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Telegraph readers will still have theirs. Sunday tomorrow; out with the chamois and a new tin of barley sugars.
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My neighbour across the road got one .Rover 75 V6.Excellent condition nice car.
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>> My neighbour across the road got one .Rover 75 V6.Excellent condition nice car.
I'd agree Dutchie, I'd love something like that, handsome and unobtrusive, sure to be comfortable and sure to go nicely with a V6.
I see what people mean about its image though. It's a bland safe pipe-and-slippers man's motor somehow. Nothing, you know, wicked about it.
Still, I could live with one I guess. I'm not proud.
:o}
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>> Still, I could live with one I guess. I'm not proud.
>>
>> :o}
...as evidenced by the ownership of your present chariot!
(Mind you as the owner of a mimser special, (Jazz CVT) I can hardly talk!).
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 15 at 17:41
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They are lovely looking cars both inside and out and the ones I see round here seem to have aged well. I'd happily have one.
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I think I'd feel slightly obliged to wear a pair of now shabby, but once good tan brogues and a similarly careworn Harris Tweed jacket with some form of club tie to drive a Rover 75. I think it might also be necessary to whiff ever so slightly of whisky ( even if only used as a cologne)
My normal attire of ( Italian of course ) jeans, ( American of course ) boots and a ( French of course ) t-shirt somehow wouldn't cut it.
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>> My normal attire of ( Italian of course ) jeans, ( American of course ) boots and a ( French of course ) t-shirt somehow wouldn't cut it.
Tsk. What a fellow you are Humph. What you do is impose your own style (which sounds fine apart from the American boots, unless they are genuine snakeskin - I always feel that scuffed white moccasins are elegant) brutally on the car, not kowtow to the damn thing by trying to dress like a twerp. (You forgot the pipe and gent's ghastly cloth cap in your list of proper attire).
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They are good cars aged well. I had one of the mg versions for a while, only had one real drama with it. Couldn't fault it really, very good owners clubs online. Surprisingly owned by quite a few youngsters.
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>> ...as evidenced by the ownership of your present chariot!
Good-looking in its way Rastaman, not much improved by the graunches it's had in our hands. Anyway we owe it more than it owes us, because we didn't pay a penny for it. It does most of what one would want without complaining. Not a bad car at all by world standards. Parts are dear and it's awkward to work on.
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We had one, the 2.5 V6. A great car, all the luxury, all the functionality and handling and engine sufficient for all the fun you'd want.
You see a few out here.
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if i could get a low mileage looked after MG XT Tourer I would have it.
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If you're after a Zt-t low mileage, look on the owners club sites. I doubt by now the last ones are fetching 3k especially if you go for the V6.
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A friends father was a die hard rover fan and had an early 75 when they went pop. He rushed out and bought a brand new top spec 75 at a bargain price from a dealer that panicked and dumped all stock. Cant remember what he paid, but something like 50% of list rings a bell.
He was happy with it, and his self employed role involved covering 25K a year. Never remember him having any issues with it
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>> He was happy with it, and his self employed role involved covering 25K a year.
>> Never remember him having any issues with it
Chap at work had a brand new X reg 75 diesel. Put 220,000 miles on it up to last October. Paintwork all went to pot, especially on the bonnet, dark green metallic it was. Clutch at 200k, nothing else. Interior stood up to the use too.
He's bought a 64 plate Jag XF now, took the Jag dealer a year to sort it out. Jag delays almost caused him to have the Rover resprayed with a view to running it ad infinitum. Kept it, I expect it'll surface in a decade or so as a classic car.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Sat 11 Apr 15 at 23:19
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He's bought a 64 plate Jag XF now, took the Jag dealer a year to sort it out.
Eh? Did the dealer work on it for six months before registering it? Or do you mean the order process for the car took that long?
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>> If you're after a Zt-t low mileage, l
I meant ZT of course.
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.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sat 11 Apr 15 at 21:59
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I'm an old bloke. Finances notwithstanding, give me a Cayman or Panamera any day.
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>> Finances notwithstanding, give me a Cayman or Panamera any day.
Well yes, or even better a nice 911, now available in 57 varieties at least, aircooled or water-cooled, turbo or not... aficionados like aircooled best I believe, and that big fan makes a good noise.
There are Ferraris too, and VXRV8s, all sorts of highly desirable jalopies. A Legacy is quite a swift device too I understand.
Nevertheless: a Rover 75 V6 would be a very nice daily driver by my standards. There are many sorts of nice car. I love them all, it's a sort of illness.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 11 Apr 15 at 22:59
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Proper fifties Rover 75s and variants, especially with overdrive, were very classy refined motors, if thirsty. Inlet over exhaust engine like a twenties Rolls Royce.
Funny about Rover steering though, never top-notch. I suppose it stopped owners from going too fast for the brakes.
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Fancy an old motor? This place has just closed: www.motor-museum.co.uk/collection.php
Could be some interesting stuff available.
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Saw that BTT. 10 minutes from my childhood home, although I've never been.
A lot of the cars look neglected, not a lot of profit there.
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I think it depended on where they were built how good they proved (Cowley or Longbridge?), but the 75 was overall a class act and many mistook it for the then new Jaguar model of similar appearance.
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>> Could be some interesting stuff available.
Yeah, some. A couple of Ford Pilots. A Nash Metropolitan... better motor than you might expect.
I like those Pilots though. Fifties gypsy motor, nice.
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>>I expect it'll surface in a decade or so as a classic car.<<
Either the 'Jaguar' S-type will re-emerge first - or hell will freeze over...
