It was the autumn of '1957 when the Styling Department of the Rover Company first commenced to think around the visual design of the P.6. project.
This new model, intended to appeal to the "young in heart", permitted an entirely new approach for Rover's designers.

It was decided that the car should comfortably accommodate four people and occasionally carry five, together with adequate luggage, and have as comprehensive a specification as possible to ensure its wide appeal. This included a light weight O.H.C. 4 cylinder engine, a 4 speed, all synchromesh gearbox, independent front and Rover Dion rear suspension, to provide impeccable handling and roadholding. All this at reasonable' initial cost and with no reduction in quality whatsoever from the normal Rover standard of finish and refinement was a tall order and demanded a drastic body styling policy.

It had already been decided, after months of investigation, that a base unit structure was to be adopted. There were several reasons for this: ready interchangeability of all exterior finisher panels, ease of assembly and reduction in damage to paint due to the panels not being fitted until the final line after all rectification, and subsequent ease of servicing.

This system also enables the base unit, as a running structure, to be developed to ultimate refinement, including all controls, instrumentation, seating, etc., and when an external visual change is required, few, if any of these points need be affected, thereby appreciably reducing the tooling costs of a visually new model.
The additional fringe benefits with this type of structure are production flexibility, ease of inspection and mechanical testing.

This decision to use a base unit together with the general "high standard" engineering specification dictated that a ruthless styling policy be adopted in an endeavour to maintain the low projected price.
An exterior form styling policy was determined by David Bache with the accent on a simple classical shape, devoid of superfluous adornment, the visual interest and character being attained by pure sculptural form of the panels, thereby eliminating the necessity for rubbing strips and applied embellishments. This principle was taken to the extreme and many parts including the conventional radiator grille and heater intake grille were "designed-out" being replaced with partly concealed intake apertures.

This process was adopted to lessen the cost of tooling and manufacture, assembly, storage and ultimate service problems and also to reduce weight. Even the door handles were designed as a universal "one-off" part, interchangeable on any door and having separate buttons.

From this basic principle, original idea sketches were done. The original 1/4 scale model alternatives were produced on the principle of a simple aerodynamic form, designed to provide a "younger look" and reduce wind resistance, thus increasing performance and improving economy. With their centres of pressure sufficiently rearwards, straight line running on high speed motorways was ensured. The bonnet and screen planes were designed to provide the optimum pressure at the root of the screen, where the heater ventilation intake is located.

These features will be seen by examining the photographs of the early 1/4 scale clay models. Concurrently with the 1/4 scale models, during the early part of 1958, the full size interior habitable compartment accommodation buck was being produced (below) to ensure that the basic interior dimensional requirements were being maintained, as were the full size clay models of the unusual facia arrangements where in the more normal glove box parcel shelf arrangements were reversed in a completely original concept whereby the parcel shelf was placed in the higher position in the interests of safety, thus removing the potentially shin-breaking parcel shelf edge.

The new lower position of the glove box hoppers offering large flat surface areas angled tangentially to the occupants' lower leg. The final full size model of the interior facia arrangements indicating clearly how the original concept in principle was retained throughout the styling design gestation period. The interior styling theme being an extension of the exterior but here safety, elegance, comfort and passenger parcel accommodation were foremost considerations. It was very evident that the beginnings of legislation in some European countries at that time, pointed the way that the world would go during the next 10 years.

The instrument panel with strip type ribbon speedometer, because ergonomically this proved to be the most efficient for rapid reading in today's congested traffic, being applicable on one side or the other dependent upon whether the vehicle is right or left-hand drive, as can be the steering column mounted switches for ease of control. All other controls and switches are centrally mounted on a switch panel, heater/radio console and tunnel finisher, therefore remaining constant for all markets.

Due to the perhaps controversial design, it was decided to conceal the extremeness of the facia design by cloaking the concept as a whole with a traditional material look, but the complexity of design, multiple function requirements and cost precluded the use of traditional materials. Hence the considerable use of the then relatively new medium to motor transport, injection moulded plastics, selected as being the best material to provide the cleanliness of visual form, engineering function and the economy of manufacture.

In an endeavour to ensure that the P6 model carried every amenity for its passengers, it was decided to include all the luxury of the larger models but "designed-down" to a lower price. To this end, a new bucket seat of infinite rake adjustment was designed to reduce the weight by half compared to its previous counterpart and yet provide improved physical support and mechanical structure and function. To ensure that the seat form was correct physiologically, it was first sculpted in clay and the mechanical details designed within this contour having both infinite squab rake adjustment and instantaneous raising and lowering.

Combined with this, the patented safety device, in the event of a collision, absorbs the impact load and thereby reduces the chance of serious injury. Concurrently with this work, the original full size clay of the first prototype vehicle was being produced.

The first prototype was produced in March '59 and immediately put into development testing to gain information on the structure and running gear (see above). While this work was in hand, the Styling Department were adjusting the original concept to improve both engineering and aesthetic requirements.

The radiator grille aperture was increased to improve engine cooling and the extruded aluminium grille was introduced. The initial design for the grille form to be produced from a pierced and blanked aluminium extrusion and having the headlamp cones tack-welded into position after being produced from cone expanded extruded aluminium tube. The reason for selecting the extrusion technique over the conventional pressing technique was two-fold: (a) that of obtaining maximum strength and visual cleanliness, unobtainable in pressed form, and (b) to provide the optimum intake area (some 80% intake aperture) to improve engine cooling. Equally, at this time the base unit structure design was being considered in detail for this prototype and as aid to this thinking, the Styling Department produced a 1/4 scale structure model in a Durestos material (a plyable resinbonded fibre which sets rigid when heat cured).

The colour picture (under) shows this model together with the independent parts from which it was fabricated displayed on the wall behind it. An interesting point about this model being that it was produced as a precise 1/4 scale replica to the actual metal forms and sections of the full size base unit. It being subsequently proven that torsional rigidity and beam deflection tests on this model and any investigatory changes to section thereon behaved in a truly representative manner to similar changes carried out on the full size replica.
The seat development programme was continuing independenlty `within the Styling organisation to the stage where final evaluations were being objectively and subjectively tested.