The Rover V8 engine is one of the most famous, widely used and widely beloved engines in the history of the British motor industry, and to this day is still produced, maintained and repaired by an entire ecosystem of enthusiasts and engineers.

Whilst most famously used in the Range Rover, the Rover SD1 and the Land Rover Defender from 1983 onwards, the first British car that the Rover V8 was used in was the Rover P5B saloon car from 1967 until 1973.

However, this was far from the first car to use the engine at all, and a clue to why this is comes from the letter “B” in P5B, which stood for Buick, a car manufacturer under the gigantic General Motors umbrella.

The Rover V8 was originally known as the Buick 215, an exceptionally ambitious compact engine block developed in an attempt by the American car industry to use more aluminium.

The very earliest prototypical Buick 215 was fitted to the famous General Motors Le Sabre concept car, one of the most important and influential show cars ever made.

The engine was supercharged, capable of running on methanol as well as petrol, and was fitted to a rear-mounted automatic gearbox and a striking sleek body inspired by jet engines.

However, whilst the size is the same, because there is no interchangeability and so many fundamental changes in design, there is an argument to be made that the first car to use the production Buick 215 (and therefore the Rover V8) was the Buick Special, also known as the Special Deluxe and the Skylark depending on the model.

The Buick Special, as well as similar cars by Oldsmobile and Pontiac, were popular with the press and customers of the time, selling well, but the cost to produce an aluminium engine and early issues with reliability led to it being discontinued after just two years.

The unloved engine would be bought by Rover and the rest is history.