Our Rover SD1 story continues with our recently acquired 1984 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas EFi. The pinnacle of Mark 2 SD1 motoring in the 1980's. The Austin Rover Group (ARG) had emerged from the ashes of British Leyland with Rover as the premium brand. Motorsport returned in the guise of the very successful TWR Rover SD1 Touring Cars and joint development of road cars with Honda was well under way. The future began to look a lot brighter compared with the suffering and strife endured by the British Car Industry in the 1970's. 

The Vanden Plas EFi was introduced to marry the sporting pretensions of the previously introduced fuel injected 190 bhp Vitesse with the luxury of the Vanden Plas. Richly appointed with burr walnut veneers, Connolly leather upholstery, thick pile wool over-mats and equipped with every requisite for the most demanding owner. Distinguished from its lesser brethren by the EFi rear badge, 3 speed GM180 autobox, Speedline 15 inch alloy wheels fitted with "low profile" tyres, ventilated front disc brakes and with the benefit of a sunroof, cruise control and the optional air conditioning - as fitted to our car. Indeed aircon was the only option. 

This is a low mileage SD1 with only three previous owners; the first being Austin Rover Group (ARG). First registered in November 1984 as an ARG Executive Fleet vehicle as evidenced by the "Owners" stamped service book. Used on the road until 2000, having covered approximately 55000 miles, and then stored until 2015 when the second private owner commenced a full restoration having accumulated many New Old Stock (NOS) parts for the purpose. The work was then progressed in 2022 by the third owner, an SD1 Club member. 

In our hands since July 2022, we have had the engine rebuilt by the renowned Rover V8 engine specialist John Eales of JE Developments (see foto) and now the final re-commissioning works are being undertaken by Tim Clarke at Ken Clarke Motorsport, the highly regarded SD1 specialists located in Hinckley, Leicestershire. In addition to the the re-commissioning, refurbishment work has also included re-veneering the the burr walnut dash and door trims (GDK Veneers), replacing the headlining (Aldridge Trimming) and refreshing the satin black paintwork to the window frames (courtesy of Steve at Ken Clarke Motorsport). Once complete we will have a truly outstanding example of the Rover marque available for hire.