The Impossible Rover SD1 Road Trip - The Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Hyphen - Ep 102
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- The Carmudgeons buy a 1980 Rover 3500, and attempt to drive it from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to San Francisco - 1600 miles, over the Rocky Mountains.
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This episode of the Carmudgeon show is sponsored by Lucid Motors, who has special lease and finance offers on available 2023 models of the Lucid Air Touring and Grand Touring. Visit lucidmotors.com for offer details.
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This is the kind of road trip that only the brave would attempt, especially in a 43-year-old British Leyland product that hasn't traveled that far in the previous 20 years combined.
But Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott are brave, if not crazy, and flew to Canada to rescue their newly aquired Persian Aqua Metallic SD1.
In this episode, the boys recount their stresses and successes, and teach us a couple things about the world's first 5-door luxury hatchback.
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The Carmudgeon Show is Part of the Hagerty Podcast Network
One part of me wants to be on that road trip with you and another part is very happy I wasn't.
Trapped in a classic car with a neurotic and superstitious person. Sounds like a blast.
My late-father rented an SD1 when we vacationed in the UK in 1985, we both loved that car. What a beautifully styled machine.
The most vivid memory from that car was when my father, used to driving in LHD cars, misjudged his lane position on a narrow road and drove the Rover into another car parked on the side of the road, with two people making out in it. Good times!
Surviving a road trip in a Rover is something. Having the Rover survive is an incredible feat.
To call 8°C "freezing" is roughly wrong by 8° 😉
"California freezing" 😆 said as a native! _"whaddya mean I have to wear something heavier than a light fleece!?"_
woah you guys stopped in Lacombe for a bite to eat. My hometown! I recognized the pot shop across the street in the photo LOL.
Pat's Driveline is amazing. Great people who know what they're talking about
You should invite Richard Porter and Johny Smith from @SmithandSniff over to do a joint BL podcast! I’d love to see that.
I forgot it was Monday! Sweeeeeeeet
Also, how in the name in all that is holy did a 43 year old Rover pass inspection. Like. Damn.
The SD1 is funny also because you were scheming to co-own a Carlton years back so you finally got a British sedan-American style.
Looking forward to this
I have great memories of the Rover 3500. As a teen growing up in Ontario, Canada, my dad had one. Dad put a racing exhaust on it and when he was coming home late at night from his work, I could hear the V8 rumble from blocks away. I learned to drive in it and went on many adventures in it, including camping trips. At some point along the line, my brother followed in my dad’s footsteps and bought one too. Yes, they had issues on occasion, but what car with a personality doesn’t? I loved the them.. Curious fact that we learned while owning ours.. While the two keys we had for each of the cars was different, we found that at least one of the two keys would work on any SD1 that we came across. We learned this when comparing notes at British car meets.. (And no, this fact didn’t inspire me to search out parked Rover’s and go on joy rides..) If ever I come across an SD1 here in Ontario for sale and the seller has lost the key, I have a 50% chance that I already have a key that fits. Enjoyed the video.. Brought back many good memories..
Excellent! You made it back. You're still friends. The podcast continues. Holy crap. I may just have to join Instagram for more! LOL!
I can imagine that a stressed and pissed-off Cammisa, would be a pretty ugly person to deal with. 😬
Fortunately, two things would get you through:
1. He's intelligent and realistic enough to not become a totally belligerent jerk (or stay that way for long);
2. Be Derek. He seems to have the temperament to cope, or cut-out, when Jason loses his cool.
Option 3? Crack a joke with J.C., mid-rant, and he'd probably drop his anger levels a lot. 😜
Talk of adding a steering wheel to the right hand side instantly brought me back to...driver's ed.
As an MGB and MG Metro driver this was fantastic. Interesting to hear that SD1s have a bit of interest in the US. Honestly tempting.
Damn guys you've no idea how do I enjoy your podcasts! The Rover experience was so great, thanks for sharing it. Derek, thanks for the metric temperature reading! Haha I always have to make the calcs when watching a US video. Cheers from Spain (as always)!
Fun fact is that during the time of British Leyland's transition into Austin Rover in the 1980s, a version of the Rover SD1 was licence built in India as the Standard 2000 from 1985 to 1988, briefly reviving the Standard brand which was axed in 1968. My neighbor use to own one and vividly remember riding in them as a child, there are probably are few hundreds of them still left in India.
40:33 😂 it would be like an Escher painting.
I'm so envious of that SD1. Congrats on surviving the trip. I was kinda hoping for a video of the trip, Vice-Grip Garage style , but I suspect that Jason was incapable of that kind of chill.
