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One of the first Rover NADA spec cars I restored was a low-mileage, Almond P6.
I wanted to restore a car with all the American NADA / Federal spec and spent a couple of years looking for a good base unit. In 1999 I found this one in Worcester. It had been stood a few years, but it had turned only 24,000 miles from new, had plenty of history and the base unit was sound. I promptly bought it for £500.00, and got it down to my workshop.
As you can imagine, the fact that the car had been laid up for so long had not done it any favours. A full brake rebuild was the first thing on the list, with the calipers and discs all being replaced with new or fully reconditioned parts. The suspension was completely overhauled with as many new or NOS parts I could find, and those parts I couldn't find off the shelf were replaced with reconditioned parts. I had to replace both front and rear wings, and these had to be imported from the States along with all the other specific NADA parts I needed, and they were duly fitted.
The engine was partially seized because it had been stood so long, and I decided to buy a brand new engine out of the crate. This was to be a top-notch restoration and I wanted everything to be perfect.
The Almond paintwork was replaced with Jaguar Carnival Red metallic which really suited the P6 body styling, the respray done mainly by myself. All the chromework was replaced with NOS which had never been fitted to another vehicle, which finished off the car.
The restoration cost around £16,000 in all, but it was definately well spent.
The P6 was finally finished in 2004, and was sold to Andy Gordon down in the London area. He'd already got an estate P6, and loved this NADA straight away. The car is still on the road, and I do keep in touch with Andy. The only modification made to the car has been the installation of fuel injection. Everything else is standard, fitted to Rover specification.
