Rover V8 Engine - History

History

The Rover V8 began life as the Buick 215, an all-aluminium engine introduced in 1960 for the 1961 US model year. The compact engine was lightweight, at just 144 kg (318 lb), and capable of high power outputs: the most powerful Buick version of this engine rated 149 kW (200 hp), and the very similar Oldsmobile "Jetfire" turbocharged version made 215 hp (both numbers SAE gross). Based on sales volume and press reports, the engine was a success. Buick produced 376,799 cars with this engine in just three years. A comparable number of Oldsmobile 215 engines were produced. In addition, some Pontiac models were fitted with the Buick 215, leading to the nickname "BOP 215" for the engine (BOP standing for Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac). The aluminium engine was relatively expensive to produce, however, and it suffered problems with oil and coolant sealing, as well as with radiator clogging from use of antifreeze incompatible with aluminium. As a result, GM ceased production of the all-aluminium engine after 1963, although Buick retained a similar iron engine, as well as a V6 derivative which proved to have a very long and successful life.

In January 1964 Rover gave American operations head J. Bruce McWilliams permission to investigate the possible purchase of an American V8 engine for Rover cars. It is usually said that McWilliams first saw the Buick V8 at the works of Mercury Marine, where he was discussing the sale of Rover gas turbines and diesel engines to the company (Mercury did indeed use the Land Rover 2.25 litre diesel engine in marinised form). However, it is likely that McWilliams was aware of the Buick engine before this. In any case, McWilliams realised that the lightweight Buick V8 would be ideal for smaller British cars (indeed, it weighed less than many straight-4 engines it would replace.) McWilliams and William Martin-Hurst began an aggressive campaign to convince GM to sell the tooling, which they finally agreed to do in January 1965. Retiring Buick engineer Joe Turlay moved to the UK to act as a consultant.

The Rover V8 has long been a relatively common engine for kit car and hot rod use in Britain, much as the Chevrolet small-block V8 is for American builders (though many British hot rods have traditionally used four cylinder engines, like the Ford Pinto and Crossflow units). Even in the US there is a strong contingent of builders who select the Buick or Rover aluminium V8 engine for use in small sporty cars like the MG MGB and the Chevy Vega. Note also that the 1964 Buick iron-block 4,920 cc (300 cu in) engine had aluminium cylinder heads and a longer stroke crankshaft which with minor modifications can be used with the Buick 215 or Rover engine blocks to produce a high output, very light weight V8 with displacement of up to about 300 cubic inches. The 300 crank in the 215 block yields 4,260 cc (260 cu in).

The British made engines were run on two SU carburettors (14 years), then two Stromberg carburettors (2–3 years), Bosch L-Jetronic (7–8 years, a.k.a. Lucas 4CU Flapper), then Hitachi Hotwire (5 years, a.k.a. Lucas 14CUX), then the GEMS system (years) and finally Bosch Motronics for 2 years. The engine is still cast now (2011), in an improved version, by Coscast in Birmingham, UK.

As well as appearing in Rover cars, the engine was widely sold by Rover to small car builders, and has appeared in a wide variety of vehicles. Rover V8s feature in some models from Morgan, TVR, Triumph, Land Rover and MG, among many others.

The demise of the MG Rover Group in 2005 led to a halt in production of the famed "name" Rover V8 after 40 years. The last Rover to have a real Rover V8 was the Rover SD1 Vitesse which was replaced by the Rover 827 Vitesse with a 2.7 litre Honda V6 unit, The Rover V8 remained with Land Rover until being sold to Ford by BMW. However, Land Rover desired for production of the engine to continue, and they arranged for production to restart in Weston-super-Mare under MCT, an engineering and manufacturing company. Although Land Rover has switched to the Jaguar AJ-V8 engine for new applications, MCT will continue limited production of the engine for the indeterminate future, supplying engines for aftermarket and replacement use.

It is also interesting to note that the "Rover V8" based on the Buick design was not the first V8 produced by Rover. When the Rover Co was having engineering differences of opinion with the development of the Whittle turbine engine, the Wilks' did a deal with Rolls-Royce to swap technologies. The turbine engine project went to Rolls-Royce and Rover Co took over the V12 Meteor production used in the Centurion Tank. From this a V8 variant was developed the Rover Meteorite, also known as Rolls-Royce Meteorite, was a V8 petrol engine of 18.01 L (1,099 cu in) capacity. In essence it was two-thirds of a V12 Meteor, and it shared the Meteor's 60° bank angle. Meteorites were built for vehicles, for marine use and as stationary power units.

It powered the Thornycroft Antar or Mighty Antar Tank Transporter, so was used to transport Meteor-engined tanks, and also heavy transport on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme in Australia.