Bring on the Leyland show. My first car, in 1990 was a 64 Spitfire which I still have and I have a lust for a Dolomite Sprint.
Glad you all (including the SD1) made it back in one piece. Too bad you're not a video production podcast as being a video fly on the windshield would have brought a whole other dimension to this story. 😮😅 You guys rock.
Its fun to go back and remember that last summer these guys drove within 20km of my house down that Alberta provincial highway in that rover. I considered chilling on the overpass and seeing if I could spot them but not only is that a tad psychotic I had no idea what time they'd roll through
Sounds like the SD1 really stole your heart. Awesome car and miracle trip. Meant to be.
had a blast following along on instagram, i really hope you guys can make it back up to drive through the roads west of creston out to nelson
I have a feeling that Pavo and Jason conspire to make Derek clap just because it amuses them, not because it serves any actual purpose.
This used to be a car vlog, Somehow it has devolved into an evesdropping on two guys at a nearby table talking about god knows what, waiting forever for their waitress to come by.
Don't forget if you do go down the large engine route, Powers Performance do a 5.3 litre conversion for the Rover V8...
For the British Layland you guys gotta mention the Triumph v8 and all the horrors it was causing
Bought a 1976 GMC motor home in Florida in about 2010. Had 30 days to get it to Canada. Fuel pump failed on highway after Gallup, NM.found a guy who would fix it in Gallup. Had to fax info to either US or Canadian border authorities 24 hrs prior to arrival. Made it in time, my mind was on the ferry schedule, had to go in to Can customs, expecting a fairly large duty fee. It was obviously shift change no questions, no fee, could not get rid of me quick enough.
Watching Derek, sorry, Hyphen, struggle to clap evwry episode is one of the funniest things ever. Love this podcast
This episode has inspired me to hop in my 1998 Mazda Protege and lower the property values of my neighborhood 😤 I would be living an incomplete life without this podcast!
I'm glad to see that 3 of you made the drive from Edmonton to San Francisco with less problems than expected 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 I have always liked the 3.5 litre Rover V8 and car you bought 🇬🇧 I have good memories of these cars seeing them in the UK and Germany in the early 80's when I lived in Germany. I'm also looking forward to an update when you after the Registration and Smog check.
For me, the Rover/ex-Buick alloy V8 is one of the very nicest sounding motors. I'm no engineer, so can't pick what components or features might make it so satisfying. Godnose how many different exhaust systems have been draped off the back of it, and in so many different applications, but it still has this delicious waffle and satisfying growl.
If anyone is curious, search for vids of the later Vitesse variant of the Rover SD1*, and almost any TVR, MG, Morgan or Triumph model which had the Rover V8 fitted.
In 4.4L form, it even turned up in an oddball Strayan 🇦🇺 family car, of the early 70s - the brilliant but flawed Leyland P76*.
(* Goddam - British Leyland+Austin+Rover+Morris+etc really had some *crappy* naming conventions back then. 🤷🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️)
This was a fun one. Road trip stories usually are, even more so when shit goes south. But im glad it was relatively uneventful and you arrived home liking the car instead of wanting to set it ablaze.
I love road trips in questionable vehicles. A year ago I bought a 22 year old BMW on an online auction and drove it 1100 miles from Florida to Texas in 22 hours without anything going wrong. These are the best kind of trips and always an adventure!
I can't wait how this rover story turns out. There's a lot of foreshadowing if this Canuck rover is gonna survive. Thanks for the story guys!
You should do a sympathetic restomod build on that SD1. Good brakes, better suspension, a slight power bump and have the entire electrical system redone. That should make it an awesome daily driver. 👌🏾
Big congrats on your safe adventure! So cool that Jason gets his childhood memory back.
I think that Derek's bad luck with the Mercedes in Europa balanced this one out at the end of the day. I am glad you all had a fun trip and the car was worth it to all of you.
Had the same thing happen coming back across the boarder. We got pulled to the side, went into the office and they just stared at us for 15-20 minutes. Good times
presently my 2nd most favourite episode after "Gone in 2.5 Seconds" episode featuring Pontiac Endurance Test.
Well done, boys. Well done.
Shoutout to Lucid for the sponsorship! Very cool of them.
