Rover 3500 V8
If you have read a few of my entries on this blog, you will know I’m an Aussie who spent a decade in New Zealand as a child. Because of this I grew up liking both Aussie and British cars. Of course I also came to like American cars too because there was a decent smattering of big old ‘yank tanks’ in New Zealand while I was there, but to be completely honest, for me, most American cars were aspirational. I kinda guessed I wasn’t going to be owning one despite the strong desire to do so. Which brings us to this entry.
When I was a teenager in NZ I had a good job and was earning good money for my age so I was saving hard for a car. At that time I had two (second-hand of course) cars in mind as my first purchase. Ranked number one was the Valiant AP5 (you can see my story about the AP5 here) and my second choice was the Rover 3500 V8 P6.
Rover 3500 V8
Apparently for a short time the P6 3500 and the Triumph 2000 (amongst others) were produced in NZ. Now I had spotted a couple of Triumphs that I liked but one day on the way home from work in Hamilton, I passed a caryard that had a V8 P6 in it. If I remember correctly it was the same colour as my die-cast model pictured here. So it began. I wondered, how quickly could I save enough to buy that actual car. Keep in mind I was a very naive teenager at the time, so on the way to and from work I would be checking that car out thinking it might be there when I had saved enough ‘moolah’. My imagination ran wild. I could see myself with a car full of mates cruising to the pictures and then afterwards ‘flogging’ the little v8 and ripping up some poor neighbours nature strip (this didnt happen so there’s no need to dial 111 and report me…I do not endorse hooning on public roads or tearing up pensioner’s front lawns etc so relax lol).
Rover 3500 V8 P6
By now you will have realised owning a car as a teenager was very important for me. Also, if you think back to your teenage years you will remember how important some aspirations can be in the naive teenage mind. Well dear reader, be prepared to reach for the box of tissues.
As you now know, I was saving for either an AP5 or a P6. I saved and saved. I can tell you other than paying a very generous board (rent) to my ‘oldies’, I spent about $2 in a six month period. I was serious about this saving business. From memory I was about half-way there, monetarily speaking, to fulfilling the dream. Then I got robbed. A mate of mine calculated the sum for me; in todays terms he reckons I had about the equivalent of US$4000, but by my calculations including inlfation, I had the equivalant of about NZ$11,000 . Either way it was a lot of money for a kid. I won’t go into the complete details here but I got ‘hit’ for a ‘loan’ for an important purpose (they had an awesome cover story) and I handed over every cent; never to see it again.
The dream was dead. I never did own either an AP5 or the P6. In fact I didn’t own a car for years after this ‘little’ setback. However, the good news is (you can put the kleenex down now) I found this die-cast 1/43 scale Vanguards Rover 3500 V8 on Ebay. It didn’t cost me 4 grand.
Vanguards 1/43 Rover 3500 V8
If you have enjoyed reading this article you can check out my other entries by using the archive list to the right. You can sign up to follow this blog, or receive email alerts. Also, please take the time to leave a comment. Thanks to those who already have. Cheers, Doogie.
Doogies Diecast Models 