 x SD1s , 3,500 manual + a 2,600 auto , I remember bombing down the m4 in the pre-speed camera era watching 1 of fule tanks gauges going down like a rev counter in reverse 🔥
My dad had a 3500 auto sd1, one day, he managed to drive it several miles home on only one bank of cylinders when one of the carbs suffered a blockage! It was, for a short while a rover 1750!
I saw a test SD1 in 1975 at Appleyards in Linlithgow (I was on my Gilera 50 moped!). It looked like a spaceship back then. The badging had been covered up with gaffa tape.
I bought a 2300 model that was four years old.After the engine blew i took it to a V8 specialist who created a beast.He put on a Holley carb,Offenhauser manifold,uprated cam,Spax suspension,Jag XJ brakes.One day i burnt of a Jag XJS V12.I kept the old 2300 badge on the back which confused people.I kept that car for ten years and was lovely to drive.I was a part time dj and it easily fitted all my gear in.
I am loving this! Can you explain what the "face like" smdge is immediately above the l.h.s. bonnet and in line with the house piller at14.09 minutes in? Perhaps it is a face!!!??
Actually often considered something of a failure, the SD1 was probably the most popular car owned by the British police forces (certainly up to the arrival in the late 80s, early 90s of the Sierra Cosworths and Subaru Imprezzas) - so much so that when they got wind of the impending production end, they stockpiled them.
The reputation of BL made it a failure not the car itself. Built in a time when idiots on a production line believed they were entitled to more worth than they actually were. Destroyed the UK car industry and ended up with no jobs. I bet they were proud.
I had a V8-S and an auto Vanden Plas, my favourite cars ever despite the rust and unreliability. The Vitesse twin plenum was an amazing car for the time.
@tomdrives cracking video, absolutely love SD1s I'm. Sure I've seen the orange one at an industrial estate on my travels, may not be that one though. It was a rolling shell with a bit of tarpaulin on it but definitely that colour and wide arched.
Always loved the SD1. I remember seeing them flying past our Morris Marina shitbox on the motorway. If I ever won the lottery, I would build the ultimate SD1 sleeper and a Volvo 240 Estate sleeper and enjoy embarrassing boy racers at the traffic light Grand Prix😊
The David price sd1 turned up on the classic car market magazine in 1998 forsale . someone on the club as that information .someone on the sd1 club said it's up in Aberdeen somewhere ...you should talk to ken Clark he has that turbo technics sd1 ..he runs the sd1 club
This is a car I've always had a love hate relationship with. Back in the early 80's I worked for an auto electrician, our building was next to a BL dealership, actually it belonged to them. Anyway sadly a lot of our work was repairing and just troubleshooting new SD1 electrics. Mostly it wasn't that there was anything inherently wrong with the cars, it was hands down shoddy workmanship. Missing screws under and around the dash, cables just left hanging and not hooked into place. Connectors just lose etc. Such a shame, they were great cars. That said, it's still on my list of cars from that period that I would like to own now.
These were everywhere, when I was a kid. To think they were ever sought after, is wild. Dull, mundane design, like the car you quickly design for a diagram, with a ruler.
My father bought a SD1 in the late 80's, it had been a staff car in the Falklands, when it was originally registered as a S Reg, but when it returned from the Falklands, in the late 80's, it was re-registered a W Reg the reg was ODD 239W, it was just badged a 3500. I recall when my grandmother died, we all got in it, and we went from Stroud to Brislington, in 17 minutes, it went right off the clock. I always recall looking out the back window watching a v12 XjS trying to keep up, geez that bloke looked pissed. Not clever I know, but funny what grief can do. My father had been a chauffer in the late 70's and early 80's for the Royal Family, he had done his advanced school of motoring, and always recall the stories he would tell about hand breaking turning the big old Daimlers. Anyway, what ever had been done to that particular SD1 he had, god only knows.
Memories, memories. I no longer drive but I have owned 11 x 2600S and SE in the past. Never wanted a V8, I just wanted one of the best touring cars ever made. When they became rare and parts expensive I switched to a Volvo V70R. Still miss the old Rover.
Hey up mate bought one as a stock car 6 or 7 years ago have some cool pictures ov it sort ov looks like early 80s audi rally car their sport coupe, i think you'd be interested to see them, its not a special car as in history but still interesting
I own a 1980 Rover SD1 V8 standard classic car been stored for 30 years!! Came out 3 years ago,all original even tires all plastics outside are old and cracking, nothing modified 123 km car is in Toronto Ontario Canada!! Across the pond and for sale!! Cheers
I remember one on the cover of Street Machine chopped down to a three door with two dustbin size turbos. It was bright pink. This was probably the fate of most rovers. The engines would end up in land rovers and range rovers as well.
@@nospoon4799 yes you are right. I have that edition of Street Machine it was reminiscent of the B&M Camaro during that same period. Converted to a 2 door if memory serves me right.
