1937 Rover P2 20hp Sports Saloon - 'Perfect'

Having won eight awards between 2016 and 2018, this is probably the very best Rover 20 you’ll ever see. Rescued from a garage in Norbury and completely restored by a Mr. Griggs in 1996, it was then restored again by a Dr. Meyers, from whom the vendor bought the car in 2016. This second restoration, which included retrimming the interior, came to at least £35,000.

A matching numbers example, this third and the car’s most recent restoration, has seen it returned to its exact original specification. The work set the vendor back another £10,000, but it was worth every penny because it is now in nigh-on perfect condition. 

And yet, as the owner told us, this is no a trailer queen; he uses it on the road, and he uses it properly, even driving it the 100 miles from his home to our premises in Abingdon. He went on to explain that “its additional power allows you to feel more comfortable and at home on typical A and B roads.” Amen to that.

Only for sale now to make room for another classic car that is due to arrive in September, we invite you to sit back and set aside a few minutes to read about one of the most remarkable vintage cars we’ve had pass through our hands.

The Admiralty Blue coachwork is in “phenomenal condition” following a recent full respray by renowned vintage restorers G&B Autospray. And yes, that’s a direct quote from our senior chap, a man who has looked at more vintage and classic cars in his time than almost anyone we know. He is (whisper it not) a little bit cynical and extremely hard to impress, so for him to say that this Rover 20 is “the best restoration I’ve seen for a long time” is high praise indeed.

And, you know what? He’s right. There’s not the slightest trace of orange peel to the finish, just the sort of rich deep lustre that speaks of hundreds of hours of pre- and post-paint work. Its panel gaps are tight and consistent, and the doors open and close with a precision that would impress even the men who built it back in the late thirties, the period before the world went mad and the manufacturing industry was forced to concentrate on volume and cost-per-unit, rather than quality and longevity.

That same quality pervades the chromework, which is as beautifully finished as it is extensive. Just look at the centre-mounted auxiliary driving light, for example; have you ever seen a more handsome lamp? The trafficators work too, as do the gorgeous external horns. This car is as practical as it is attractive.

Another example is the wire wheels, which were resprayed recently in the correct Admiralty Blue. They are offset by sparkling chrome hubcaps and a matching set of five new Waymaster tyres. (We don’t need to tell you that the wheels were fitted with new inner tubes and rim bands at the same time, do we?) 

The windscreen opens, pivoting from the top to allow a cooling breath of fresh air; the average British summer might not warrant its use very often, but it endows the car with a class and elegance that air-conditioning never could. The sunroof too, is a thing of beauty. And works perfectly. Natch.

A spare set of Admiralty Blue painted wheeltrims, this time full-size discs, come with the car, in case the new owner fancies a change every now and then.

The bonnet mascot is not the original, but the one it left the factory with is in the boot. In a box, which sits inside a leather bag.

New number plates have been fitted. At a cost of more than £200. Nothing better sums up the money-no-object restoration of this car than that. (Of course, the originals have been retained.)

Or, perhaps the hand-painted coachline that sits beneath the side trim, just as it would have done back in 1937 does? This dedication to getting every single detail right is rare, but this Rover 20 has it all.

Work to do is limited to the front bumper, which needs two drilled holes filling in and then the whole assembly re-chroming. Oh, and some of the screws around the windscreen are the incorrect crosshead style; the owner has replaced every other fastener with the correct style but just hasn’t got round to doing these.

The dark blue hide interior is in fabulous condition, as well it might considering it cost in excess of £10,000 to restore it using the original plans as a guide. Three full hides went into the retrimming, and they’re plush and supple and reek of pre-war decadence.

Of all the cars in the range, only the Rover 20 had leather-trimmed carpets and door cards, so the new ones were finished as per the factory specification. 

The wooden veneer trim is in first-rate condition, and needs nothing doing to it other than the odd polish now and then. The interior chromework was refinished at the same time too, and looks amazing.

The Bluemel’s steering wheel has just the right amount of patina; to have restored it fully would have been an act of desecration and so the rim whispers its eight decades of use with pride.

West of England cloth was chosen for the headlining, and it is delicately tensioned with a series of cords. It is, like the rest of the interior, a work of art and in beautiful condition.

Front and rear seatbelts have been fitted in the past. Cleverly installed using strong chromed eye rings, they can be clipped and unclipped very easily; currently unclipped as the vendor has never used them, refitting them would be the work of a moment.

The boot contains the aforementioned original bonnet mascot, along with a new bottle jack and the starting handle. The spare wheel sits inside the boot lid itself, and the Rover also comes with a box of spares, including a spare dashboard. 

And the pull-out tool tray that sits ahead of the front seat passenger and pulls out from underneath the dashboard is a thing of beauty, but the owner regrets to inform potential bidders that one of the spanners is not the correct type. Just the one, mind.

The only problem for the new owner to remedy is the fuel gauge, which doesn’t work. The vendor has confirmed that it is the gauge rather than the sender that is at fault, so at least the buyer knows where they need to start.

