Year of manufacture 1981 Recorded mileage 49,088 Asking price £14,995 Vendor Percival Motor Company, Ulcombe, near Maidstone, Kent; 01622 851841; percivalmotorco.co.uk WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £11,900 Max power 155bhp Max torque 198lb ft 0-60mph 9.7 secs Top speed 126mph Mpg 20.7
My father was an expat, so my early motoring experiences centred around sitting in the back of pretty uninspiring Colt Galants and Toyota Corona MkIIs. I longed for trips back to Blighty so I could spend time with my grandparents and, just as importantly, Dad could get something a bit more interesting as a hire car. These tended to be Rover SD1s, 2300s or 2600s in relatively basic spec, but they provided a splash of automotive colour with their stretched Ferrari Daytona styling, sonorous straight-six engines and cavernous interiors – not to mention such desirable extras as sunroofs and electric windows.
I looked with envy at the Vanden Plas and Vitesse models we passed, knowing that most featured the glorious, Buick-derived 3.5-litre V8 engine and more toys than ‘our’ lowlier versions. So it’s hardly surprising my eye was caught by this handsome 3500 Vanden Plas, finished in Bordeaux (metallic red) with Oatmeal leather, on offer with Percival Motor Company. Built at Solihull in July 1981, it’s more interesting than the norm, too, with the early-style recessed headlamps but a number of features of the later cars. “They didn’t make many Vanden Plas to this spec,” says Simon Percival. “It’s a sort of ‘Series 1.5’ between the stainless-bumper cars and the Series 2s.”
Acquired by the previous owner from British Leyland collector Anthony Kearsley (C&SC, June 2021), the 3500 has a history file dating back to the mid-’80s and was restored a while ago by Rover SD1 Club members. Simon admits the bodywork isn’t concours, but
