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ROVER SD1
Parts Consignment from India
It’s been rumoured and talked about for years.
A massive consignment of Rover SD1 parts tucked away in warehouses at
Standard Motor Products of India for the last 20 years, untouched.
Now, after several months of negotiations, packing, shipping, counting and sorting, it’s finally here and ready for sale.
The largest consignment of genuine Rover SD1 parts ever to hit the market.
Shipped back from India in twenty 40' containers, the stock is catalogued here for the first time.
We are offering all SD1 owners a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase parts (some previously rare or unavailable)
at remarkably low prices.
These low prices have been set in order to sell parts in quantity. Such is the volume of stock, the longer term cost of
warehousing and storage will inevitably force up the cost of parts in the future.
This is a one-off opportunity to replace worn out and tired components or to rebuild or restore your car
with genuine parts - at minimal cost.
Quite simply, BUY NOW. Not only for the lowest price but to secure the purchase of previously rare parts.
We expect to sell certain items quickly - so don’t delay!
SD1 India - The Story
The History
It is a well known fact that the Rover SD1 was sold in
India as the ‘Standard 2000’ in the mid 80’s by Standard
Motor Products of Madras (now called Chennai), India.
Towards the end of production in the UK, CKD
(Completely Knocked Down) kits were sold by Austin
Rover to the Indian company for assembly overseas
using their own variant of 4 cylinder (2 litre) petrol engine
(part Vanguard/TR4/P6 Rover 2000) and gearbox (4
speed, based on Triumph).
Bodyshells were built using partially
made up sub assemblys such as rear
quarter panels, front inner flitches,
rear floors (which included chassis
legs), main floors and bulkheads
which made final assembly relatively
straightforward. These sub assemblys
and all other bodywork (including
front wings, doors, bonnets,
tailgates, sills, roof panels and
A/B/C/D pillars were carefully packed
in huge wooden crates (designed to fit snugly width and height wise into containers) with
greased paper to preserve them.
Mechanical components such as brakes, suspension and
body fittings were packed in large steel bins, each
individual carton being carefully numbered and logged
and ready to build the Standard 2000.
It is unclear as to exactly how many cars were built
between 1985 & 1988 in India, but they struggled to sell.
This was a factor that eventually sealed the fate of SMPI
who also made other cars and mini buses from their large
50 acre factory site on the outskirts of Madras. The whole
site has been closed and under guard for over 15 years
with no-one allowed in or anything allowed out - a
unique ‘time warp’ situation.
The plan was for Austin Rover to eventually ship over all
the SD1 tooling so that SMPI could manufacture the car
from scratch - but this never happened - it got as far as
the docks in the UK - as SMPI went bust and the whole
project stopped. These facts were backed up by David
Bishop (ex MD of British Motor Heritage) who at the time
was involved with product procurement for the CKD SD1.
The Rimmer Bros Deal
This left approximately 600 unused kits at the SMPI site
where they have remained ever since, stored in 5
warehouses. Such is the protracted legal process in India,
the site and stock were not disposed of until 2005. (what
a shame this didn’t happen 10 years ago!). Rimmer Bros
got to hear about the stock during the summer of 2005
although at first there was disbelief that all this stock
existed after all this time. It wasn’t until late 2005 that
some photo’s arrived of some of the stock - still in its
original packaging - and the enormity of what there was
became real.
The stock was originally offered for sale at a price that
would not have been commercially viable for anyone to
take on - let alone support an enthusiastic following for
SD1’s both in the UK and overseas.
A visit to India in February 2006 to view the stock and
negotiate price resulted in a deal being struck to repatriate
almost all the stock back to the UK.
Tough decisions had to be made about what to leave
behind and scrap. Obviously some stock had suffered due
to damp, high heat and humidity (the annual monsoon
seasons didn’t help either). Other stock was worthless
(who wants 1000 x 5J x 14 steel wheels?) or didn’t
warrant the container and shipping costs.
We had to estimate what would be in demand for the
foreseeable future - and leave some of it behind. Of the
vast amount of stock returned to the UK, some of it will
sell very quickly.
The Stock
When we visited India, we saw crates and crates full of
brand new perfectly preserved genuine parts just as they
had left Austin Rover all those years ago. There were even
original packing slips inside the boxes!
Remarkably, the stock is preserved extremely well and has
not suffered in storage at all. Notable exceptions are strut
leg bump stops (crumbled to dust!) and door weather
strips (hard & brittle). Some other parts are simply dusty
and a quick clean will reveal a brand new part (eg door
seals, plastic underbelly panels and bonnet sound
insulation pads). Body panels, doors, bonnets, tailgates
etc are supplied in a ‘body in white’ production wax
coating which can easily removed before priming. We
should also warn customers to expect handling marks,
small dings/dents on body panels - they have travelled a
long way - although the prices we have set for these items make full allowance for this possibility. Please do not
purchase these panels if you expect 100% perfection at
these prices.
Due to the fact SMPI used their own engine and gearbox,
there are no such components in the consignment (apart
from some mountings, 2 litre carbs, PAS components and
other ancillaries). Additionally, seats, door panels,
carpets, headlining etc were all supplied locally as were
bumpers (which we are currently looking at
remanufacturing). We do not foresee this as a problem to
an SD1 owner, due to the plentiful supply of secondhand
parts generally being available in the market.
It should be noted that all the stock is for 1982 onwards
model year (RHD) vehicles however, many parts are non year
specific and are therefore suitable for any model.
Please ask if unsure.
The Prices
We have incurred significant costs in not only shipping
the parts back to the UK, but also additional warehousing
and storage, handling and sorting.
However, such is the volume of product, we are in a
position to offer remarkable value for money.
We have re-priced just about all our SD1 product range
resulting in very low prices - we urge you to take
advantage now as prices will eventually rise in the future.
Why not take advantage of our interest free credit option
for larger purchases (see next page) or our kits of parts by
section or our ‘Total kit of everything!
Our aim with this brochure is to pass on the stock direct
to owners at special prices. Please do not be disappointed
if you delay ordering to find that we have either sold out
or had a price increase! Don’t delay - order today!
Please note: Our May 2006 Price Guide (page 14) featured news of this
special purchase and details of an air freight consignment sent ahead of
the bulk stock. The prices of certain parts reflected the air freight costs and
as such may have reduced now that the bulk (sea) freight consignments
have arrived.
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