Years of decline, poor models and being saved from bankruptcy by the government meant that any good news about the British motor industry was eagerly received by the British public. When the shape of the SD1 was revealed, the media excitement was marked. The replacement for the P6 saloon turned out to be an ultra modern five door hatchback, with more than a passion resemblance to Ferrari’s Daytona. The smoothly sculpted machine was credited to David Bache, probably British’s greatest ever stylist, but bore the hallmarks of a late 1960s Pininfarina aerodynamics study which also influenced the Citroen CX. Bache admitted the Daytona was a great influence, and pictures exist of the SD1 (Solihull Developments One) styling model being viewed alongside a Maserati Khamsin. Inside, Bache went in for more ground breaking modernism. Out went wood and chrome and in came logical and blocky industrial design. The instrument pack was all contained in a simple box which sat on the flat dashboard top. This made conversion to left hand drives as simple as attaching the pack to the other side of the dashboard. But, as clever and functional as the SD1’s interior undoubtedly was, buyer reaction was rather muted.
Despite the advanced design, the SD1 was quite ordinary under the skin, the biggest demerit being the live rear axle. Rover engineers, though, managed a decent job with the simple rear device chassis. It was launched with the excellent V8, before being supplemented by Six cylinder engines. It was a popular, perhaps much loved car in the UK, but suffered from poor quality early on. Rover used to it to re-launch into the USA, but the plan failed dismally. It was ground breaking in its design, but born into a family that prevented it from really flourishing.
