Rover P4 Buyer's Guide
The P4 (1949–1964) is the upright, dignified "Auntie" Rover, built to a standard rather than a price, and it remains one of the most affordable ways into proper coachbuilt-feeling fifties motoring. Our data is a single sale and a single live car, both P4 100s, and neither reaches five figures.
Know your versions
The numbers are the horsepower-badged model names, not chassis codes. The 75 opened the line in 1949 with the 2.1-litre inlet-over-exhaust six (the early "Cyclops" cars with the central foglamp are the collector's curiosity); the 60 and 80 used four-cylinder engines; the 90 (1954–1959) was the family's staple six; and the run closed with the best cars, the 100 (1959–1962) with a 2.6-litre short-stroke six, and the final 95 and 110 (1962–1964). Aluminium doors, bonnet and boot lid on steel frames were fitted throughout, which matters for what corrodes and what does not. The 100 and 110 are the ones to drive: adequate pace, overdrive on many, and the same club-armchair interior of wood, leather and thick carpet.
What to pay
One sold result: £8,900 for a 1961 P4 100 in August 2026. One active listing: a 1960 P4 100 "Woody" estate conversion guided at £6,500–£7,500. That is the entire dataset, and it is honest about the market: solid, usable P4s are £6,500–£8,900 cars on current evidence, with concours restorations above that nationally and projects below. Rarity does not inflate them; supply of good ones roughly matches the devoted demand.
What goes wrong
Steel inner structure rusts while the aluminium skins stay smart, which is precisely the trap: sills, floors, box sections, wing edges and the boot floor need inspection regardless of how good the doors look, and electrolytic corrosion blooms where aluminium meets steel. The IOE sixes are long-lived, torquey and simple, though a full rebuild is a specialist job; listen for timing chain rattle and check oil pressure when hot. Brakes (drums, with a servo on later cars) and kingpins want regular greasing and adjustment. Interior wood and leather is the expensive part of any restoration, so a P4 with a good original cabin is worth a real premium over one needing trim.
Our view
At our £8,900 result the P4 100 is a lot of hand-finished motor car for the money: strong club support, good spares through the specialists, and engineering durable enough to have earned the "Auntie" nickname honestly. It will never make anyone rich, which is rather the point; buy a structurally sound 100 or 110 with a nice interior and it will potter on for another fifty years at minimal cost.