In circa 1988-1989 there was a janspeed twin turbo in black at a garage in market Drayton, apparently they just couldn’t sell it, it was in the showroom for 18 months to two years, I’ve tried all I can to find out what happened to the car but every avenue I’ve been down hasn’t really got me any closer to her, other than allegedly it was at some point in the mid 90’s owned by a well known businessman in north Shropshire and then sold it to someone else fairly local, being as I haven’t seen a black Janspeed come up for sale, I’ve always wondered what happened to it, I know it was most definitely real as the dealership ironically has pictures to this day of the Rover in the office space
When you look at it back then to now roger sd1 set a trend , Audi a5 sport back , bmw 4 series and Mercedes and Porsche making this classic design, shame rover didn’t get a chance to survive !
An excellent video of a brilliant car!!! Leyland Australia in the 1970’s had the habit of dropping 4.4 litre V8 into their vehicles!!!! The Leyland P76 is one example…… but a number of two door Range Rovers also received the 4.4 V8….. so there is a possibility that the Rover SDI also got the 4.4 litre V8!!! Ford Australia were putting V6 motors into the Mark 3 cortina!!! Regards Ian👨🎤🇳🇿👍😂
👍Yep... I sourced a 4.4, put the 3.5 heads on, a 3.5inch exhaust and straight LPG gas research throttle body in my SD1. That thing was a jet and I embarrassed a lot of Commodore and Falcon owners.
In the mid eighties I would watch the Rover SD1 fly around the Wellington NZ water front in what was called the Nissan 500 race!!!! There were the Volvo flying brick 🧱!!!! Falcons & Holdens plus BMW, plus skylines!!!! But the SD1 was my preferred car!!! Regards Ian👨🎤🇳🇿👍😂
Mid 80s in NE Scotland, a guy living along the road from us had a DPR, remember the sound of that V8 and thinking it was the most brutal looking/sounding thing I had ever seen on the road.
My Moonraker blue Vitesse, what a car back then. The rear foldout armrest was a masterpeace of design, it folded out in a unique way, so as not to require upholstery all the way round. Good design and cost effective. Wasn't fussy on the dash, obviously designed for cost effective, lhd and rhd, the little 'coin box' where the lhd steering column would sit. That irritated me! But a good friendly big thing to drive.
My first and last drive in one of these was when driven by my brother in the light snow , it decided to go straight instead round a bend finishing up on the pavement !
I was an apprentice at southern counties ifield road,before i joined the turbos were fitted there, sd1 was a brilliant design shame what happened to our industries.
Was the sd1000 in the lineage? May have the name wrong but remember one of the boys having one in 98 it was enormous yet insanely fast. Was a confusing beast. I think it had a little lump on the left side of the bonnet. The convertable looks like a giant tr7
I was a car dealer, In 1992 I had a SD1(I Think it was a 79) with a 4.5 v8 which I got told was owned, built and used for engine development by TVR. It would be nice to know if it was true or a tall story!!
@mana.k I don't recall the colour for some reason, but a wrecker in Paraparaumu had it and was putting it back together. It was owned by someone else in the Wellington region prior, possibly Paraparaumu at least for a while.
Where I worked when I left school the 2 gaffers owned special editions. Heron 500 editions I think they were. Black with gold striping etc. lovely cars.
Re the KAT SD1; one was a feature car in Street Machine magazine back in the 80s - complete car with twin turbo, sadly the magazine later updated that the car was sold and the new owners put the engine into a drag racing VW Beetle.
They were great cars; shame about the quality control issues. Police forces also loved the Vauxhall Omega enough for GM to keep it in production until 2004; when they were originally going to end them in 2002.
I doubt that the car still exists, however, GTC969X ( to the best of my memory) , was my 2600 SD1 , fitted with 3.5 Borg Warner box , 4.2 turbo’d V8 from a Range Rover LSE . I hope someone out there still has it.
The DPR Rover wide wheel arches were designed to homologate the SD1 into Group 2 (In 1979-80 the European Touring Car Championship was run to Group 2 regulations) to run the Rover in the 1980 European Touring Car Championship with the standard car in the Gr 1 British Touring Car Championship so the first 1000 would have had had these arches
I have some of the the twin turbo parts I got the whole kit of a police car that ended up in a scrap yard because the enginge backfired and set the car alight, I have the exhaust manifold/ down pipes and inlet pipes the carb might still be about but not sure (std carb setup )the problem with this setup is the fuel was mixed in the carb then put through the turbo to the engine so a lot of explosive mix outside the engine the carbs were down behind the headlamps nearly with long inlet tracks
You won't find any about nowadays because they all rusted like crazy, meny years ago i was on the hunt for one, and the best piece of advice i was given was go and look at one after a rain storm , then open the gloveboxs there where two one either side if there was water in them run a mile , you wont believe how many i saw like that , 😁👍
One of those cars they just got "right". The look, they drove nicely, very comfy and pleasant to drive. They weren't stupid money to buy for the most part. Workmanship wasn't great and by the time I started driving circa 91 they were already becoming rare and good ones rarer still. At 18 i couldn't afford the insurance, let alone 18-20mpg economy but i did get to drive one once. Lovely V8 burble and a very "grown up" car.
