Canadian RSTCA member Patrick Hiron was living in Washington, D.C. when we first met him. Now, he lives in Montreal, but we're still proud to say he's family to us. Patrick's car has a very interesting history. This is a 1948 Rover 75 that came to the USA via India. The car was assembled at the Rover factory in Solihull, England and then shipped in CKD form (Completed Knock Down) to Calcutta where it was reassembled at Dewar's Motor Works and Garage and sold as a "locally produced" automobile. The original owner reportedly drove the car overland to Europe and then shipped it to the USA when he emigrated here. This car has done some Roving!
The P3 (Rover’s internal designation for this model) was an interim design produced at the end of WWII when materials and manufacturing facilities were still in short supply. The Rover 75 was available in both six-light and four-light saloon body styles. The car’s styling was carried over largely intact from pre-war Rovers while the chassis included many new features that would be further developed in the P4 and later models. The P3 had a fully independent front suspension with coil springs and tubular shock absorbers. The sloping-head inlet-over-exhaust (IOE) engine design was introduced in the P3. This engine layout had a very efficient combustion chamber design that worked well with the low-grade fuel available at the time. The IOE engine was extremely smooth and quiet in operation and was a hallmark of the Rover line for years to come.
Patrick's car is the more formal six-light saloon. Patrick remembers that the car seemed to be in relatively good shape as found: "The body was solid with no rust or dents. Everything major was present and in good shape, and most of the chrome looked reasonably good. The interior was okay, although the original stitching of the leather front seats let go a soon as I sat down. On the bright side, all of the instruments were in place, and there were only 73,000 miles on the clock."
Patrick was surprised that just about all the parts and service information he needed were readily available. Most of the necessary parts have come from a couple of UK Rover specialists. A friend Patrick met on the internet delivered a pile of spares while on a trip to the USA. The brake shoes, hydraulics, suspension bits and instruments were all competently rebuilt by U.S. specialists at reasonable cost. A new wiring harness was obtained from England after much aggravation. Patrick says, "The quality was excellent, but the service was pathetic."
Today, Patrick's P3 is back on the road and looks great. He has named his car "IKB" in honor of the great19th century English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel who is known for building monumental railroads, bridges and steam ships, including some projects in Australia and India. Patrick feels that his 1948 Rover 75 is just the sort of automobile Brunel would have built had he lived another hundred years.
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