consultants couldn’t understand why these
producing a healthy 158 bhp, and 210 Ib ft of
torque, the car was an instant hit when it was
people just don’t drive like that!’ one American
exclaimed; Rover engineers, determined to
show him otherwise, decided the best thing
to do would be to strap him in with a factory
test driver for a 100mph cross-country hoon
Plus 8 was the fastest accelerating production
car of its time and could show a clean pair
of heels to any contemporary offerings from
Lotus, Aston or Jaguar. In fact, it wasn’t until the
Plus 8 drivers were ever seriously challenged
ride visibly shaken, but also much wiser to
the kind of punishment Rover’s engine would
be expected to withstand from its more
The revised 3528cc Rover V8 was eventually
Following Morgan’s lead, several other
all campaigned variants of Rover’s trusty V8
thanks to its lightness (the original’s drykg), compact dimensions, reliability and
responsiveness to tuning tweaks. During
four decades of production the engine was
manufacturer to realise the V8’s potential;
Peter Morgan quickly recruited respected race
car builder, Maurice Owen, to project manage
the production of a Plus 8 prototype using
needs of each new generation of car builder;
its original bore of 3.5 litres was continually
its way into many range-topping TVRs, but had
22 | MotorPunk January 2014