thor64
Rover Fanatic
Posts: 138
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Post by thor64 on Nov 11, 2021 19:29:49 GMT
Hi, seems I cannot stay away from pestering this forum but I am genuinely curious about the Rover P5. To that end I have been admiring the quality and detail Rover devoted to their hub caps. You don't need to employ someone to design and then manufacture a wheel cover. Hub caps are usually an after thought but Rover went to the trouble of creating something regal. It makes the car special. They could have just come out with R but maybe it would have been too close to Rolls Royce. My car came with a yellowy cream insert on the sail but I notice there are also ones with a more reddish sail insert. To some this might seem a bit geeky but there might be one or two who wonder why. Why have a colour change on what some might think was such an insignificant part? Did they run out of Red. Was there a board meeting and descent over having a yellowish colour. To then have the hub caps painted in red. Well we may never know. I still think the Hub Caps look special. Attachments:
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tonys
Rover Fanatic
Posts: 419
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Post by tonys on Nov 11, 2021 20:08:18 GMT
I'm happy to be corrected but I thought that they were all red originally, likewise radiator and steering wheel badges as well. I might be wrong, though.
What year is yours?
(Eta - typo)
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Post by Phil Nottingham on Nov 11, 2021 21:33:00 GMT
I have seen red and yellow which is actually sun faded red
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thor64
Rover Fanatic
Posts: 138
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Post by thor64 on Nov 12, 2021 10:53:03 GMT
Hi mine is a 1964, I take it they are pressed out of plastic. Someone designed the initial stamping putting the Vikings head above the ship and then putting all that detail into the face and little shields on the ship. Then making it so they could be duplicated to a standard. No-one would know unless they took off the hub caps and looked closely with a magnifying glass. The detail is more apparent on the steering wheel. I wondered if they made the Hub Caps and the steering wheel out of the same stamping? Attachments:
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Post by Phil Nottingham on Nov 12, 2021 14:19:50 GMT
Probably the same casting but the best of the finished versions were installed on the horn ring as were in close view?
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thor64
Rover Fanatic
Posts: 138
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Post by thor64 on Nov 12, 2021 19:33:35 GMT
I am aware that Rover were making the P4, P5 and P6 at the same time. The later P4s have hub caps with the same centre emblem from 1959. Maybe the centres were made for the P4 and Rover used them on the P5 as a continuation rather than specifically for the P5.
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tonys
Rover Fanatic
Posts: 419
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Post by tonys on Nov 12, 2021 20:34:17 GMT
It's more likely the other way around; the new hubcaps were introduced on the P4 for the 1960 model-year (so late '59), at the same time as the new wheels, (which I think were the same as P5 ones, but might be wrong on that point). All related, no doubt, to parts commonisation but also as disc brakes were introduced on the P4 at the same time and I don't think they fitted with the old wheels.
The P6s, of course, had completely different wheeltrims.
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Post by Phil Nottingham on Nov 13, 2021 6:27:57 GMT
They are the same as all P5s early and late including the horn ring. The P5 was launched in 1958 (1959 MY) which had the new dished centre hub caps and wheels even though the first few had drum brakes. The P4 used the same wheels and hub caps when disks were introduced on them at the same time for the new 80 and 100
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