Rover SD1 History

The SD1 (the project name of British Leyland's Specialist Division) went on sale in July 1976 as the Rover 3500, replacing both the P6 and the Triumph 2000. David Bache's sleek five-door fastback styling drew openly on the Ferrari Daytona, and the launch car used the 3.5-litre Rover V8 driving the rear wheels. It was named European Car of the Year for 1977 — the second time a Rover had won the award, after the P6 took the inaugural prize in 1964.

The four- and six-cylinder engines (2.3 and 2.6 litres) joined the range a year after launch, but the SD1 was initially plagued by the build-quality failures common to British Leyland in the late 1970s — poor paint, unreliable electrics, and interior trim that deteriorated quickly. A quality improvement programme in the early 1980s resolved most issues, and the 1982 Vitesse, with Lucas fuel injection producing ~190 bhp, became a capable performance saloon that proved itself in touring car racing.

Production ended in 1986 after more than 300,000 cars had been built; the SD1 was replaced by the Honda-co-developed Rover 800. A homologation Vitesse twin-plenum special, producing approximately 210–220 bhp, was produced in very limited numbers (around 200–250 cars) for the 1986 European Touring Car Championship season.