Rover hadn't abandoned the idea of an economy car completely, and a prototype called Scarab was displayed at the 1931 London Motor Show. Scarab was rear-engined and air-cooled, and designed to sell at £85, but in the end, did not go into production. It was of interest to a certain Ferdinand Porsche, however, who came over to England to look at the prototype - before going on to design the Volkswagen Beetle. The larger 1.4-litre, six-cylinder Pilot was to go on sale, though, in keeping with the company's new product philosophy. New managing director Spencer Wilks, a former MD of Hillman, and his brother Maurice, chief engineer, are credited with turning Rover's fortunes around: Spencer planned a range of high-quality, tasteful yet innovative products, whilst Maurice developed the vehicles' new technology, much of it inspired by his passion for aviation. 1933 saw new 10hp and 12hp four-cylinder models, and the six-cylinder 14, with further 16hp and 20hp giving Rover extensive market coverage. Between 1933 and 1939, annual production increased from 5000 to 11,000 cars, and net profits went from £7,500 to £200,000. New factories were built at Acocks Green and Solihull; these were used for production of aeroplane engines during World War II, and after extensive bomb damage to Rover's central facility, Solihull became the main production site, where the 10, 12, 14 and 16 continued in production until 1948.
The first all-new post-war cars were the so-called P3 series of 1948: a four-cylinder 1.6-litre 60, and the 2.1-litre, six-cylinder 75. These had engines with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves, and a new chassis with independent front suspension and hydro-mechanical brakes. Rover experimented with a 700cc two-seater, the M1, but this was rejected as a production model: instead, the company went with something much more radical - the first Land Rover. This genre-defining model used the 60's engine, in combination with four-wheel drive and simple aluminium bodywork.
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| Old One-Eye: P4 'Cyclops' had Yank styling |
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The P3 models were quickly superseded, however, by the P4-series first displayed at the 1949 Motor Show. The P4 had much more American styling, with a wide body and a centrally mounted fog lamp, which meant that the P4 quickly became known as the Cyclops. Its other nickname, once the original Rover grille and more conservative face was restored in 1952, was the "Auntie" Rover; this came from an article by Autocar's Ted Eves and Denis 'Jenks' Jenkinson, who drove with Jesse Alexander from Sports Cars Illustrated to the Moroccan Grand Prix in Casablanca and back, via the Turin Motor Show. They described the epic journey as being so effortless, it was "like a trip down to Auntie's." The "Auntie" Rover continued until 1964, sold alongside the P5 (launched 1958), and over 130,000 were built.
