Rover P5B Coupe and Saloon – Twins Below the Waist – 210

What could be better than a Rover P5B? Two of them would be, especially one of each variant

John de la Haye took delivery of his Rover 3.5-litre saloon in October 1970. He had a choice of colour and couldn’t decide, so his son-in-law, Bob Wolfe, said he was having the Arden Green one and the decision was made. The list price was $6665 at a time when a Jaguar XJ6 was about $8500, and a Ford Zodiac about $4300. A few months later Mr de la Haye became too ill to drive, and his wife took over the driving duties. With a name like Lola de la Haye, and being related to the Delahaye car makers, there was a good chance she would be a car enthusiast, and she is one to this day.

Mrs de la Haye drove the Rover for years, and was often approached by enthusiasts wanting to buy the car. They would leave their contact details and she dutifully kept them all, ending up with over 30 names. So if you’re still waiting for that lovely old lady with the green Rover to call, forget it!

In time the Rover was passed on to her grandson, Michael Wolfe. Mrs de la Haye still drives her Rover 2000 every week at the young age of 98 years. Although Michael is the P5B’s acknowledged owner in waiting, at this stage it is still considered to be owned by the Wolfe family. He commented that the family barely sells a car. When they want a new car they buy it and keep the ones they already have. That’s why his mother has a 27,000km Morris 1100 and Michael is now the custodian of the Ford Zodiac that his parents bought new, which has travelled 108,000km.