Rover SD1 estate, once the design was finalised, Carbodies of Coventry was commissioned to produce a clay buck for evaluation. After that two prototypes were build: LOE 99P, registered 17 Feb 1976 (and now preserved at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon) and SHP 549R, registered 20 Jan 1977 the one used by Michael Edwardes (and now resident in the Haynes Motor Museum). Sir Michael Edwards’ SD1 estate was a regular sighting in the City of London between 1977 and 1979. Interestingly, these two cars have rather different tailgate treatments. SHP has a clamshell-style tailgate with rear wiper, similar to that shown on the Carbodies model, while LOE has a less stylish Volvo 240-style inset tailgate. This suggests that work may already have started on LOE before BL saw the Carbodies model, although this needs official confirmation. The car in this picture is: SHP 549R, registered 20 Jan 1977.
