Road Test
Rover V8
Test date 21 December 2004
Price as tested £31,995
The Rover V8 name holds near-mythical standing for enthusiasts of the marque. It's heritage stretches back to 1967, to an aluminium 3.5-litre V8 which Rover sourced from General Motors and, to lauded approval from all quarters, was slotted under the bonnet of Rover's then 2.0-litre powered P5 saloon. The notion of fitting a relatively small family car with an oversized engine seemed curiously unreserved and unbritish, but with it was born a series of cars that scaled new heights of refinement and effortless performance. The P5B 3.5-litre, P6B 3500, SD1 3500, V8S, 3500 Vanden Plas, Vanden Plas EFi and the ultimate 3.5-litre Vitesse - all embodied a laid-back performance ethos which remains uniquely Rover's to this day. All traded on their 'performance in reserve'.
When the SD1 Vitesse died in 1986, so did a whole type of brutish, British saloon car. Now independently owned, MG Rover has invested much time, money and effort in creating the rear-drive 75 platform (for all models but the V8 it is front-drive) and, after putting it to good use in the talented MG ZT 260 (see road test 4630), it has now launched a Rover version aimed at those with a more sybaritic bent.
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