Rover Engine V8
The Rover engine actually started in life in the USA as the Buick engine as far back as 1961. The engine block itself was made of an all-aluminum.The main advantage was it was compact and lightweight, weighing only 144 kg (318 lb). In the Buick it was tuned to a maximum power output of 185 hp, also Oldsmobile used the same engine in their car as well and got the figure up to 215 hp. The engine was very successful in both models with sales of 376,799 cars built for the Buick engine in just three years. A similar number of Oldsmobile 215 engines were also produced. There were coolant and oil issues if the correct antifreeze was not used, and the fact that alloy engine was quite expensive to build than its iron stablemate. In 1963 Buick and Oldsmobile stoppped production of this engine because of these concerns. An iron equivalent engine was then made by Buick to replace it that engine ran on to 1980. Then a V6 was also introduced using a cut down crankshaft which reigned to 2008.
The head of Rover engineering J Bruce J Mc Williams went to investigate the possibilities of bringing the Buick back to England to use in Rover. Over at Mercury Marine trying to negotiate a deal to sell gas turbine engines and diesel engines for Rover, J Mc Wlliams then discovered the Buck engine. In any case, McWilliams saw that the lightweight Buick V8 had lots of potential for the British market and would be ideal for smaller British cars and could replace the heavier smaller iron engine already in the Rover P5, indeed, it weighed less than many straight-4 engines in Britain at the time. After a number of talks with GM, Mc Williams eventually persuaded GM to sell its tooling to Rover so they produce the engine. Retiring Buick engineer Joe Turley then moved to the UK to act as a consultant to Rover to help them get set up. The Rover engine became a great success.
Starting life in the P5 model, it was then used in the P6 model and then went on to the Rover SD1 where it was tuned to nearly 200bhp. Land Rover started using the Buick engine in their cars. Rover also sold the engine to smaller car builders, so they can use it in their vehicles. The Rover engine also appeared in TVR, Morgan, Triumph and many more.
The engine was first put into the Warick 350GT, but for some reason it never saw the light of day. The engine became an icon on the custom scene and was also used in light aircraft. Even in the US some builders used the Rover aluminum V8 engine for use in small sporty cars like the MG MGB and the Chevy Vega.
Buick themselves started using the same aluminum heads on their 300 cubic inch engine with a longer crankshaft to lighten and increase power of their engine back in 1964. You could then use the Buick head on the Rover engine with a few mods to get more power out of it. The cialis commercials Rover SD1 was the last Rover produced car to have the V8 engine in it.
The Rover V8 remained with Land Rover and was used in their Range Rovers and Discovery’s until they were sold to Ford by BMW
. The production of the engine still carried on with license given to MCT engineering by Land Rover to keep the engine going. Although Land Rover then switched to using Jaguar AJ-V8 engines for their newer cars, MCT continued limited production of the engine for the indeterminate future, supplying engines for aftermarket and replacement use.
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