This acquaintance was one of the quicker ones, even if the car is one of the slower ones. The 1962 Rover P4 100 you see here belongs to a fellow auto enthusiast from the region, Pertti. He also drives a ’90s Cadillac Seville, and the Rover serves as a summertime car.
Pertti let me take a quick look at the Rover, which in turn had let out a little bit of coolant on the asphalt. Such are 50-year-old cars.
The Viking atop the grille is one of my favorite automotive decorations. The car also bears a bunch of car club emblems.
The interior is a special place to be. You sit upright, there’s a smell of.. old England in there, the steering wheel is finger-thin and the ambience is really something. The radio is a period-correct, Finnish Salora unit, and the car is originally a Finnish-registered vehicle. It also used to belong to a priest or a vicar, which totally fits the picture. My Reebok sneakers do not.
The leather has patinated beautifully. Pertti says he should fix the wood on the dashboard a little, and is considering at least a partial repaint for the bodywork, but the Rover looks fine as it is. The clock had stopped sometime in the past.
The engine in the Rover 100 is a 2.6-litre straight six, with 83 bhp. It was claimed to be able to reach 100mph.
The slight coolant leak will be fixed in good time, says Pertti. He’s also considering selling the Rover, but that’s not a pressing matter. He says he’d take 6000 for it, which for a nice, straight 1962 Rover in working condition is a fair price in my opinion. I was instantly charmed by the motor car, and it would be just the best thing for weekend motoring around the region.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
