5-door 5-seater hatchback saloon.

Effectively a 3500 (SD1 type) car with a new six-cylinder engine transplant. Engine design by Triumph, producing 123 and 136bhp respectively - and more than 110mph even with smaller unit. Like Rover flagship, with long, low lines, surprisingly small interior, and doubtful reliability record at first. Face-lifted in early 1982, as assembly moved to Cowley. Almost but not quite a success - without BL's many public traumas, it could have done better. Other engines for this car - four-cylinder 2000 and 2.4-litre turbocharged diesel - came along in the eighties.