Acceptable or not?

[truckdoctor]

Being a person of an appreciable age and having been around cars all my life I find myself now in a bit of a quandary, as it seems right now the trend in cars is to have an American car of varying style and you have an abundance of clubs available to join and join in. This is great of course and I see no problem with at all, it does however leave me with a bit of a problem, I’m not really into American hot rods ( but do appreciate them) but tend to like stuff I’ve grown up with and am familiar with. Restomods attract me, shuttle changes to the body and more Horse power under the bonnet, the kind of wolf in sheep’s clothing thing. Harrisons ford’s car in American Graffiti, great, just my cup of tea but would prefer something British. How do you fit in if you don’t have a car that is “on trend” at the moment?
At present I have a rover p5b that is not standard, it is shunned by the official rover club for not being “original” and probably not modified sufficiently to be classed as anything else, It’s not really a “hot rod “or custom, it is quite a sharp looking car with a lot of my time and investment put into it that so It can be enjoyed, suspension brake and minor body mods.
So, as the value of “original “ cars seems to be on the up £ wise do I carry on modifying or to finalise my plans of more HP etc. and join a” modified” car group and forget about the resale value.
At the end of the day the reason to have the car is for enjoyment and to be with likeminded folk, at present this is where we are, classic car shows and charity raising events, which is OK but just not sure I’m the correct place, where this car does “fit in”.

Rover P5B coupe - YouTube
Rover P5B Coupe - YouTube
Rover P5b Coupe 1968 V8 - YouTube
Thanks, Steve.

 

[TransAmDan]

Hi, welcome to the forum/club. We are a Classic and American car club, so anything more than 20 years old is very welcome. We used to have many more classic cars in the club, but they have become out numbered with american vehicles. We always welcome classic cars, once day it may balance out again.
A very interesting looking car you have there, nice shiny engine too. you say you have more plans for the engine, what will you do next? I guess you have changed heads/cam etc Looks like a Rover V8 but i could be wrong, there is a place near london that stocks lots of parts to modify the rover V8, Real Steel have you have heard of them before?

 

[truckdoctor]

Hi Dan thanks for the welcome and comments. "real steel" do a great job and have some parts of theirs fitted but won't try getting more power from this engine. Planning to go, when funds and time allow with Lexus LS400 as it offers around twice as much power for lower cost, the problem is getting the engine in place means removal of the steering box and conversion to rack, lots of work so will need help planning it out.

 

[chris68coupe]

I like a P5 Rover, more than welcome here, are you local?

 

[saleen 192]

Welcome, we are all petrolheads with the same thing in common, nice looking car and great engine note, keep the car as is

 

[renchero]

VERY ACCEPTABLE. this one very nice motor. you have improved it and done a very nice job. i have noticed that those people who moan it's not original don't have one. i don't care what category my truck fit's [or not] into it's mine i will do what i please to it. i had a p5b saloon for 13 years loved it. wonder if it's still around.

 

[AmericanThunder]

Very nice - I have always had a soft spot for P5B's as my Dad had one when I was young. It was always my favourite of the many cars that featured during my childhood.
As for modifying - do what you want and like, its your car, your money - do what makes you happy and to hell with everyone else.
Only my Corvette remained factory stock - every other hobby car of mine has had modifications done. Does it increase the value? - No. Do I get back my investment? - No. Does it make it more appealling at resale? - Maybe. Does it increase my enjoyment during ownership? - Hell Yes!

seems right now the trend in cars is to have an American car of varying style

This is the one thing you wrote I would disagree with. American cars have always had a very limited following and the reduction in numbers at American car shows does not go with it being "trendy". In fact, high fuel costs and the politically unacceptable large engines associated with American cars have shrunk ownership numbers all over.

Enjoy your car - I hope to see it at an event sometime soon.

 

[Chriswrx123]

Hi and welcome forget the rivet counters enough of them in the landrover world !!! Make the car your own mod how you please and enjoy wot you have made that's all that matters !!!

 

[truckdoctor]

Well, may I thank you all for you kind comments, it is nice to meet ( on the web ) a group of people that have an open outlook on life and the things that make it enjoyable. I think I need to join this club.
Happy Christmas and see you in the new year.

 

[TransAmDan]

Consider yourself part of the club. It's free entry and no formal paperwork. Have a good Christmas and see you in the new year.

 

[truckdoctor]

Well hi and thanks for your kind remarks. We are well into the new year now and things have changed a bit for me being I was offered good price and sold the rover to a good new home to a nice bloke in Dorchester so you may see it around still it has been replace with a 1953 Ford F100. Having a good look over it after I bought it, it needs lots of work to make it roadworthy so should keep me busy for a while. It has been extensively modified and getting the correct parts is tricky.
So, see you all soon.
Cheers, Steve.

 

[saleen 192]

All i can say is PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES WE NEED PICTURES

 

[truckdoctor]

Having got the f100 home I decided to have a look over it just to make sure things were OK for the road, and to my horror it wasn't. twelve days further on and I'm still underneath fixing things. I found the gearbox support virtually missing so made a decision to remove the cherry bomb exhausts and fabricate some thing more substantial. Now it's time for making up two new systems one for each side.
Next up is the wiring oh what a mess