My dad had a no frills V8 SD1, with LPG (that the factory really bodged) and ziebarted too, so it didn't rust ^^! I think he sold it after 130000 miles when he retired. They all had problems with the radiator clogging and I think he got through 4 or 5 radiators.
I saw it for sale in Canterbury mid 1990’s and they wanted £3500. It eventually sold for just over £1000 as it was in need of complete restoration. My info on it was that it was converted as promotion car painted in pink for some reason. I doubt it’s still around, it was in need of a lot of work.
I had a couple these which I enjoyed driving including a black vitesse. I would love know more about rover designing and building the new shape mini. I was offered a shell complete with glass displaying the leyland /rover etching. It ended up on eBay selling for £600. I kick myself I didn’t buy it.
Wouldn't it have been great to be filthy rich in the 1980s, and to be able to afford these. Turbo kit (and decals) fancy interior, alloys, body kit, and a phone in the centre console. Cool.
i had two with this body but diferent dashes a 2700 ,the first and a 3.6 or 3.8 more recent it was a fantastic car ,about problems i don´t know only had it for 3 years and the first was still ok in the 90´s that when i needed a part ,was nowhere to be found ,i still have it but parked in he backyard since the 80´s, the turbo never seen one, but it might be very fast taking in account that the second i bought was really fast and confortable at the same time, in my opinion were great cars and real rovers not like the ones after with Honda engines that were reliable but the fastest i drove was a 1.8L vitesse, also only saw a van once in england ,never saw other. Had one with the spare tire in the top of the trunk that was also very nice to drive and powerfull
People say Rover doesn´t exist anymore but i´ve seen lot´s of Land-Rovers and Range Rovers (who i had one in the 70´s and was a great 4x4 car ,gasoline engine,only sold it in early 2000´s) the same body and interior in the first 90´s range rovers but better built ,same colour scheme but the paint was better for sure ,it was green as most of the ones i´ve seen in the 90´s not comarable as a off road car, allthough i drove a diesel vogue for 6 monthes but it was incredible slow, had to take that iron frame in the front or kill cows as it´s called or it wouldn´t be as fast as it become after ,still very slow
This has triggered a few memories. In the late 80's, I bought a light metallic green 1978 SD1 that was reputedly a factory development vehicle. It was fitted with a rather large single rayjay turbo with a single SU bolted on the side that it sucked through. The turbo sat on top of the nearside exhaust manifold and the two manifolds were connected with a link pipe between the standard outlets. Boost was adjustable via a knob on the dash but it suffered horrendously from fuel vaporisation at the slightest provocation. These were the days before intercoolers or injection and it came to me with a melted piston. Apparently a common theme and the reason it was up for sale. I fitted a low compression Range Rover engine which were plentiful back then and altered the setup to blow through a twin choke webber in a pressurised chamber. It ran quite well with this setup so I had Tony Law exhausts make up a system for it. It sounded awesome and was quick but the suspension and brakes were somewhat lacking. I eventually did a deal with a guy from Pontefract (I was in Leeds) who was pestering me as he wanted to put the engine in a mark 2 Escort he was building. I'm not sure if he ever did or what happened to the Rover as these were obviously pre internet or even mobile phone days. One interesting thing about an SD1, it's the only car I've had that can fit a complete V8 engine in the boot with the hatch closed. Take the spare wheel out and in she pops. Great to see someone showing the SD1 some love, I still have a soft spot for them all these years later.
Great memories!
it was a very looking car also fast and luxurious as all other Rovers in the past
Had several myself, bonkers that in the last 80's and early 90's these were sub £300 money and every warned you to avoid them like the plague.
Talking about the boot, I kept a large toolkit under that floor including a large bench vice... Also fitted 12ft scaffolding poles in the car and still managed to close the boot.
Sadly all sold when a Rover 825i was offered at a good price that was fast and reliable and used a fair bit less fuel, although a V6 2.5L still used enough fuel but fuel was cheaper back then. I fancy buying another now but not seen one for £300.. :)
Y reg. May have been ( DLA 316Y ) ? 2.6L SE Auto converted to V8 when the engine lost oil pressure. Luckily the SE had most of the V8 bits ready, just add engine/box and propshaft.
@@WhiteDieselShed this car had been well taken care off mechanically ,only the body rust faster than engine problems started to appear, i think mine was a 3,.6 or 4 V6 not sure if it was a V8 but i have to see it ,i kept all cars that i liked along my life but that i sold it ,only have the first model with 2600 engine now but only a bit of rust on regular spots as in other cars like mercedes also from late 70´s, thank you for the info. the 2600 wich is older it´s still working and never droped the oil preassure ,regards
That DPR prototype looks absolutely stunning and more modern looking than cars being launched 20 years later. The SD1 is the best ever looking Rover imo, I loved them as a kid and still love how they look today.
