[ROVERNET - UK] P5 again

[Kent Kinard]

Hi Dirk,
Like Eric, I almost missed this message.  When did you post it?
To answer your question about where to start, I would have to say that 
that depends on how much money you have to spend and whether you have 
the skills to do some or all of the restoration yourself.  Most of us 
who have P5B Coupes are not the least bit interested in selling (or have 
way too much money invested to sell reasonably.)  The best cars to start 
with are the New Zealand and Australian cars as they generally don't 
have rust problems.  They are also reasonably priced, but going up 
rapidly.  You can even find NZ cars with good upholstery. Most all the 
UK cars have, at one time or another, had rust issues and its hard to 
determine if they were well restored unless you are personally 
acquainted with the shop that did the work. UK cars do tend to have 
better interiors than the Aussie cars.

Where do you live? If you import a car, total transportation costs may 
be a factor.  If you live closer to one coat or another there can be as 
much as $2,000 difference in transportation costs. Restoration of a P5B 
is very expensive because of the level of trim (leather, carpet, rubber) 
and the method of manufacure (EVERYTHING is screwed together and there 
are a million different screw sizes and lengths.  The unit body is 
difficult to work on with many double and triple panels.)  Glass is 
unavailable in the US for the coupe and it's VERY easy to break a front 
or rear screen because of the manner in which they are retained.

More so than most cars, you are FAR better off buying an excellent 
restored or well maintained original.  There are some LHD P5B Coupes for 
sale in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. They are not cheap at 
$13,000 to $15,000 and up, but when you look at restoration costs of 
$20,000 plus, they are bargains.

No one has any idea what these cars are worth in the US because they are 
so rare here and they seldom change hands. There are at least three in 
North America that I would give $15,000 for in a heartbeat...but they 
aren't for sale and the owners are reluctant to even talk to people.

Roverly,
Kent K.



Dirk Burrowes wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> So I have decided that to complete my Rover collection I have to start
> looking for a P5b coupe. I had always thought for years that the P6 was
> the coolest Rover. But after looking at a number of beautiful P5s on the web
> it is clear the P5 is very cool. And certainly the most refined.
> 
> So my search begins anyone have any ideas where to start??
> 
> Cheers
> Dirk Burrowes
>