‘ John Eales is the V8’ s godfather. Someone who has helped it realise its true potential’
If it hadn’ t been for Land Rover, the V8 wouldn’ t have lived for quite so long
‘ John Eales is the V8’ s godfather. Someone who has helped it realise its true potential’
After the 4.2 with its 77mm long stroke, in 1996 a 4.5 came along. With 4552cc from 94mm bores and an 82mm stroke, it produced 225hp and 379Nm of torque. It was this version, installed in the Land Rover Discovery, that would see the Rover V8 to the end. In 2004, when the Discovery II went off sale, the mass production of Rover’ s V8 ended.
John, who now runs JE Developments, a company still dedicated to the Rover V8, had such a close connection with Land Rover thanks to his skill with the V8 that, when the engine production ceased, he was able to acquire what was left.‘ We bought virtually everything that was left when Land Rover finished production, so we have a huge stock of blocks.’ But engine building is what JE Developments does, it’ s not a standard parts supplier,‘ I don’ t sell them just as individual blocks. I only sell what we build.’ And that’ s whatever sort of Rover V8 you want.‘ There are probably 12 different capacity engines we can build. Anything from a 3.5-litre to 5.3. We can do 10 different stroke crankshafts …’
Fuel injection is one of the many different intakes developed for the Rover V8
Spring 2026 The Engine Rebuilder 25