They’re amazing cars, one of the best looking cars ever made in my opinion
@@tomdrives it´s really a great car from that years, i had a mercedes w114 240D and a porshe 928 GTS and a bmw coupé 2800CS when the Rover was released i bought it ,first the 2600(who was stoped a few years because a part wasn´tavailable but with internet i oerdered the part needed from england) a few years later a english young man sold his this living in Portugal with a more recent dash with 3.6 or 4 ,V engine, it was fast safe and confortable at high-speeds had one earlier in time with the substitution tire with a leather cover on top of the trunk in the back and was already a fine car, the reason i bought this when new
Well done Tom and thank you for showcasing the old BL range. It’s good so see a new generation banging the drum
Thanks David, just appreciating the past rather then forgetting it, it’s important to keep the torch going
I always loved the SD1. I owned one when i was 17, a light blue SE 3500. Absolutely brilliant car. Great to drive. Very refined for such a simple suspension design.
I was into land rovers too, and I ended up acquiring a twin turbo rover V8 engine complete with exhausts and intercoolers that had come out of an SD1. The story went that a guy had bought the running turbo SD1, loved the power and decided to put the engine in a ford Capri. He pulled the motor and turbo parts, scrapped the SD1 shell and started trying to fit the V8 into the ford, only to find it was too wide to fit between the shock towers. He then sold the engine to the guy I bought it off.
It was built by Turbo Technics, had 2 Garret T3 turbos on really nice cast manifolds, blowing through a front mount intercooler then modified Stromberg CD carbs. Exhaust manifolds and head bolts were studded and it had composite head gaskets rather than the stock rover tin ones.
I was building a mid engined S1 coil sprung LandRover and the engine filled the bed of the landrover and looked amazing, but I sold it as an unfinished project. Would love to know if it got finished
I am still driving my Rover 75, cheers to you!.I watched your video you made about your £500 75. I had been without a 75 for about 5 years. So I found a 2.5 v6 75 conasier, I paid £1300 for it. I had it 6 months, then I bought my 3rd and current Rover 75 2.0 CDT. I got that for £398 , but it ended up costing me nearly £1500 a month later ! I had to get a new clutch, 4 new tyres , 2 new front springs . It did pass its m.o.t no bother! It has 116,000 miles on the clock . I did have the synergy 2 in it for a few months, but I was worried that it might bugger up my engine so I got it took out. I would definitely have a sd1 but my pockets aren't deep enough!
💪🏼💪🏼👌🏼
Sd1’s were my dads dream car, he died on the14th September 1985 and never got to own one. Had a princess when he passed at 36, RMR777S. Love any SD1, miss my old man🥺😍
Sorry to hear that Marty, thanks for your comment.
I’ve always liked the Rover SD1. I recon the most desirable back in the day was the Vitesse 3.5 although I never knew these rare examples you mention even existed.
A lot of people don’t, you have to go down a bit of a rabbit hole to find out any information
A rover V8 motor resides still in my uncles kit cobra car
Still to this day, a stricking design and miss my SD1 vdp more than ever- now irreplaceable.
I’ve got a 2600, it’s the best looking car I own joint with my Coupe
VDP and vitesse were stunning… I had an 827 fastback vitesse and an 820 turbo fastback vitesse… my uncle had a 3500 sd1 when I was a kid and it was just mega in my eyes
Owned second hand 1982 2600se. That was 30 years ago and I still miss it.😕
I would even say, it’s a striKing design .
From distant memory, did the tooling for the SD1 not land up in India ?
66k views, Tom's channel and content just keeps growing and growing. You deserve it mate, you put in the work. Can't wait to catch up at POL.
Thanks Colin, it’s all thanks to legends like you keeping me motivated. See you at pol, I’ll actually book a hotel this time!
The Vitesse was the best one, especially with the twin plenum fuel injection system. I believe Tom Walkinshaw Racing did a lot of development on the SD1 and Tom himself raced them in the European Touring Car Championship.
More like around the world , one of my clients sponsored Toms Watsons SD1 who were the largest pharmacy in Asia
Interesting and well researched Tom.. I’d no idea that (other than the Vitesse) there were some tasty earlier alternatives!
Thank you!
Great video Tom. I had six SD1's in total starting with YME356T a bog-standart 3500 in gold like the oe NOF that anto rogers is driving in the video, and ending with OSF598Y a non injection 3500 VDP which must have been built during the troubles. I say this because driving it in 1990/91 down the M90 to the forth road bridge, probably it's first ever motorway run because it had resided in north east Scotland, it overheated and refused to start on the bridge Toll. After towing it off to the car-park adjacent, I got out the tools and started diagnosis. Milky oil in the cap and presuurising the coolant system was a dead givaway. A cylinder head gasket. Hell, I had some blue hylomar in the tool box so I started to strip the heads off, only to find that the left head had never been torqued to spec. It had been tightened, but not torqued and the original gasket was pretty burned out. Two head gaskets later and I ran the car until it was written off in a accident with a large bolder hidden by overgrowth in a ditch into which it slid avoiding another car on a single track road. I was absolutely gutted because I loved the VDP and had recently manualled and gas shocked it. I still miss it to this day.