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>>Funny about Rover steering though, never top-notch. I suppose it stopped owners from going too fast for the brakes. >>
www.alexandersprestige.co.uk/tony-pond-record-broken-at-the-isle-of-man-tt-circuit
Didn't stop Tony Pond in an 827 Vitesse...:-)
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Or a TR7 V8 ( I know it's not a Rover)
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My dad had the diesel estate. Nice car inside but the heaviest clutch I've ever used.
Two weeks of driving it left me with tendonitis in my knee. (It had a clutch change at 95,000 miles and came back exactly the same).
However, it could be remapped remarkably easily and went like the proverbial off a shovel. Obviously the front scrabbled for grip and being an estate the rear bumper virtually touched the road on a fast getaway, but nothing beat it away from the lights.
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>> >>Funny about Rover steering though, never top-notch. I suppose it stopped owners from going too
>> fast for the brakes. >>
>>
>> www.alexandersprestige.co.uk/tony-pond-record-broken-at-the-isle-of-man-tt-circuit
>>
>> Didn't stop Tony Pond in an 827 Vitesse...:-)
Didn't have a BL steering rack in it.
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>> Didn't stop Tony Pond in an 827 Vitesse...:-)
>> Didn't have a BL steering rack in it.
IoM TT circuit? Rattling the door mirrors against stone walls on both sides at 100-plus? If it's what I'm thinking of, I don't overuse the term 'awesome' but I might use it for that lap.
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I spent several years visiting the IOM to watch the Manx Rally in September. I think Tony Pond used to drive an SD1, amongst other things.
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And here is the late, great Tony Pond with the first ever 100mph lap of the Isle of Man TT course in a production car.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=onbaEPqg5NE
The brakes are getting a bit judder, but they are trying to stop over a ton of car
A very smooth lap it was too, smooth being the only way you can get that lot round a course quickly.
Compare that to the much more frenetic Subaru STi run that broke the Tony Pond record, not the same achievement at all, being a much more performance sports bred car with 4 wheel drive.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7gmbQ8KxM4
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 12 Apr 15 at 18:20
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It's an achievement I've genuinely admired ever since Pond did it, especially as I use to drive a lot of 800s in those days for various reasons.
However, according to Pond's rallying/driving achievements listing, the Vitesse used in the unsuccessful 1988 and then the 1990 success attempts was indeed a standard production model.
I also seem to recall Pond hitting a tree in an MG Metro 6R4 very soon after starting a rally in the mid-1980s, but can't find the video.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sun 12 Apr 15 at 20:00
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>> the Vitesse used in the unsuccessful 1988 and then the 1990 success attempts was indeed a standard production model.
It would have been an absolutely perfect standard production model, really a lot better than an average punter's main dealer new car, everything balanced and adjusted to perfection, thin head gaskets, valves profiled, ports and inlet and exhaust tracts cleaned up and even polished, brand new premium dampers and ball joints, road wheel toe in/out to the driver's taste, perhaps even thin gearbox oil. Costs real money to get a standard production car like that. We should be so lucky.
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>>Costs real money to get a standard production car like that. We should be so lucky. >>
But there's nothing new under the sun...:-)
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>>I also seem to recall Pond hitting a tree in an MG Metro 6R4
He hit a tree in 84, but that was in the Rover.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhurF49VKRw
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Just watched the IoM lap again. Chapeau, in spades. A bit frightening here and there. But 150mph in a Rover Vitesse, even downhill... do me a favour. That may have been a standard car, but bog standard it surely wasn't.
Bruddy herr though, even if he knew the circuit. I couldn't do that even if I could, if you see what I mean.
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Not owned one, but driven and ridden in a few not long after they came out. Supremely comfortable and refined. Solidly built too. I never liked the styling so wouldn't have considered actually owning one.
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That was always my problem with it. Why take a good, modern piece of engineering and dress it up as a fusty throwback to the 1950s? Jaguar did the same with the S-type and the endlessly rehashed XJ before eventually getting the message that a modern car needs to look modern to be credible. The current XJ is ugly but at least it's not the same old, tired formula.
Rover went on pandering to a diminishing clientele without offering anything to attract new customers. It was BMW that let it happen, to the extent that Rover was already doomed by the time it was cut adrift.
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I think it was the 1999 NEC motorshow that the Rover 75 and Jaguar S-Type were both revealed. I thought for the time the 75 was the better looking car. Jaguar got the S-Type wrong.
The problem for both companies were BMW and Ford respectively. Look at Jaguar now.
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I liked the look of the S type and the 75 at the tie of launch, and in my eyes time has not been unkind to either, both still look ok.
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I've always liked the style of the 75. Our V6 was a great car to tear around country lanes in, and equally good at long distance motorways.
It was a bit low, and it seemed difficult to get in and out of, but that aside a great car.
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>>The problem for both companies were BMW and Ford respectively. Look at Jaguar now.>>
Ford's achievement was to vastly improve the build quality and reliability of Jaguar vehicles.
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Slightly OT, but I can't help observing that if Higgins's time [in the Subaru] was more than two minutes faster than the previous record, it is still two minutes more than the Superstock bike record from 2013...
Last edited by: J Bonington Jagworth on Mon 20 Apr 15 at 17:37
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If I had the bread it would be in with a chance against all the other dream jalopies. I like sheep's clothing. It's cosy and comfortable, even if a stripped lightweight bitza Porsche 911 with visible roll cage still has a certain appeal... But one of those would soon knacker someone of my age.
Dunno why, but I do like those Rovers.
I see that Lygonos's snorting monster garage flogs another of my favourites, Vauxhall-Holden Monaros. Never even been in one, but I know I'd love it.
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Rover 75 - Last Rover 75 goes on show - WillDeBeest