The straight-six, 2512cc engine starts as soon as you touch the key; we’re used to starting finely fettled cars here at The Market HQ but the alacrity with which this Rover starts has amazed us – and being a well-maintained vintage engine it ticks over incredibly smoothly, too. The seller tells us there can be issues starting when the engine is hot - this is due to fuel vapourisation - doing exactly what a 1937 Rover does! Looks great too; beautifully detailed, it is a work of art and crammed with the sort of engineering we could geek over for hours.

The engine also shows good oil pressure and the four-speed gearbox, complete with freewheel, operates smoothly and quietly.

It drives beautifully and goes very well indeed, the big engine (the most premium in the prewar Rover range) is plenty powerful enough for a 50-60 mph cruise and more if required, lazy torque is definitely on a continuous flow. It really does go to show that if you drive a vintage car and it feels anything other than smooth and precise then it is almost certainly the way the car has been maintained rather than the underlying engineering; everything used to be built to a quality, rather than down to a price and there is no finer example of that mindset than this mid-sized Rover.

Take, for example, the original Luvax dampers are adjustable, and were professionally refurbished by Stevson Ltd in December 2017, and so are still under warranty. Luvax also contributed the car’s original chassis lubrication system. This is working as it should, but then you’d guessed that, hadn’t you?

The fuel tank was repaired a couple of years ago, and the ignition system was fully serviced. Oil and filter changes have been made frequently, using the correct vintage-friendly oil. 

A Kenlowe electric fan, operated manually by a discreet switch, keeps things cool. This fan is backed up by a Meteor Spares water rail, new coolant hoses, and fresh coolant with the correct antifreeze. A new battery has also been fitted.

Reliability has been further improved with the installation of an electric fuel pump, and the original SU carburettor was professionally restored by Burlen Ltd in 2017. The result not only drives very well but the carburettor itself now looks amazing; if the devil is in the details, then these bad boys are Satan’s Little Helpers. New fuel lines and new glass bowl fuel filters further help matters.

An electronic ignition kit and Flamethrower coil chip in more reliability and probably a little more power. The owner tells us that the top speed is estimated to be in the region of 75-80mph, although he has never taken it above 60, and the day-to-day fuel consumption is around 20mpg, which is really rather good for a vintage car.

The propshaft and rear axle have been refurbished, and a front anti-roll bar from a later Rover P2 has tightened up the handling very satisfactorily. (The car didn’t have an anti-roll bar originally.)

The total bill for the improvements that were carried out under the vendor’s ownership comes to a little under £10,000.

The online MOT history shows nothing of concern whatsoever. In fact, it hasn’t gathered a single advisory point since records begin in 2006 and the MOT record confirms the car’s low mileage, too. 

The MOT certificate itself runs out in August 2020, which gives you plenty of time to double-check that the MOT-able items are still in good shape because it would be a shame to ruin that 100% record, wouldn’t it?

The car comes with a number of expired MOT certificates plus a thick sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it, along with an album of photographs of elements of its restoration in 1996 and a typewritten summary from the last three owners of the car’s history and condition. 

It also comes with two DVDs containing a photographic record of the earliest two of its restorations, along with scans of its historical paperwork, including the original logbook. The vendor has also added details of the work he has carried out on the vehicle during his three-year ownership.

There is also a Rover P2 workshop manual and a parts list. 

And as for the eight awards it’s won in the past two years, here’s a rundown of the highlights:

1. Rover P4 Drivers Guild. Quainton 2016. Best running board car. (12 cars)

2. Rover Sports Register. Roverfest (All Rover Clubs) Wroxhall Abbey 2017. Best Rover Overall (as voted by all members attending). (850 cars – 650 Rovers)

3. Norfolk & Norwich Rover Owners Club. Sandringham 2017. Best Rover. (40 Rovers)

4. Rover Sports Register. ‘The Enfield Ice Breaker’. February 2018. The John Bedford Trophy – Best Car In Show. (Approximately 50 cars)

5. Norfolk & Norwich Rover Owners Club. Bressingham 2018. Best in Class. (120 cars)

6. Norfolk & Norwich Rover Owners Club. Bressingham 2018. Best in Show. (120 cars)

7. Triumph TR Register. LV Group. ‘Show & Shine’ Broom. Best Saloon Car. (100+ cars)

8. Rover Sports Reg’ National 2019 Cirencester. Belvoir Trophy. Best pre-1950 Rover.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been restored and maintained to the very highest standard.

Vintage cars are always tough to value, and when there are only believed to be five saloons of its type running and road-registered in the UK – and this is one of them! - then the job becomes harder still. (The seller does tell us that there is a very nice one in Australia, and the States is home to another, with only 13 left in the world.) 

But, back to this example. To get us closer to being able to give you a guide price, Mr. J Maher, the chairman of the Rover Sports Register, valued it at £38,500 in 2018, a figure that endorses the quality and originality of the car.

The full two-page valuation can be read online, but one sentence sums up the car better than we have in the previous 2,000 words: it “can only be described as concours and justifies the exceptional valuation.”

Which means that our guess of anything from £22,000 to £29,000 could be too low; this is a museum quality example that has been expensively and, some might say, obsessively restored to its factory specification. It looks amazing and is running as beautifully as anything we’ve ever driven. It is a credit to its current and previous owners and we are expecting an awful lot of interest in what is almost certainly the best of its kind.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive. 

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.