MEET THE OWNER; STUART COOKE AND HIS EX HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY ROVER P6B 3500S

Any police Rover P6B is automatically a very special vehicle, but HBK 875N once served as Earl Mountbatten of Burma’s official staff car on the Isle of Wight. Wadham Stringer (Portsea) Ltd. of Southsea supplied the Rover to Hampshire Constabulary, and it was registered in May 1975. Stuart explains that it was issued to the force’s headquarters in Winchester, where it may have started its service. The P6B patrolled Aldershot as call sign ‘Alpha Mike Zero Five’ followed by Basingstoke as call sign ‘Bravo Mike Three’.

One problem encountered by its crews was when driving on the M3 was, as Stuart notes:

At 120 mph with a fully loaded boot, the front of the car would start to lift, and the car would change lanes all by itself. Effectively the front wheels would lift off the road! The remedy was to weld a metal bar across the car’s front and gradually trim pieces off until the car was stable.

In terms of specification, Hampshire removed the power steering. The Rover was initially fitted with steel wheels and prototype Dunlop Denovo ‘run flat’ tyres, which had an unfortunate tendency to blow out at high speeds. HBK was subsequently equipped with Rostyle wheels and conventional tyres before her decommissioning.

And 1978, the Rover was at the heart of a mystery. As Stuart puts it:

The car disappeared from the police station overnight, much to the concern of the officers. They later found out that it had been requisitioned to be sent to the Isle of Wight to be Earl Mountbatten of Burma’s official staff car but was registered to the Chief Fire Officer for security. It was repainted black at Earl Mountbatten’s request as he preferred a black car for official duties. He used it until his tragic death in August 1979 when it was retained by the council and used by the Chairman of the County Council until sold into private ownership in 1982, possibly by auction.

After that, the Rover changed hands several times until it was discovered in a disused piggery somewhere near Eastleigh. Unfortunately, a tree was also growing through the bodywork, creating a slight challenge to any would-be restorer. However, P6 enthusiasts are famed for their resourcefulness.

So HBK’s refurbishment commenced, with bodywork resprayed in white and, in 1999 a replacement engine as the original unit suffered from a cracked block. The new owner also sourced the distinctive triangular roof box. In 2003 hooligans vandalised the Rover, but, fortunately, it was repairable, and today it looks ready for duty.

Stuart remarks that his Rover has starred in two TV programmes over the years. “It was used in a Granada TV documentary about the kidnapping attempt on Princess Anne in the late 1970s, and an episode of Crime Watch”. He has only recently bought the P6B and reports;

It has been off the road for about ten years but luckily kept inside out of the elements, so the bodywork is not in too bad a condition. The engine starts and runs but needs a good tune, and the brakes are in the middle of an overhaul. We hope to have it on the road in the New Year.

And, finally, HBK 875N might well be the very same police car that overtook our Triumph TR4A when my family joined the motorway at Hockley some forty-five years ago…

With Thanks To: Stuart Cooke