Well done Tom. This was a great video, well put together and very fascinating ! That white KAT Rover SD1 turbo was a steal at that auction back in 2018 and such good value for money for such an extremely rare car ! Wow !
thanks for the spotlight on the special editions!
Some interesting information Tom and i have never seen a convertible version before. well done and well researched.
Thank you!
Nicely done!. Refreshing to see Interesting and well researched vids on BL.
Had one in the early 80s 3.5 litres thirsty as hell and rusted as you watched but a lovely ride. It was the car that converted me to auto boxes as well, never bought a manual again
Excellent review as always Tom 👏
Great content, really enjoyed this a lot! 👍🔥
Thanks @Tom Drives , so so interesting, well researched man
Fascinating stuff 😊
Lv your Rover SD1 video! I had ad a Rover 2600 which was a money pit. But in baby blue metallic God she looked gorgeous! I still miss her.......
Maaaan, that DPR SD1 looks incredible. I had no idea it even existed!
Really good Tom never knew about the turbo versions have a real soft spot for the sd1 had one as a family car late eighties was so ahead of its time especially after the princess and landcrab we had before. It also started my love of BL/rover to.
Fell in love with the vitesse, those were the days.
Had a 3500 and then bought an SD1 to keep it company. And I found out how many there are hidden away, after I was continuously being told about various cars stashed away and only used on sunny days. And that's in Tasmania. Eventually sold the both of them to a mad Rover enthusiast who already had 3 SD1s, one of them in full body kit and some of the Rover race teams tricks and secrets. That one he got straight off the track in the UK, brought it to Australia, and road registered it. And I've stuffed more 4.4 Leyland P76 motors in a wide variety of cars than I can remember. The P76 was BLs Aussie effort and still the only car made that you can put a 44 gallon drum in the boot of and close it! You should have a look at them.
Very good video! I own a 1980 Rover SD1 V8 standard that came out of 30 years in dry storage . No rust,and I'm selling it! But its in Ontario Canada across the pond! 20:22 20:22 20:22
Cheers Gary
I've owned 3 SD1s during the 80s, I wish I still had them.
A true classic, thanks Tom!
I had two; a 1976(P) V8 and a 1979(T) VDP V8. Loved them both.👍🏻
Hi Tom , great interesting video, the Vitesse version spec was derived from the Met police MRD Northolt dept, after the dept done mods to sd1 to beef up brakes performance etc. The Met bought all existing stock even the Vanden Plas 3500 , the public complained of this abs the Vanden Plas badge was removed. I used to work for Radio branch and maintained the Radio equipment in those cars . Regards mark
I heard they changed the pistons for the rear drums as well on the police SD1s
@@tomdrives hi Tom , that’s right and ford transit brake unit too . Regards mark
I had, as i was told an Ex Essex car that had found it way to a scrap yard where it had been picked up by the roof pillars so it wasn't saveable that had wind up windows and a manual steering instead of power assist. It also had the extra speedo for the passenger still in it and all the extra wiring that was used was still in place. The LSD and the four pot front brakes were still in it but the yard hadn't spotted that so at £25 it was a good deal.
I learned to drive in a 3500 SD1 and would dearly love to own one today 😁
Fantastic vid. Well done, love it. 👍
In the late 80s I owned a vdp with the janspeed twin turbo kit, it was delivered new to janspeed.
things I remember are , it used to burn ht leads untill they would arc onto the turbo, changing spark plugs was a weekends work ( turbos had to be removed ), after a long run on boost the 'suck through ' SU carbs would ice up an stick, which was exiting.
Other than that, it was one of the quickest cars on the road, even the new sierra Cosworths didn't trouble it too much.
Koni springs and dampers and a Vitesse boot spoiler to try to stop the rear from becoming light at speed. But no silly sticker, it was a vanden plas after all
Good video, another interesting car you may want to look into was it's predecessor the Rover P6 which also had an interesting variant with the Lucas Injection v8 Rover P6 featuring wide arches and spoilers either rally or touring car, can't remember which as it was mentioned in a magazine I owned around 30 years ago but could be interesting for people to see.
I had 2 x SD1s , 3,500 manual + a 2,600 auto , I remember bombing down the m4 in the pre-speed camera era watching 1 of fule tanks gauges going down like a rev counter in reverse 🔥
My dad had a 3500 auto sd1, one day, he managed to drive it several miles home on only one bank of cylinders when one of the carbs suffered a blockage! It was, for a short while a rover 1750!
Really interesting well done mate
I saw a test SD1 in 1975 at Appleyards in Linlithgow (I was on my Gilera 50 moped!). It looked like a spaceship back then. The badging had been covered up with gaffa tape.
