Estates
While Triumph enjoyed considerable success with the estate version of their 2000 saloon, Rover seemed happy to leave that sector of the market entirely open to their old rival. However, Battersea-based coachbuilders FLM Panelcraft picked up Rover's dropped ball and produced their own estate conversion of the P6, called the Estoura. The name is presumably a contraction of the words 'estate' and 'tourer'. Between 160 and 170 were produced (although the Rover P6 Club database shows 187 Estouras as of Dec 2010). The first estate was not an approved conversion, but from 1970 onwards the car was marketed (with the factory's blessing) by BL dealers HR Owen Limited and therefore factory warranties were carried forward.
The conversions were completed by H.R. Owen and Crayford Engineering, with bodywork executed by FLM Panelcraft. According to P6 archivist John Windwood, Crayford's involvement in the project was limited to the interior of the car, and the company had no bearing on the external design of the estate conversion. Nonetheless Crayford badged them as Crayfords for a while (implying that they built them) and only stopped after FLM threatened legal action. Conversions could be carried out at any time in the car's life. Most conversions appear to have been carried out when the cars were 12 months old or older because if a car was converted when new, the conversion would be liable for Purchase Tax like the car itself.
Due to the cost of the conversion (about GB£800) it would appear that most were carried out on the 3500 rather than on the 2000, with even fewer 2200s made. In comparison with the Triumph 2000 estate, the Rover Estoura was of limited practicality. The quality of the conversion also left a great deal to be desired. According to John Windwood:
Due to the sloping roofline, the rear door is very low and very small; I am 6'2" tall, and the tailgate is open fully at about the level of my chest! Loadspace is also compromised for the same reason. And they were even more rot-prone than the standard P6 because the conversion was, quite frankly, a bit of a lash-up! The rear pod unit is basically held onto the base unit with pop rivets, and when the cars were cut for conversion, no paint or other rustproofing was applied to the bare edges. The rear pod was also fitted on top of the boot drain channels, effectively blocking them and redirecting the water to places it was never intended to go.
Read more about this topic: Rover P6
Famous quotes containing the word estates:
“I hate the noise and hurry inseparable from great Estates and Titles, and look upon both as blessings that ought only to be given to fools, for ‘tis only to them that they are blessings.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)
“No man, however benevolent, liberal, and wise, can use a large fortune so that it will do half as much good in the world as it would if it were divided into moderate sums and in the hands of workmen who had earned it by industry and frugality. The piling up of estates often does great and conspicuous good.... But no man does with accumulated wealth so much good as the same amount would do in many hands.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The Sun shone whole at intervals--/Then Half--then utter hid--/As if Himself were optional/And had Estates of Cloud/Sufficient to enfold Him/Eternally from view--”
—Emily Dickinson (1831–1886)