Rover 2000 & 2200 - A Brief History

So advanced was the Rover 2000 when it was introduced in 1963 that it was to be the fist recipient of the new "Car of the Year Award" the same year. This luxury  4 door family saloon, with its well appointed interior, featured an all steel monocoque base unit onto which all the outer body panels were bolted, with the bonnet and boot lid being of aluminium. The two litre engine was a newly designed overhead camshaft unit developing 90 bhp and this drove the rear wheels via an all synchromesh four speed gearbox. Suspension was independent  all round and employed a de Dion tube arrangement at the rear which enabled the car to remain quite level at high cornering speeds. Servo assisted four wheel disc brakes were also fitted, with the rear discs being mounted inboard. In 1966 the TC or twin carburettor version was launched alongside the existing model and was equipped with a tachometer, modified cylinder head and oil cooler. At this time the option of automatic transmission became available. In 1970 the series 2 was launched and this was identifiable  by a restyled black honeycombed front grille, vinyl coved rear roof pillars, stainless steel side trim, black coloured sills, modified bonnet and on the TC a new dashboard layout using circular instruments as opposed to the strip style speedometer on the earlier and SC models. The 2000 was replaced in 1973 by the 2200 which apart the increase in engine capacity, revised cylinder head and suspension was much the same car. The 2200 remained in production until 1977.

Specifications

Model

2000

2000 TC

2200

2200 TC

Years Produced

1963 - 1973

1966 - 1973

1974 - 1977

1974 - 1977

Body Type (all)

4 door saloon, steel monocoque body tub, bolt on panels, alloy boot & bonnet

Length

14ft 11in

14ft 11in

14ft 11in

14ft 11in

Width

5ft 6in

5ft 6in

5ft 6in

5ft 6in

Weight

2804lb

2849lb

 2805lb

2845lb

Engine

4 cyl inline 1978cc overhead cam

4 cyl inline 2204cc overhead cam

Power (bhp @ rpm)

90 @ 5000

114 @ 5500

98 @ 5000

115 @ 5000

Gearbox

4 speed manual or 3 speed automatic

Driven Wheels

Rear

Rear

Brakes

Servo assisted discs all round

Front Suspension

Independent by horizontally mounted coil springs

Rear Suspension

Independent coil spring with de Dion tube

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