I bought a 2300 model that was four years old.After the engine blew i took it to a V8 specialist who created a beast.He put on a Holley carb,Offenhauser manifold,uprated cam,Spax suspension,Jag XJ brakes.One day i burnt of a Jag XJS V12.I kept the old 2300 badge on the back which confused people.I kept that car for ten years and was lovely to drive.I was a part time dj and it easily fitted all my gear in.
The SD1 Vitesse in Moonraker blue is my dream car! (sad, but true)
Also love the estate prototypes.
Subbed & liked & best wishes from Scotland 🏴 🙏 ❤️
I am loving this!
Can you explain what the "face like" smdge is immediately above the l.h.s. bonnet and in line with the house piller at14.09 minutes in? Perhaps it is a face!!!??
Actually often considered something of a failure, the SD1 was probably the most popular car owned by the British police forces (certainly up to the arrival in the late 80s, early 90s of the Sierra Cosworths and Subaru Imprezzas) - so much so that when they got wind of the impending production end, they stockpiled them.
The reputation of BL made it a failure not the car itself. Built in a time when idiots on a production line believed they were entitled to more worth than they actually were. Destroyed the UK car industry and ended up with no jobs. I bet they were proud.
Don’t forget the Carltons and Senators, they were rife in the 90s
Had many a chase off them😉
Rear drum brakes and a lower tech suspension than the P6, but the styling was fantastic.
Exactly, the P6 was a better car mechanically but the SD1 had more modern and practical packaging.
I had a V8-S and an auto Vanden Plas, my favourite cars ever despite the rust and unreliability. The Vitesse twin plenum was an amazing car for the time.
I'm all over this!!!
They are amazing
@tomdrives cracking video, absolutely love SD1s I'm. Sure I've seen the orange one at an industrial estate on my travels, may not be that one though. It was a rolling shell with a bit of tarpaulin on it but definitely that colour and wide arched.
Where did they go? Banger racing.
Always loved the SD1. I remember seeing them flying past our Morris Marina shitbox on the motorway.
If I ever won the lottery, I would build the ultimate SD1 sleeper and a Volvo 240 Estate sleeper and enjoy embarrassing boy racers at the traffic light Grand Prix😊
The David price sd1 turned up on the classic car market magazine in 1998 forsale . someone on the club as that information .someone on the sd1 club said it's up in Aberdeen somewhere ...you should talk to ken Clark he has that turbo technics sd1 ..he runs the sd1 club
Hi wot do you know about the Diesel ones I remember replacing the head gaskets I think they were inline 4 cylinder with 4 gaskets !!
This is a car I've always had a love hate relationship with. Back in the early 80's I worked for an auto electrician, our building was next to a BL dealership, actually it belonged to them. Anyway sadly a lot of our work was repairing and just troubleshooting new SD1 electrics. Mostly it wasn't that there was anything inherently wrong with the cars, it was hands down shoddy workmanship. Missing screws under and around the dash, cables just left hanging and not hooked into place. Connectors just lose etc. Such a shame, they were great cars. That said, it's still on my list of cars from that period that I would like to own now.
These were everywhere, when I was a kid.
To think they were ever sought after, is wild.
Dull, mundane design, like the car you quickly design for a diagram, with a ruler.
My father bought a SD1 in the late 80's, it had been a staff car in the Falklands, when it was originally registered as a S Reg, but when it returned from the Falklands, in the late 80's, it was re-registered a W Reg the reg was ODD 239W, it was just badged a 3500. I recall when my grandmother died, we all got in it, and we went from Stroud to Brislington, in 17 minutes, it went right off the clock. I always recall looking out the back window watching a v12 XjS trying to keep up, geez that bloke looked pissed. Not clever I know, but funny what grief can do. My father had been a chauffer in the late 70's and early 80's for the Royal Family, he had done his advanced school of motoring, and always recall the stories he would tell about hand breaking turning the big old Daimlers. Anyway, what ever had been done to that particular SD1 he had, god only knows.
I had a 3500 and it was a beautiful car. Manual box too!
Memories, memories. I no longer drive but I have owned 11 x 2600S and SE in the past. Never wanted a V8, I just wanted one of the best touring cars ever made. When they became rare and parts expensive I switched to a Volvo V70R. Still miss the old Rover.
My dad gave me a V reg 2.6 auto in around 1988 I was 19, great car to drive.
Hey up mate bought one as a stock car 6 or 7 years ago have some cool pictures ov it sort ov looks like early 80s audi rally car their sport coupe, i think you'd be interested to see them, its not a special car as in history but still interesting
I own a 1980 Rover SD1 V8 standard classic car been stored for 30 years!! Came out 3 years ago,all original even tires all plastics outside are old and cracking, nothing modified 123 km car is in Toronto Ontario Canada!! Across the pond and for sale!!
Cheers
very interesting,thanks.
I remember the KAT one at the Coventry Transport Museum, I was told it was a twin turbo.
