[ROVERNET - UK] "Restoring" Rovers, Market Value, et cetera

David Walker concinnity at woosh.co.nz
Sat Jul 29 06:24:22 BST 2006


Hi from NZ again.I have a few queries.How much are P6s(specifically 2000TC &
3500S with aircon) going for in North America at the moment?Did the last 3
0n Ebay actually sell?(270001407067 ,27000127602 ,270004319725)Cheers,yours
roveringly David Walker
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Dean" <jaguru at bellsouth.net>
To: <rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 4:45 PM
Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] "Restoring" Rovers, Market Value, et cetera


>          I would like to fill in the details and background on this Rover
P4
> ;as it seems there is some undue criticism here, based on a lack of
> information. This  LHD Rover  100, decades  ago, belonged to a University
> Professor, I believe from Utah. It had survived, but was in bad condition,
> when it was purchased by a Universityof Miami student, and brought to
> Florida. He had no money or ability to restore it , so came to my Ft.
> Lauderdale shop, and asked me to find him a buyer.The car had been in an
> accident decades ago, and had the earlier Rover 90 front fitted; probably
> from the only available Rover  in that part of America. I did nothing to
the
> front fenders; if they were misaligned; it was due to the old accident and
> repair. Hugh came to me; He had just received a "golden parachute" bonus
of
> about a hundred thousand dollars, when his employer was bought out by
> another company.Fortunately   he diidn't spend it on fast women; but spent
> part on a slow Rover.He admired the restoration we were doing on my 69
> 2000TC, and bought the P4, I think for $700. The car was a piece of junk,
> and we began making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
>         There was extensive rust, especially in the rear. I allowed Hugh
to
> order parts directly fromWadham's, at no profit to  myself..I lowered my
> labor rate, I think to $40 an hour, and a helper at $20/hour. In this
long,
> long project; my profit was probably not   five dollars an hour. This was
> not rural British Columbia, but downtown Ft. Lauderdale; with a high
> overhead .There were many things Hugh chose to do himself. Welding and
rust
> removal was done in my shop,but not the paint or finish bodywork. Hugh
chose
> to oversee that himself; and  spent a lot of money with a different shop
for
> paint. I suggested that Hugh order his interior from Wadham's. No, he
wanted
> it done by Dennis, a talented local American car upholsterer he knew.Hugh
> and Dennis chose colors and materials, and after we finished mechanical
work
> , it went first to the body shop, then to the upholstery shop Sadly,Dennis
> developed a brain tumor. He vowed to finish Hugh's car before he died, and
> did; though it was a struggle for him. If upholstery seemed unfinished, it
> was probably because Dennis was dying, as he finished it. Like the paint;
I
> had nothing to do with the upholstery.
>         The windshield was installed by a glass shop, that the paint shop
> used. Not done by my shop..Hugh wanted state of the art sound and alarm
> system. I advised against that, but he chose to spend money having that
done
> by someone else.Every classic car alarm system I have ever seen caused
> problems; this was no exception.Hugh wanted air conditioning in this car.
I
> told him initially he should buy my 2000TC, which had AC ; he'd save
> $5,000.No, he chose to spend $5,000 and have air conditioning. The
oversize
> tires? Hugh bought them,as he liked the way it looked. When the paint,
> upholstery, and stereo shop finished their  work, we did final details,
then
> Hugh drove it. it came back a few times to work out small bugs, but he
> finally drove it quite a bit, and it was reliable..He basicly eventually
> sold the car, because it was slow. He bought a 67 Camaro, with a
> Supercharger.
>         He relocated to Connecticut. While there,Hemmings Motor News came
to
> him, and used the car on the 2000 HMN Calendar. Also, in 1999, Landrover
> North America/BMW shipped this Rover, as well as my 69 2000TC to Couer
> D'Alene, Idaho, and put it in the Ballroom at the National Landrover
> Dealer's convention.   With its' Rover 75 badge, it was really the star of
> the show; as the new Rover 75 , the new Mini, and an MGF were  there as
> well.
>         ... The point of all this; People are quick to blame a restoration
> shop; who have never owned one. When this car left my shop, the things
done
> in my shop worked well,The metalwork was sound, and the car was reliable.
> The customer pays the bills; so if he wants an alarm system, or his own
> choice of paint, upholstery or tires,he gets them.Hugh chose to spend that
> amount of money; He had a car that received national acclaim of the
highest
> sort.  I have no idea what maintenance was done after it left; but
probably
> several years had elapsed by the time  the reports of the oil leak and
alarm
> malfunction were made.. If he had bought a new car; he would have not had
> the enjoyment and accolodes this car briefly bought him. In a few years,
> that new car would have sold for $8,000. In the end; the Classic car
> community benefited greatly because Hugh saved an old Rover, instead of
> buying a Harley or a trip to the Bahamas. I just hope the present owner
> realizes it is his role to preserve the heritage he has inherited with
this
> car.
>
>                 James Dean, Ft.Lauderdale.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ben Rodgers" <irishrover at netscape.ca>
> To: <rovercar at comcast.net>; <rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] "Restoring" Rovers, Market Value, et cetera
>
>
> > Hi Glen
> >           The $40.000 P4 you refer to, was purchased by James Supler for
> > approx $8.000 . He later sold it for approx $4000. Now this restoration
to
> > say the least was mediocre and it actually cost in the region of
$34.000.
> > The shop fitted the front end of a 1954 P4 to a 1960 P4, from the front
it
> > looked like a P4 circa 1952-57 and the rear circa 1960- 64. It also left
> > the
> > shop with a long crack on pass side of windshield, the crack started at
> > the
> > roof line, obviously who ever installed the glass caused the crack.  The
> > tires were much too large and one front tire touched edge of fender when
> > turn hard right, didn't do it hard left, indicating fenders out of line,
> > which they were. The upholstery trim was shoddy and hung down at the
rear.
> > When jim drove it home the gear shift lever fell apart. I drove it from
> > Boston to PEI and a few miles into the trip I spotted the oil light
coming
> > on every time I slowed. Oil was pumping out at the rear of the valve
cover
> > where the gasket had been incorrectly installed. This car featured in
the
> > Hemmings Calendar around 2000?
> > It was originally owned by a gentlman name Hugh, can't remember his last
> > name, but he surely wasted alot of money. The car looked great in a
> > photograph and up close to an untrained eye.  It drove well once the
tires
> > were changed but it soon developed other problems, hard to start, poor
> > brakes, wipers stopped working. alarm system shut down the car every
time
> > the battery was disconnected which took a lot of fiddling to get it
> > running
> > again.. All in all it was a poor job done by people that knew little or
> > nothing about Rovers. Its still in the area, New Brunswick, and still on
> > the
> > road but I haven't seen it for a couple of years.
> >                                               Regards  Ben.
> >
> > FREDERICK RODGERS.CD
> > born in Belfast, Northern Ireland,
> > Author of "lily and me" a great book and a great read .
> > Order on line at amazon.com. Book # ISBN1-55430-019-3
> >
> >
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>
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