The Instagram pics are awesome this seemed like such a fun yet traumatic experience for all of you
I hope that you guys got the HS-7 and EPA 3520-1 forms stamped "released" by US Customs. I imported a historic rally car from Canada a few months ago. I couldn't find a shipper who would bring it to me in the US, so I had it shipped to Vancouver and then rented a u-haul truck and trailer to pick it up and import myself. When the Customs guy saw that the car was over 25 years old, he barely looked at the federal paperwork that I handed him with the rest of it. But I insisted that the forms get Customs stamps. When I registered the car (in WA state) the licensing office wanted those forms stamped.
Awesome adventure. My parents towed a caravan around Australia with an '85 SD1 and made it back to tell the tale. Predictably, the fuel pump packed it in a quarter of the way in!
Jason! You made a mistake that the NASCAR community has been talking about ever since a “Cup car” entered Le Mans a few weeks ago, when everyone was calling it “the NASCAR” It’s is a “stock car, cup car, NASCAR race car etc…”, not a “NASCAR”. I love the show and have been watching for years, so glad to finally be a listener who was able to nitpick some small little mistake in wording y’all made. Love you guys
You now have the car that provided the tail lights for the Delorean DMC12
Fun to see the muffler shop I drove by often, so glad that was a good experience.
Clarkson made a career out of undermining the UK car industry
Good to see you guys being more honest. Have fun. Try and get a Rover 75 next.
Dont think they were ever sold in the US. First ones are now 25 years old so it would be possible to import now but why would you want to? The V8 versions would be interesting but they were only introduced in 2004.
@paulds65 v6 is quite perky. V8 was a Ford engine I think so outside the thread of the programmes I guess
@@tonyclewes8 V8 was indeed Ford 4.6 RWD but only very few cars made, couple of hundred.
I’ve owned a few BL cars and what no one talks about is how inexpensive they are to maintain. Look at the cost of a radiator, starter, water pump, fuel pump for a BL car and compare those prices to a German car
Sometimes it’s a 3x-10x difference
Now that's a name I haven't heard in year (or decades)...Anglo Canadian. Circa 1967 I accompanied my brother there, as they were the Lotus dealer. Dingy little shop in downtown Edmonton warehouse district with a gleaming red Europa and a Super 7. Layer they moved and took on the BL line and sold accessories (wheel, Webers and Webastos). It was one of the go to wanna be racer shops in town. The owner, Mike, was a local racer and somehow managed to wrangle a pre production TR 8 coupe out of BL to convert to a track car. Don't think it was terribly reliable, but it sure looked the part and you could hear it miles away. Those were the days.
mike atkins tr8 race car
Hello Mike. I think I remember you.and Vince Cichetti from mid sixties - Scuderia Caro Tiro - hope I did not misspell anything. The Super 7 may have been one that came in boxes and was assembled by you. Very cool car!
I like the look of the car, especially in that blue. Wish I could find a new car with that vibe. (Couldn't handle the stress from driving a Rover almost as old as I am.)
In 2020, I bought a BMW E30 that had sat since 2002, for 18 years. It got new tires, and a battery, and that was it. The dealer tested it the day before I bought it, and it was overheating. It was found to be a cracked head, so they GLUED it together with silicone and sent it. I bought it and drove it home 1,915 miles over 2 days, pissing white smoke out the back. Made it home no problem.
From my stalled MGB V8 conversion the person to seek for higher performance for these engines (in the US anyways) is Dan LaGrou (D&D Fabricators in Michigan). They carry all sorts of stroker kits. For the 3.5L the bore can be taken out 0.030 (to 3.53) and stroked from 2.8 to 3.4 (using a Buick 300 crank cut down to fit the main bearings), giving 4.3L. They can also recommend cams, intakes and internals. On the stock Lucas/Bosch ECU main failure is the solder joints. If you have issues you can send them out to be resoldered or open it up and fix broken joints or resolder all components. For European parts Rimmer Brothers is the goto supplier.
😆 Only just noticed the rego/licence plate in the thumbnail pic...!
Also, I wonder if there was an Ethel in this car's past?
reminds me of the gambler 500. Not the trust fund gambling you see by influencers, but really just buying a beater, driving it to Oregon. Driving the snot out of it. Inevitably breaking it. Incomprehensibly fixing it. Somehow finding a way to drive it home. The very best worst times.
Ahhh...what an exciting trip!
I enjoyed watching and listening to this Podular.
Jason will now buy you out since it made it back home.
