Q848620 · 1904–1912

Rover 8

The Rover 8 was a small single-cylinder 8 hp 1327 cc car made by the British Rover car company. It was Rover's first production car. It was remarkable for being supported by a backbone chassis rather than a conventional ladder frame. The first model was manufactured from 1904 to 1912. A Daimler-Knight sleeve valve engine option was available on the original model in 1911 and 1912. Following World War I a new 998 cc (later 1134 cc) twin-cylinder "8 hp" light car was offered from 1919 to 1925. It was in its turn superseded in 1924 by a four-cylinder 1074 cc Rover 9.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

All Q848620 Rover 8 data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

1904–1912

The car, designed by Edmund Woodward Lewis (1870-1941) who had joined Rover from Daimler, had an unusual structure. Instead of the conventional chassis, the car had a backbone structure, formed by the engine crankcase, the gearbox housing, a rigid tubular propeller shaft housing, and the rear axle housing; the whole described as having a box girder section. The backbone frame, without bump-compliance at the rear apart from the tyres, was suspended from the front axle at just one point by a pivoted transverse leaf spring which made no contribution to transverse rigidity, and thus the whole remaining car rested on just three points, similar to the design of old, four-wheeled farm tractors. The body, through its own sub-frame, was mounted on the rear axle using semi-elliptic springs. The single-cylinder engine displaced 1327 cc with a bore of 4.5 in (110 mm) and stroke of 5 in (130 mm). Its inlet and exhaust valves were both mechanically operated. At the engine's normal speed of 900 rpm it produced 8 horsepower (6 kW), the same number as its RAC tax rating. If desired the engine could be accelerated up to 1,500 rpm by judicious adjustment of both the throttle and the ignition timing. Above the combustion chamber an aluminium inspection plate may be removed to inspect water jacket spaces for blockage or potential blockage. The crankshaft and camshaft were fitted with large ball races. The sparking plug sits just above the inlet valve. Electric current is provided by an accumulator (battery) and a Bassée-Michel high-speed trembler coil and timed with a wide contact. Wires are able to be kept very short. Should there have been any experience of short circuiting a switch on the steering wheel centre switched off the current without a hand leaving the wheel. A propeller draws

1916-1925

The Rover 8 light car announced in October 1917 was designed by Jack Sangster largely before he joined Rover. Built in a new factory in Tyseley, Birmingham it was driven to Coventry to have its body fitted. It was a great sales success for the company. The air-cooled, side valve, engine was a horizontally opposed twin and was originally of 998 cc capacity, with a bore of 85 mm and a stroke of 88 mm, but this was increased to 1134 cc with a 100 mm stroke in 1923. This did not affect the RAC hp rating, which remained 8 hp. The original engine had a peak output of 13 bhp (10 kW) at 2600 rpm. Although there was a conventional looking radiator it was a dummy. Cooling was supplied through air scoops on the side of the bonnet and it was rumoured that after hard driving at night the cylinder heads could be seen glowing red through them,. Two cross-members of the frame supported at three points the assembled unit of engine and clutch and a three speed gearbox with reverse. The rear wheels were driven through a fabric joint and propeller shaft to a universal joint and an under-worm wheel type rear axle. A dynamo was belt driven from the propeller shaft. An electric starter was optional from 1923. A six volt lighting set was provided. The chassis was a simple perimeter frame with quarter-elliptic leaf springs all around. This cantilever springing and the rack and pinion steering were both regarded as unusual at the time. Wheels were steel and detachable. Brakes were fitted to the rear wheels only with a separate set of shoes for the handbrake. The wheelbase was extended from 88 inches (2,200 mm) to 94 inches (2,400 mm) in 1924 to allow genuine four seat bodies to be offered including a fabric four seat saloon. Open two seater bodies with dickie seats were usual but an open 3 or 4

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Rover 8
Manufacturer: Rover
Production: 1904–1912
Designer: Edmund W. Lewis
Layout: FR
Related: Rover 6
Engine: Base (1904-1912):, 1327 cc single cylinder, 8 bhp at 900 rpm , Optional (1911-1912):, 1052 cc single cylinder Knight sleeve valve engine, 9 bhp
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Wheelbase: 78 in base, 84 in optional
Length: 102 in base, 120 in optional
Width: 54 in base, 57 in optional
Kerb weight: approx. 10.5 long cwt
sp: uk