My father had a 1970s Rover P6 for many years.
It had aluminum boot, bonnet and wings. The sills were bolt on but steel, and were easy to relace when they rotted.
Just about the only other parts rot by the time the car was alomost 20 were the door bottoms.
Audi now make aluminium bodied cars.
How come Rover were such innovators then? Why were more cars not made from aluminum?
Volvo tailgates are aluminiun on their 940 estates -why is that?
Alex
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Cost is the main factor although their comparative costs are much closer these days, steel is also more forgiving in the production process.
Eleanor
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Rover got used to forming aluminium with the Land Rover (scrap aluminium was cheaper and easier to get than scrap steel in the late 1940s and early 1950s). The last of the P4s (the 110s) reverted to steel doors and bonnets.
HJ
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Plus manufacturers do not want their products to last too long!
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Sadly yes, BL , Austin Rover / Rover products were / are very short lived - 8 years old most were / are scrap.
Watching Driven this week {CH4} with the Rover 75 estate {AKA MG ZTX or similar}, V the Lexus and Audi, never mind which is best now, which will be best at 5 years old - the Audi will look as new, the Lexus will have had nothing changed at all, apart from serviving, the Rover, with its doddgy engine will have had its head gasket changed twice, the bumpers will all be cracked and most of the trim will have fallen off. Plus as implied on Driven, its already 10 years behing the times in terms of engineering.
The Rover will make the cheapest 2nd hand buy no doubt and so will be the worst new buy. So sad when you look at our motoring heritage.
Alex
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Alex -- The Rover 25 is nothing to get excited about and the Rover 45 is outdated but in my opinion (and that of much of the motoring press) the Rover 75 is a fine, well-built, car that doesn't deserve the criticism you and Driven have levelled at it. The Driven series seems very amateurish and sensationalist and I find it best to totally ignore its findings.
Bring back Mr Woollard (William, that is, of the BBC's original motoring programme - oh, and our David W. as well since he has much more idea about motoring matters than Driven's Mr Brewer & co.)
As to the Rover P6 -- the aluminium panels were fine until you dented one and tried to panel beat it back to shape. Respraying was also difficult, requiring pre-treatment with an etch primer. Of particular concern however, the panels (and suspension, etc) were bolted to a steel main frame which was extremely prone to corrosion. Because of this, many P6s were very short lived, even though Rover's advertisement of the time showed an impeccable P6 in the midst of a load of rotten cars in a scrap yard. I expect the Rover WAS impeccable on the outside -- but with nothing left of the important bits underneath the skin!
David.
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Back in the 60's a panel beater I knew replaced a Rover 90 aluminium boot lid with a steel one. A couple of days later the old couple who owned the car were back complaining about the lock not unlocking. The new lid was too just too heavy for them to lift.
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