This is a shiny thing. It’s the front of a Rover P6 – in this case, a 1967 P6 2000SC.. in other words, the slowest possible configuration of the car. Take a fantastic-if-unrefined 2 litre 4cyl engine, remove one of its carbs, and throw an autobox behind it.. and you’re never going to win the RAC Rally.
However, what we’re interested in is the shininess. Sixties Rovers were always a bit like driving around in a gentlemens’ club, but the P6 had an interesting combination of chrome, wood, leather, and fake plastic.
This is an ICELERT. Its badly-spelled name tells you exactly what it is – it’s a big round shiny thing that lights the dashboard up when there’s ice on the road. More modern cars have sensors, alerts, buzzers, and all sorts of fancy electronics to make sure driving like an idiot doesn’t necessarily end in you crashing.
However, for the Rover driver – a small red light is plenty good enough. Rover assumed that concentrating on the road in sub-optimal conditions was far more important than surrounding the driver with gizmos. It actually works perfectly too.
The one tiny flaw? The “icelert light” is on the PASSENGER SIDE of the car!