I remember one on the cover of Street Machine chopped down to a three door with two dustbin size turbos. It was bright pink. This was probably the fate of most rovers. The engines would end up in land rovers and range rovers as well.
I LOVED that car, if I recall correctly it was supercharged and had blacked out glass, which was rare then.
Gorgeous design, so much potential.
@@1968spikey I think it might have been the first car I saw with twin turbos and a supercharger to combat lag. I may be wrong it was a while ago.
@@nospoon4799 yes you are right. I have that edition of Street Machine it was reminiscent of the B&M Camaro during that same period.
Converted to a 2 door if memory serves me right.
In circa 1988-1989 there was a janspeed twin turbo in black at a garage in market Drayton, apparently they just couldn’t sell it, it was in the showroom for 18 months to two years, I’ve tried all I can to find out what happened to the car but every avenue I’ve been down hasn’t really got me any closer to her, other than allegedly it was at some point in the mid 90’s owned by a well known businessman in north Shropshire and then sold it to someone else fairly local, being as I haven’t seen a black Janspeed come up for sale, I’ve always wondered what happened to it, I know it was most definitely real as the dealership ironically has pictures to this day of the Rover in the office space
We had one of these when I was a kid. It was out of use for a while because the ECU under the front passenger footwell was faulty.
....
When you look at it back then to now roger sd1 set a trend , Audi a5 sport back , bmw 4 series and Mercedes and Porsche making this classic design, shame rover didn’t get a chance to survive !
An excellent video of a brilliant car!!! Leyland Australia in the 1970’s had the habit of dropping 4.4 litre V8 into their vehicles!!!! The Leyland P76 is one example…… but a number of two door Range Rovers also received the 4.4 V8….. so there is a possibility that the Rover SDI also got the 4.4 litre V8!!! Ford Australia were putting V6 motors into the Mark 3 cortina!!! Regards Ian👨🎤🇳🇿👍😂
👍Yep... I sourced a 4.4, put the 3.5 heads on, a 3.5inch exhaust and straight LPG gas research throttle body in my SD1. That thing was a jet and I embarrassed a lot of Commodore and Falcon owners.
In the mid eighties I would watch the Rover SD1 fly around the Wellington NZ water front in what was called the Nissan 500 race!!!! There were the Volvo flying brick 🧱!!!! Falcons & Holdens plus BMW, plus skylines!!!!
But the SD1 was my preferred car!!!
Regards Ian👨🎤🇳🇿👍😂
Mid 80s in NE Scotland, a guy living along the road from us had a DPR, remember the sound of that V8 and thinking it was the most brutal looking/sounding thing I had ever seen on the road.
I believe that’s where the snow photo is from
My Moonraker blue Vitesse, what a car back then.
The rear foldout armrest was a masterpeace of design, it folded out in a unique way, so as not to require upholstery all the way round. Good design and cost effective. Wasn't fussy on the dash, obviously designed for cost effective, lhd and rhd, the little 'coin box' where the lhd steering column would sit. That irritated me!
But a good friendly big thing to drive.
My first and last drive in one of these was when driven by my brother in the light snow , it decided to go straight instead round a bend finishing up on the pavement !
They do that sometimes
Capri 3.0 litre autos had the same habit in the 70’s
My dream car to own would be a vitesse..such a good looking car ...i loved mine
I wonder why they chose not to produce the estate variant. It looked good! - I think it might have done well.
Have you ever considered doing a video about the Geoff Uren conversations of cortinas and capris?
The Savage cars?
I was an apprentice at southern counties ifield road,before i joined the turbos were fitted there, sd1 was a brilliant design shame what happened to our industries.
Was the sd1000 in the lineage? May have the name wrong but remember one of the boys having one in 98 it was enormous yet insanely fast. Was a confusing beast. I think it had a little lump on the left side of the bonnet. The convertable looks like a giant tr7
I was a car dealer, In 1992 I had a SD1(I Think it was a 79) with a 4.5 v8 which I got told was owned, built and used for engine development by TVR. It would be nice to know if it was true or a tall story!!
There was a Janspeed turbo here in New Zealand. I recall the car in mid/late nineties.
Yes, it was a gold manual one and it looked and drove amazing! No idea what happened to it after my friend sold it …
@mana.k I don't recall the colour for some reason, but a wrecker in Paraparaumu had it and was putting it back together. It was owned by someone else in the Wellington region prior, possibly Paraparaumu at least for a while.
sorry fell asleep half way
Where I worked when I left school the 2 gaffers owned special editions. Heron 500 editions I think they were. Black with gold striping etc. lovely cars.
Re the KAT SD1; one was a feature car in Street Machine magazine back in the 80s - complete car with twin turbo, sadly the magazine later updated that the car was sold and the new owners put the engine into a drag racing VW Beetle.
The police forces loved the SD1 so much that several stockpiled SD1s when Rover declared they would stop making them.
They were great cars; shame about the quality control issues. Police forces also loved the Vauxhall Omega enough for GM to keep it in production until 2004; when they were originally going to end them in 2002.
