Review: Rover V8 – the story of the engine
There aren’t many books dedicated to an engine, but James Taylor’s ‘Rover V8’ is one such example. That this book exists is proof of the importance and influence the Rover V8 engine exerted over more than 40 years.
The book begins with a brief overview of the history of the the V8 engine, including the rare times when manufacturers outside the U.S. adopted the engine configuration. The book then re-tells the fairly well-known story of how Rover became involved, but told in the context of Rover’s ongoing research and development activities. It also details the extent of the changes Rover made to the basic design. All of this is supported by numerous high-quality photos.
The book then moves-on to chapters detailing the early engines between 1967 – 1973 (as you probably know the first application being the P5B), ‘New Challenges’ between 1970 – 1976, later carburettor engines, injected and diesel versions (did you know Rover tried to create a turbo-diesel V8 in the early 1980’s?), larger capacity versions, and life after volume production ended in 2004. The book concludes with an explanation of Engine Numbers and a complete table of the meaning of their prefixes and suffixes.
The book is hard-cover, with 144 pages of clear, well-written content. There are many photos included, some of which have been seen before, others that are newly-discovered.
It is hard to fault the book. It’s written with James Taylor’s normal attention to detail and uncovers new information, and is produced by Veloce Books to a high standard. It’s unlikely to appear in any best-seller lists, but for a Rover enthusiast it details the history of an important (and successful) element of Rover’s history.
To me it also underscores how forward-thinking Rover were in the 1960’s. This was in stark contrast to other parts of the British motor industry, which was being irreparably damaged by complacency, ineffective management, muddled product planning and poor product development.
Summary:
This book is written with James Taylor’s normal attention to detail and uncovers new information, and is produced by Veloce Books to a high standard. It’s unlikely to appear in any best-seller lists, but for a Rover enthusiast it details the history of an important (and successful) element of Rover’s history.
