MEET THE OWNER – JON HARPER AND HIS ROVER 2600

'Never been painted or welded, which goes to show miracles can happen'.

And Jon Harper's 1978 Rover 2600 is believed to be the only example in Avocado, that uber-1970s BL colour scheme, still on the road in this county.

The 2300 and the 2600 SD1 were launched in 1977 as the replacements for the Triumph 2000/2500 and the Rover P6 2200.

Keith Adams notes in his indispensable https://www.aronline.co.uk/:

these inline six-cylinder engines were very loosely based on the old Triumph straight six, but with changes to the cylinder heads, new cylinder blocks, crankshafts, carburetion and just about everything else, thereby bringing them up to date.

Unlike the 2300, the 2600 featured self-levelling rear suspension and a five-speed manual gearbox (its cheaper stablemate had four-speed transmission).

BEC 484 S is also equipped with the optional power-assisted steering.

As befitting a car for the chartered loss adjuster on the move, the 2600 came with a map and glove box lamps, a rev counter, passenger door mirror, halogen headlamps, a radio, and a carpeted boot – all of which were lacking on the 2300.

Of course, anyone who deserved a Rover with central locking, front lamps and a cassette player had to aspire to a promotion to the boardroom and the keys to a company 3500.

Leyland also commissioned Two More For The Road, a very elaborate PR film starring Anton Rogers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Dnp7f4dFg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSsmMXc_zo. Note how one of the Rovers comes to the aid of a stricken Volvo!

Autocar of 22^nd October 1977 thought the 2600 'as good as we expected it to be, and in many ways better' – and also that 'it has found itself a sporting character which could not, surely, have been foreseen'.

At £5,800 the Rover was more expensive than the Citroën CX Pallas (£5,498) but cheaper than the BMW 520i (£6,099) and faster – 117 mph as opposed to 114 mph.

At the same time, Motor pitted the Rover against the Renault 30TS, the Audi 100 GL 5E and the 2600's principal rival, the Granada Mk. II, in 2.8iS guise.

The Audi won the test with the Ford and the Rover coming a very close second as 'excellent all-rounders with roomy interiors' In August of the following year, those formidable chaps of Car evaluated the 2600 opposite the Lancia Gamma Berlina and the Peugeot 604 Ti.

'All three cars occupy spots at the very top of our list of favourite cars – for the very simple reason they are three of the very best cars currently available.’

Jon came by his Rover thirteen years ago and he 'bought it on a whim because of the colour.’ He has also 'always loved SD1s since seeing them when they came out and looking like nothing else on the roads’.

He also contends that ‘the 2600 gets a very unfair press due to its alleged unreliability, which is nonsense if they're looked after.

When they were old bangers 30 years ago, nobody bothered servicing them - then complained when they broke.'

As for the public reaction to the Harper Rover – 'about 70% of people love the car and the colour, 30% hate it and can be openly insulting to my face which I find very odd. That's Joe Public…' Some people clearly lack aesthetic sensibility…

WITH THANKS TO – Jon Harper

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