INFERNAL AFFAIRS

It’s said that mergers kill the most progressive of partners – and were it ever the case with Rover. Aside from the relative merits of each car, it was the context of their production which is of equal importance when deciding on a winner.

Both cars did great things with Rover’s anglicised, all-aluminium Rover V8; that gas turbine and four-, five- and six-pot conventional options were explored says much about what Rover was willing to try to capture the hearts and minds of buyers. Both stayed resolutely to a single body type, although attempts were made to produce estates of the P6 and SD1, with varying degrees of success. The P6, alongside the Triumph 2000/2500, did much to promote the medium-sized executive saloon, while the SD1 arguably stratified the segment into a hatchback niche few followed bar Renault, Saab and Citroën.

REMARKABLE ROVER

Appealing to the young executive was key in