Rover SD1 Vanden Plas EFi

Posted on 19/06/2010 by Sam Skelton

A refined ruffian As regular readers of From The Captain's Chair will know, I'm not entirely new to SD1s. They hold particularly powerful memories for me, and are able to turn me misty-eyed at the turn of a key. Having been overwhelmed by Keith Adams' early 3500 manual, I wanted to try an automatic - I'm lazy, and I wanted to find out if the auto was as good as I thought it would be. I also hoped that my second taste of the SD1 would be in EFi form - is there a huge difference in the way they Read more [...]

Rover SD1 3500

Posted on 24/04/2010 by Sam Skelton

A dream realised My very first memory, earlier even than family events such as holidays and birthdays, is of my father's old SD1 Vanden Plas. A V8 automatic Series 2 in Moonraker metallic, it imprinted itself firmly upon first my young retinas and later my developing mind. I am sure that this car is responsible for my love not only of British Leyland, but of cars in general. Since these memories, maybe from the age of four, I have longed to drive an SD1 V8. And I didn't think my chance would Read more [...]