Rover P4

Rover P4 series
Rover 110 registered October 1962
Overview
Manufacturer	The Rover Co. Ltd.
Production	1949–64 130,312 units
Designer	Gordon Bashford
Body and chassis
Class	Mid-size luxury car
Body style	4-door saloon
Layout	FR layout
Dimensions
Wheelbase	111 in (2,819 mm)
Length	178.25 in (4,528 mm)
Width	65.6 in (1,666 mm)
Height	63.25 in (1,607 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	Rover P3
Successor	Rover P5 (concurrent from 1958) Rover P6

Rover 75
75 with central headlight registered December 1950
Overview
Production	33,267 produced 1949-54 9.974 produced 1955-1959
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.103 L Rover IOE engine straight-6 2.230 L Rover IOE engine straight-6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	110"
Length	171.25"
Chronology
Predecessor	Rover 75 (P3)
Successor	Rover 80 (see below) Rover 100 (see below)

Rover 60
registered October 1958
Overview
Production	1953–59 9,666 produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.0 L Rover IOE engine straight-4
Chronology
Successor	Rover 80 (see below)

Rover 90
1955 Rover 90 from Australia
Overview
Production	1953–59 35,903 produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.6 L (160 cu in) Rover straight-6 Block Material – Cast iron Head Material – Aluminium alloy Cylinders – Six, in line Bore and Stroke – 73.025 mm (2.9 in) x 105 mm (4.1 in) Capacity – 2,638cc Compression Ratio – 6.73:1 (1955) 7.5:1 (1956)
Chronology
Successor	Rover 100 (see below)

Rover 105R/105S
Rover 105 registered February 1959
Overview
Production	1956–59 10,781 produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.6 L (160 cu in) Rover IOE engine straight-6
Chronology
Predecessor	None, new upscale variant
Successor	Rover 100 (see below)

Rover 80
registered May 1962
Overview
Production	1959–62 5,900 produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.3 litres (140 cu in) Rover straight-4
Chronology
Predecessor	Rover 60
Successor	Rover 95 (see below)

Rover 100
registered November 1959
Overview
Production	1960–62 16,521 produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.6 L (160 cu in) Rover IOE engine straight-6
Chronology
Predecessor	Rover 90 Rover 105
Successor	Rover 110 (see below)

Rover 95 Rover 110
95 registered April 1963
Overview
Production	1962–64 3,680 (95) & 4,620 (110) produced
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	2.6 L (160 cu in) Rover IOE engine straight-6
Chronology
Predecessor	Rover 80 Rover 100
Successor	Rover 2000

The Rover P4 series is a group of mid-size luxury saloon cars produced by the Rover Company from 1949 until 1964. They were designed by Gordon Bashford.

Their P4 designation is factory terminology for this group of cars and was not in day-to-day use by ordinary owners who would have used the appropriate consumer designations for their models such as Rover 90 or Rover 100.

Production began in 1949 with the 6-cylinder 2.1-litre Rover 75. Four years later a 2-litre 4-cylinder Rover 60 was brought to the market to fit below the 75 and a 2.6-litre 6-cylinder Rover 90 to top the three car range. Several Variations followed.

These cars are very much part of British culture and became known as the "Auntie" Rovers and the "Poor Man's Rolls-Royce". Denis Jenkinson, being totally impressed with the Rover he remarked that the car had tackled the torturous journey just as if going to Auntie's for tea. The term of endearment stuck and forever after the P4 has carried its 'Auntie' nickname." The name was also derived from the feeling that you were sitting on your Auntie's Armchair in the living room.

They were driven by topmost royalty including Grace Kelly.

The P4 series was supplemented in September 1958 by a new conservatively shaped Rover 3-litre P5 but the P4 series stayed in production until 1964 and their replacement by the Rover 2000.

The earlier cars used a Rover engine from the 1948 Rover 75. A four-speed manual transmission was used with a column-mounted gearchange at first and floor-mounted unit from September 1953. At first the gearbox only had synchromesh on third and top but it was added to second gear as well in 1953. A freewheel clutch, a traditional Rover feature, was fitted to cars without overdrive until mid-1959, when it was removed from the specifications, shortly before the London Motor Show in October that year.

The cars had a separate chassis with independent suspension by coil springs at the front and a live axle with half-elliptical leaf springs at the rear. The brakes on early cars were operated by a hybrid hydro-mechanical system but became fully hydraulic in 1950. Girling disc brakes replaced drums at the front from October 1959.