Whilst initially an American engine block, the Rover V8 engine was a British institution for half a century and to this day remains an incredibly beloved powerplant that keeps classic Land Rovers and Range Rovers moving.

From the launch of the Range Rover in 1970 up until the Land Rover Discovery II in 2004, the top-of-the-range engine option has always been the Rover V8, and there is perhaps no better illustration of just how important and influential the engine was than that.

Even after it stopped being mass-produced, it was used in the Bowler Wildcat (itself based on the Land Rover Defender) and has been used ever since in kit cars and low-volume British cars, thanks to rebuilders, repairs and low-volume manufacturers.

However, what is extremely strange is that Rover themselves stopped using the Rover V8 engine as early as 1986 when the SD1 was discontinued, with neither the Rover 800 nor the Rover 75 using it despite it still being a competitive and effective engine. The Rover 800 did not even have a V8 option at all.

Why was this? Ultimately the year 1986 is important in this, as that was the year when what was British Leyland became the Rover Group as part of a plan to privatise and sell the company. 

Whilst Unipart, Leyland Trucks and Buses and Freight Rover were indeed sold off, the Rover Group was sold to British Aerospace with Honda taking a 20 per cent stake in the company as well.

Rover and Honda collaborated on the Rover SD1’s successor, the Honda Legend and Rover 800, with the latter providing the top-of-the-range V6 engine.

When that deal ended as a result of Rover being bought by BMW, Rover replaced the V6 engine with their own Rover KV6, but by the time the Rover 75 had a V8 model, it was 2004 and used a Ford Modular V8 engine.