Rover SD1 Vitesse

On 10 December 1985 C356YST took up its station on the Stonehaven bypass and went to work! Those who were enjoying the new road remember it well. It would suddenly appear right there in your mirrors, and so would points on your licence or, for many, a three-month ban! The car became something of a talking point among local car enthusiasts and one comment is recalled, ‘you can’t relax until you see it going the other way’!

Grampian Police ran the car until 20 July 1988 after a hard life that included 3 back axles and several crashes! It was sold and there began a series of private owners and the inevitable deterioration common to all SD1’s (and most cars from the period) due to poor rust inhibition.

Finally, it was rescued in a partially restored condition by the Channel 4 TV programme, ‘For the love of Cars’, in 2014, professionally restored for the programme and sold by Coys at the NEC, Birmingham, to the Grampian Transport Museum on 10 January 2015.