My last SD1 I had was fitted with a Perkins Diesel Engine in 1999
I doubt that the car still exists, however, GTC969X ( to the best of my memory) , was my 2600 SD1 , fitted with 3.5 Borg Warner box , 4.2 turbo’d V8 from a Range Rover LSE . I hope someone out there still has it.
The DPR Rover wide wheel arches were designed to homologate the SD1 into Group 2 (In 1979-80 the European Touring Car Championship was run to Group 2 regulations) to run the Rover in the 1980 European Touring Car Championship with the standard car in the Gr 1 British Touring Car Championship so the first 1000 would have had had these arches
I have some of the the twin turbo parts I got the whole kit of a police car that ended up in a scrap yard because the enginge backfired and set the car alight, I have the exhaust manifold/ down pipes and inlet pipes the carb might still be about but not sure (std carb setup )the problem with this setup is the fuel was mixed in the carb then put through the turbo to the engine so a lot of explosive mix outside the engine the carbs were down behind the headlamps nearly with long inlet tracks
You won't find any about nowadays because they all rusted like crazy, meny years ago i was on the hunt for one, and the best piece of advice i was given was go and look at one after a rain storm , then open the gloveboxs there where two one either side if there was water in them run a mile , you wont believe how many i saw like that , 😁👍
One of those cars they just got "right". The look, they drove nicely, very comfy and pleasant to drive. They weren't stupid money to buy for the most part. Workmanship wasn't great and by the time I started driving circa 91 they were already becoming rare and good ones rarer still. At 18 i couldn't afford the insurance, let alone 18-20mpg economy but i did get to drive one once. Lovely V8 burble and a very "grown up" car.
The clip at 2:24 is a bit out of place, since it's the suspension of a front wheel drive car!
The dpr looks very like a porsche 924/44 race variants. Also didn't stee in the new avengers have a wide body sd1 at some point?
1986 , my boss had a v8 sd1 , i used to wash it on friday mornings and take it for a spin to dry it off , it smelled of cigars but boy did it shift
My dad had a no frills V8 SD1, with LPG (that the factory really bodged) and ziebarted too, so it didn't rust ^^! I think he sold it after 130000 miles when he retired. They all had problems with the radiator clogging and I think he got through 4 or 5 radiators.
A few years ago I saw a shortened SD1 two door convertible, it was a bit of a lash up.
I saw it for sale in Canterbury mid 1990’s and they wanted £3500. It eventually sold for just over £1000 as it was in need of complete restoration. My info on it was that it was converted as promotion car painted in pink for some reason. I doubt it’s still around, it was in need of a lot of work.
The Citroen CX from Solihull ?
The SDI Rover reg GHO 55OS, I used to own this car in the 80s
My dad had two diesel turbo SD1's.. Powered by a 2.4l Italian boat engine, I kid you not! And it was quick(ish).. 0-60 about 8 secoonds.
I had a couple these which I enjoyed driving including a black vitesse. I would love know more about rover designing and building the new shape mini. I was offered a shell complete with glass displaying the leyland /rover etching. It ended up on eBay selling for £600. I kick myself I didn’t buy it.
I can remember Grandad sd1 v8 s with a big black rubber like spoiler on the back .he then changed it for a vitesse.
Wouldn't it have been great to be filthy rich in the 1980s, and to be able to afford these. Turbo kit (and decals) fancy interior, alloys, body kit, and a phone in the centre console. Cool.
SD1 was just the cars code name back in the day (Special Development One) The car was known then as The new Rover 3500.
That’s correct but it is commonly known as the SD1
@@tomdrives Yes it has been for many years now. The same can be said for a few BL cars, ADO16's for example.
i had two with this body but diferent dashes a 2700 ,the first and a 3.6 or 3.8 more recent it was a fantastic car ,about problems i don´t know only had it for 3 years and the first was still ok in the 90´s that when i needed a part ,was nowhere to be found ,i still have it but parked in he backyard since the 80´s, the turbo never seen one, but it might be very fast taking in account that the second i bought was really fast and confortable at the same time, in my opinion were great cars and real rovers not like the ones after with Honda engines that were reliable but the fastest i drove was a 1.8L vitesse, also only saw a van once in england ,never saw other. Had one with the spare tire in the top of the trunk that was also very nice to drive and powerfull
People say Rover doesn´t exist anymore but i´ve seen lot´s of Land-Rovers and Range Rovers (who i had one in the 70´s and was a great 4x4 car ,gasoline engine,only sold it in early 2000´s) the same body and interior in the first 90´s range rovers but better built ,same colour scheme but the paint was better for sure ,it was green as most of the ones i´ve seen in the 90´s not comarable as a off road car, allthough i drove a diesel vogue for 6 monthes but it was incredible slow, had to take that iron frame in the front or kill cows as it´s called or it wouldn´t be as fast as it become after ,still very slow
My fantasy car when I was a kid :-)
The cabriolet looked like a stretched TR7 !!