1968 Rover 2000 TC - The Strangest Car - Part 1

The strangest or perhaps the worst car I have ever owned was a 1968 Rover 2000 TC. I'm not sure about he designation, but it was a 4 cylinder, 2 liter engine with twin (TC) carbs.

I was living in Bellingham, Washington and on a one plus year assignment to work with the Air Force in Blaine. Washington. I drove up there from Santa Monica Ca in a brand new VW. Three months later I traded it in on a Porsche 356B. I'll talk about the Porsche in another blog later. When I was about to return to Santa Monica I decided to sell the Porsche, and buy something else. The something else was a brand new Rover 200TC. I remember it cost almost a full year's salary.

What intrigued me was the fact the the Rover was one of the most innovative car designs in the world at that time. I remember seeing an ad that showed the Rover after striking a bus stop and having the doors ripped off, and all four passengers walking away from an accident that would have killed them in a different car.

Everything in the car seemed unique. All the switches were a different shape, so you could tell if you were touching the choke knob or the heater control, just by feel. It had a device on the front bumper called an Ice Alert. A light began blinking when the temperature dropped to 35 degrees or so. Went on solid when it reached freezing temperatures. Designed to warn you if it was cold enough for ice to form on the highway. It really worked. I remember driving through Oregon and going up and down various mountain roads with the Ice Alert turning on and off as the car climbed or descended.

Other safety features were also impressive. Front shocks and springs were mounted horizontally which kept the front dive to minimum under hard braking. Engine was mounted in such a way that in the case of a front collision it would slide under the passenger compartment rather than through it. It had a monocoque "skeleton" structure (like the Citron DS) to which outer skin panels were bolted. This had the advantage of making body repairs easier, and I believe made the car safer.

That was the good news. Tomorrow the bad news.

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