Pats driveline is very much still around!
turn it into a dual control driving instructor type car we had an sd1 for years in the 80s with no problems ,a p5c before that also fairly trouble free then i had a 420 in the 90s the same . out of the multitude of cars my family have had rovers have been one of the most reliable marks
Hearing your comment about the non functioning A/C and being in Spokane makes me grit my teeth for no way to reach out and help you guys. I would load up the W124 with the A/C equipment and some R-12 and come to your rescue! Would have come in the Citroen if it wasn’t broken. Seriously guys if you are ever in that area of the country you have avid fans and technicians to come to your rescue.
Intro called to mind two movies from 1997: U Turn and Breakdown.
Love British cars, dad used to own one of these this is what he said about it.
'I had one of those once, worst car I ever had 🤣🤣. I was out one night with a load of mates, we got to the destination and everyone put their windows up at the same time and it blew the fuse, had to drive back in the pouring rain with the floor mats over the window. The back window leaked and the fuse/relay box was in the boot so every now and then something would stop working so you had to go to the boot and wiggle the relays until it worked'
"Entire dozens of people know who we are"😂
Does Derek know that the reason he finds it difficult to clap is because he always sits so insanely close to the table, and in turn the microphone?
I’m impressed this episode occurred so soon, I figured it would have been in a month or so seeing the Piechisode timeline
Also was really hoping for a vlog Carmudgeon episode, like Scotto picking up the Audi he randomly bought in Canada
All hail the algorithm
In the 1980s Canadian Tire was sweet but now it's more like Home Depot.
Congrats on the car and trip guys! Love the looks of the SD, glad you got a good one. If you want some interesting British Leyland content check out Retropower on youtube, they're currently fusing an Allegro to a Integra Type R chassis. Also they have a supercharged Stratos among other interesting things.
An original vitesse and one done by icon for going to the shops and whist I’m thinking about it a bloody great pile of cash in the boot (seats folded down of course) 😊
No mention of the Lotus Esprit tail lights?
We need some sound clips once the performance mods are done!
My God. You spent a night in Klamath Falls??? No car is worth that.
Damn, and here I though *I* was cool for doing 800 miles in a W126 that had been sitting for 1 year.
I had never heard of vapor lock before, but it sounds a lot like what happens to my '90 Miata. It starts up great any time the ambient is around 50F or lower. And if I shut it off and start it back up within a few minutes, it always starts up great. But in other conditions, it'll crank for a good 5-10 seconds before starting. Once it starts it runs great forever.
I replaced the fuel pressure regulator previously, and I know the pump is good, but it sounds like the problem would occur in the tubing between the two? Is there anything else to do to mitigate it, or just crank past it each time?
Love my leyland products. I need more
The american rover went to mars, the British one saw Idaho for the first time.
UK eBay has a LHD SD1 2.4 DIESEL for sale. 60k miles 13k GBP. Ideal for hyphen ! 1985 with air conditioning
Having watched many a Vice Grip Garage, a jerry can with a direct wired pump is a fine way to get around. He calls it an NRA fuel system
How would a similar age and status Fiat, Ford BMW have managed ? As well or worse ?
But...have the back doors fallen off yet?
First self winding fuel pump ive ever heard
Does the Lucid deal apply to the UK ? No ? I thought not 😢
I didn't see no damn Piech book on seats of that Rover Jason .
May I ask why ?😂
Passenger side gauge cluster… then you can’t lie to your passenger about if it’s overheating, not charging etc. lol
Roadkill!! 😂
Roadkill, automobile style (vs hot rod)
TVR bored the Rover V8 out to 3.9, 4.2 and, I think, 4.5 litres.
Pretty obscure British shit that I didn't know existed. I'm guessing you guys are talking about the tr7
If you want parts for it, let me know👌🏻😉
Won’t charge anything other than cost of parts as you two do dumb stuff like me and friends do!🤷♂️🤣🤣
And can cut out air fairs etc, meh ya make me laugh and 100% correct on pretty much everything car related, GT86’s suck though Jason, just saying!
Rolex 24hr of LeGrope
I'm getting stressed just watching this episode...
for back ground on the SD1
ua-cam.com/video/N9L7mrUj3mE/v-deo.html
Ye gods you two are boring yip yapping...... WHERES THE FRIGGING CAR!!
I don't know if it's the same Pat's. But a quick search on Google reveals. Pat's Driveline is not only still in business but has locations all over Canada.
pitch: "Sight Unseen" a reality web series on which you buth go buy (un)remarkable cars and try to bring them home on a low budget
Jason, I hope the cam you end up putting in the Rover doesn't have the same end horsepower result as the cam you stuck in the E30 wagon
if you do a british leyland episode maybe involve smith and sniff theyre BL nuts and like you guys theyre hilarious!