There are few engines in the British motor industry that have as diverse a lineage and as powerful a legacy as the Rover V8, to the point that rebuilds, repairs and replacements are still highly desirable even two decades after it was discontinued.

It was the engine that made the legendary Range Rover classic as powerful and versatile as it was, but it was far from the first car to use Rover V8 power.

There are two answers to which car was the first to be powered by the Rover V8 engine, and it depends on where the lineage of the engine starts.

The first car to use an engine badged as a Rover V8 was the Rover P5B saloon car starting in 1967, which gave the car 158 horsepower, something that would improve dramatically over decades of use.

However, The Rover V8 was not originally known as the Rover V8. The origin of the engine is, in fact, much older than 1967 and begins in Detroit, USA. 

General Motors developed what was then known as the Buick 215 as early as 1951 when it appeared under the bonnet of the Le Sabre concept car.

After positive feedback for this and the Buick Roadmaster, GM put the engine nicknamed “Fireball” into full production, and its first appearance in a production model was in the Buick Special/Skylark in 1961.

However, there were multiple issues with the production process in Detroit with antifreeze and sealing issues, so the 215 lasted just two years in production before the Fireball was put out.

The year after this, Rover’s head of American operations noticed the lightweight Buick V8 and believed that it had potential for British cars, given that they tend to be lighter on average than American ones. After a deal to buy the tooling, the rest is history.