No large, formal car has ever truly filled the shoes of the Ebony Rover 3.5 the Litres that served Wilson, Heath, Callaghan and Thatcher governments so faithfully between 1968 and 1981. By then it was perceived to be a vehicle from another age. Based on the 3-litre P5 of the late '50s, the big Rover had been out of production for eight years by the time it was pensioned off by the Government Car Service fleet in favour of the sleek, armoured Series III Daimler XJs of the Thatcher regime. If that car was a sign of government confidence in John Egan's ability to turn around Jaguar in the 1980s, how emblematic of the strife of the '70s that ministry buyers had to mothball late batches of these P5Bs for want of a credible modern alternative from the nationalised car producer it was propping up with public money.
The Rover P5B seemed to be born to play the role of car of state. Dignified without being magisterial, comfortable but not decadent, they fulfilled a surprisingly sensitive job at a time in public life when national events played out in real time on our fuzzy black-and-white television screens. For 13 years they were an almost nightly fixture in our living rooms, sweeping into Downing Street or Parliament Square as the dramas of the day unfolded in a world of strikes and terrorism.
この記事は Classic & Sports Car の September 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Classic & Sports Car の September 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Mick WALSH
'Had someone said that this worn-looking titan would win the most famous old-car event, we would have laughed'
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF
Rewriting the rulebook on what an SUV can do, and how it can make you feel
FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE
Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal
"It's a car for posing in really"
Broadcaster Michael Buerk reflects on more than three decades with his beloved Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 fixed-head coupé
HONDAS DECK THE HALL
The Japanese firm's Los Angeles collection is now on public display for the first time in two decades
ABSOLUTELY buzzing
Honda's Si Civics brought agile, cheap fun to motorists long before the Type R name got anywhere near a hatchback
THE FEMININE TOUCH
In 1955, General Motors styling guru Harley Earl brought 11 talented women into the male-dominated world of automotive design. What was their lasting impact?
Out on a limb
Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market
Restyles with substance
Panther Westwinds blended a passion for pre-war designs with modern-era mechanical usability and remarkably fine coachbuilding
Dead ringers
The Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp share much, having emerged from the same stable, but are poles apart at heart