Rover 3500 V8
Reviewed by Unique Cars and Parts
Our Rating: 3
Introduction
When the Rover Company announced in 1967 that they had bought the patterns, jigs and rights for the Oldsmobile alloy 3.5 litre V8, many enthusiasts looked at each other knowingly and at the Rover 2000 as the recipient of the "new" power-plant. Rover therefore surprised people when they released the Rover 3.5 at the 1967 year's Earls Court Motor Show.
They were surprised because the V8 was fitted into the 3-litre "upright" model, and not the 2000 - but they needn't have worried because a year later the inevitable happened. But was the "Three-Thousand Five" as it was called, a 2000 with more power, or a different kettle of fish?
Rover, then being the makers of high-grade cars, were not about to carry out a cheap shoehorn job when they fitted the V8, and in fact they claimed that the 2000 was originally designed to accept more power. However, many changes were carried out to the running gear and sub-frame, not the least of which are a new front cross-member, uprated springs in the suspension and offset front wheel hubs to carry wider 14 x 5.5 inch wheels.
Automatic transmission, in the guise of a Borg Warner Type 35, was standard with no manual gearbox offered, although Rover were at one time experimenting with a 2F five speed but rejected it as being unsuitable. Obvious external differences were a deeper radiator intake below the front bumper, extra chrome strip at the front of the bonnet, V8 and 3500 badges, and of course the bigger wheels and tyres.
A Luxury Car With A Sporting Appearance
Inside the car a big V8 badge on the centre console provided instant recognition. The interior of the 3500 was extremely luxurious, with leather covered seats, door panels and dashboard, a myriad of cryptic-labelled switches but surprisingly few instruments, the driver only being told the speed, temperature, amount of fuel and the time - with lights to pass on information about the rest.
This tended to confirm, as did the gigantic steering wheel, that perhaps the 3500 was not meant to be a sporting car but rather a luxury car with a sporting appearance. This was further brought home when first driving the Rover. Off the line the acceleration was very leisurely, and even using low gear did not help matters much. However, when out of bottom ratio and approaching the upper limit of second, the superior torque of the V8 lifted the 3500 well ahead of most of the opposition, and top gear acceleration was really meaty.
The acceleration figures, when compared to the 2000 TC, proved to be disappointingly close to the smaller engined cousin, 0-50 taking 8 seconds compared to 7.8, 0-60 taking 10.0 seconds compared to 11.4, and anyone who was expecting a fire-breathing performance Rover would have been bitterly disappointed. Perhaps if a manual gearbox had been made available? Automatic or no, the long legs of the 3500 were very impressive, and owners cited better than 130+ mph performance. Better still, even at speeds above 100 miles per hour, the noise was bearable, although the car felt extremely light and touchy. Remember then that this was 1968 - long before computer aided noise and turbulence design.
On The Road
However, straight roads didn't tell the whole story. Under cornering the Rover needed strong arms behind the wheel if the understeer was to be contained - it was then that owners would see the logic behind that large steering wheel. Rover did not offer optional power steering so, Arm-Strong steering it was. And the bigger wheel made things much easier. Owners would say the Rover would do nothing but understeer, and that understeer could take the car offline significantly. On tighter bends, the outside front wheel would nearly scrape its rim on the ground while the inside rear would sufficiently lift off to spin freely on the road surface, until a bump or change in road surface would send the front end skittering across the road.
The big Avon radials would perform satisfactorily, but road testers of the day claimed they couldn't cope with the extreme nose-heavy configuration of the 3500. However, it could be noted that cornering power was higher than many luxury cars, but when compared to the 2000 series the car felt cumbersome. Fuel consumption certainly suffered due to the capacity increase, and hard driving brought the figure down to as low as 15.6 mpg. By very careful "economy run" tactics the figure could climb as high as 20 mpg or more which was no worse than equivalent Jaguars from that era.
At a cost of nearly A$4000 in Great Britain, the 3500 did offer quality, top speed performance and pedigreed specification. But the addition of optional power steering and a manual control gearbox would have considerably enhance its reputation.
