Seeing KwS's new (gold) Vanden Plas Efi on another thread had opened another query.

Now I understand the Vitesse was only available in red, silver, black, blue and white.

Was the VDP Efi available in all colours (meaning all VDP colours)?

With the Vitesse engine and brakes, but with the addition of a more plush interior, air-con, cruise, leather, electric sunroof isn't the Vanden Plas Efi the ultimate SD1?

The Vanden Plas EFi was available in all colours, unlike the Vitesse.
Certainly according to the brochures I've got to hand. Some colours
are probably ultra rare or extinct and we'll never see them on a
VDP EFi, e.g. clove brown. Eclipse blue is also very rare, but Ramon's
old VDP EFi was that colour, I think, and has resurfaced recently.

The Vitesse was produced in colours other than the red (monza then
targa), silverleaf, moonraker blue, black. There have been white ones
(some police, some non police), a grey one I seem to remember mention
of some time back (no idea what this was, but the claim was it was
grey from new) and I remember seeing a zircon blue (light blue metallic)
in about 1987 or 1988 (I've got a photo of it, alas not clear enough to
read the registration mark).

the vanden plas efi was as you say the ultimate sd1, or at least it was the top of the range, the flagship of the fleet if you like.
this is often overlooked in buyer's guides and in books, as the vitesse, with it's racing history and more power through the manual box, is often referred to as the ultimate sd1.
i'd be happy with either really......

The ultimate SD1 must be the way you want your SD1 to be.

If I'd researched SD1s first my 'ultimate' SD1 would have been a ADP EFI...I could have fitted a 3.9 and a R380 in it and still had leather and air con


But I saw it and bought it...Then researched...

Just checking through my brochures and found that when Rover introduced some new colours Jan '86 these were not available on the VDP EFi.

Arum white, Eclipse blue, Opaline green and Zircon blue were all dropped being replaced by White diamond, Nightwatch blue, Silk green & Azure blue. According to the brochure I have these new colours were not available on the 2000, 3500 VDP or the VDP EFi models.

Eric

Chris,

The first quater 1986 brochure that I was reffering to still lists all variants of the SD1 as being avaiable with the exception of the 2400 SD Turbo.

If the 3500 VDP EFi was still only built to order at this stage of production (as it was always supposed to be) can't see why the new colours were not available. There are a number of 86 VDP EFi's still around so really depends if they were actually built in 86 or earlier.

The new colours were available on the 2000, 2300 and 2600VDP but not on the 2300S, 2600S, 3500 VDP, 3500 VDP EFi or Vitesse.

I'm making assumptions here, but SD1s built from end 1985 until the
end of production is tiny - about 3000 cars. And in that production is
something like 700 twin-throttle Vitesses, the vast majority of TPs
being built from late 1985 onwards.

I'm throwing in the argument that ALL production from late 1985 onward
was 2300, 2600VDP or Vitesse models ONLY, and that's why the new
1986 colours were not available on any other model.

Actually, I've just referred to Pender's book.... There were no VDP EFi
cars made in 1986 - hence why it was never available in a 1986 colour.
There were 79 3500 models made in that year though - but these could
be Police spec ones!

Any 1986 registrations of VDP EFi cars would be 'stock'. Where the
'special order' business fits in I don't know though!

Yes, that all sounds plausible.

Just need to find some 86 registered VDP EFi's to see if they were actually built in 85 or 86.

Anyone got one?

I have a photograph of an E-Reg Vanden Plas Efi which I took possibly 12-15 years ago when there was a Rover Meeting in the New Forest.

E502 LHX - An "electric blue" looking colour (non-original I guess)

For more car details in these pics, see my original post "Old Photographs" under "SD1 spotted" section....

Regretfully it was fitted with a wide arch kit, massive Revolution wheels, and a Cosworth bonnet vents and spoiler and it sounded like thunder with twin exhausts that exited through the sills....

and it was lower than a rattlesnake's testicles as it scrapped its way into the unmade car park

Without checking the VIN, treat all badges with suspicion!

E502LHX is quite interesting as it wasn't registered until November
1987 - this makes it the latest SD1 registered in the UK that I've
come across. Most E reg cars are August registration. And this is
all SD1 stock over a year old - last production was July 1986. There
is a claim an 'F' reg SD1 exists/existed - anyone got a pic of this?

The vehicle details for E502 LHX are:

Date of Liability 01 09 1996
Date of First Registration 04 11 1987
Year of Manufacture 1987
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3528CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour RED
Vehicle Type Approval null

This is it:-



As you might have guessed I was also there, if I recall I didn't think it was a VDPEFi at the time but couldn't be sure.

jesus christ!!
actually i quite like that, which probably says a lot about me as a person. colour is crap though, good job rover didn't offer them in that shade...
i seem to remember an f reg floating about, and it must have been fairly recently because i've only been going to rover shows since i was 17 in 2001