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Curios: Rover Prestige, by Wood & Pickett

Published 28 February 2014

Borrowing its name from the stretched top-of-the-range Citroën CX, the Rover Prestige was Wood & Pickett’s luxury version of the Rover SD1…

With Minis and Range Rovers already under its belt, Wood & Pickett next added the Rover SD1 to their range of conversions. In the now-familiar W&P tradition, customers would start by choosing their base model (usually a Rover 2600 or 3500), and then select from a long list of options to produce the final specification.

Making its debut on this model was the novel idea of keyless entry. In the days before remote-control and transponder-operated central-locking had appeared, this amounted to a numbered keypad mounted on the B-pillar, allowing the driver to unlock the car by entering a combination code. W&P later employed the same system on their Sheaffer TRZ.

The Prestige’s interior, showing the electric seats, walnut-tastic dashboard and inlaid door cappings. Note also the add-on turbo-boost guage, neatly mounted at the extreme right of the lower dashboard rail.

The Prestige’s other remarkable feature was its enormous walnut-fronted dashboard, complemented by inlaid walnut door cappings. It is well-documented that many people did not take to the SD1′s original minimalist dashboard design, and this £560 option was Wood & Pickett’s attempt at something a little more traditional. While some felt that its height was likely to induce a feeling of claustrophobia, it did at least look impressive, and provided an additional storage locker on the passenger’s side.

Other items on the options list included the usual kind of Wood & Pickett fare, such as electric front seats, leather or Dralon upholstery (including door cards and quarter panels), Wilton carpetting, manual or electric sunroof, cruise control and onboard computer. To help cope with the extra weight, a Janspeed turbocharging option was offered on the 2600 or 3500 models, along with trendy front and rear spoilers to announce the go-faster capability.

Naturally, Wood & Pickett’s demonstrator (99 EFC, as seen in these pictures) had all the boxes ticked, which as can be seen from the table below would have added over £13,000 (including VAT) to the cost of the base car. Wood & Pickett were also happy to upgrade customers’ existing cars if they so wished. One curious omission from the options list was air-conditioning, although the company would undoubtedly have quoted for this if requested to do so. There is also no mention of in-car entertainment options, so it can be taken for granted that the final bill would be likely to rise further still.

Item	Price*
Aerodynamic front spoiler	£145
Aerodynamic rear spoiler	£95
Front fog lamps	£75
Complete respray to coachbuilder’s standards	£1550
Chromed spoked wire wheels fitted with Dunlop 185/70VR15 tyres	£1095
Walnut-veneer fascia full-width and front/rear door cappings	£560
15″ 4-spoke steering wheel in polished wood or leather	£85
Deluxe interior retrim in Dralon or leather, including Recaro “C” Type electrically adjustable front seats	£3050
Recarophonie headrests with built-in speakers	£285
Leather-welted Wilton carpetting (including luggage area)	£715
Deluxe soundproofing	£135
Electric tilt/slide sunroof in metal	£765
Digital keyless entry system	£695
Electronic cruise control	£245
On-board computer	£190
Air horns with changeover switch	£75
Turbocharging of engine	£1795
Total (*including fitting, but excluding VAT @ 12.5%)	£11,555

Exactly how many of these conversions were carried out is not known, but in her 1998 book on the Rover SD1, Karen Pender commented that only around five were known to have survived at that stage.