RE: SOTW: Rover 825i Sterling

[soad]

Haven't seen one of those for ages.
Coupe version appeals more.

[wildcat45]

davemac250 said:

When driven hard the brakes catch fire, the wheel nuts undo and the gearbox throws a fit.

I probably drove them harder than most though.

The 827 was a good car, just not really up to the job I had to do in them.

I was about to post that. A former Traffic Cop I know told me about the smoking brakes when driven hard. He didn't rate them as police cars but loved the SD1.

[sparkster8]

I do keep looking at the coupe versions.... why is it that I am drawn to the underdogs? Had too many TR7 & 8's over the years. Some would say one is too many mind ! Another example of my intrigue with cars that are not fully resolved yet have some buried (sometimes deeply) potential. For example I know that a ZT190 is not as good as an ST220 and yet I would prefer one. I have had an ST220 demo while working for Ford so I know it's a decent enough car(weak stoppers & clutch excepted)and yet there is something about the ZT that I prefer. Might be on my own there, wouldn't be the first time!

Oh and I WILL own a ZT 260 before long !

Apologies for my slightly off topic waffling. Yes I would give one of these 800 things a go but in 2 door coupe flavour please.

[muppet42]

Back in about 1995, my Dad was on the look out for a used car after his preference for Lada's had come to an end (phew). Went to the local Arnold Clark dealerships and had a browse, narrowing it to three that were in the price range...a red 5-door J-plate Corolla, a turquoise K-plate Uno (extreme low mileage) and an h-plate 820i saloon.

I wanted my Dad to get the Rover so much, I knew it would be the least economical and probably the least reliable but I loved the shape of it and it looked great in silver - dead ringer for this one...



...but hey ho, he went for the more practical option of the Uno, which 3 years later became the car I learned to drive in. I did wonder what the 820 would've been like to do a 3-point turn in

Oh and in my Google image search for the above, I found a pic of the '82 concept...

[Rumblestripe]

BOR said:

Anyway, I'm slightly cross that it's reached Shed status, rather than classic.

Fear not youngling, shedness is merely a transition point on the road to classicness...

To support this I give you...

[Balmoral Green]

king arthur said:

SWoll said:

For me the 800 is the perfect example of buyers desperately attempting to buy British, even if far superior machinery was available elsewhere for cheaper.

You have to remember it was conceived in the time of the Ford Granada and Vauxhall Carlton, and at the time was arguably a better car (in some ways, not in every way). It just failed to move with the times through lack of investment.

Exactly. When this car was launched, Austin Rover, Ford and Vauxhall had roughly 25% EACH of the UK market. It's direct competitors were the Granada and Carlton, which were nowhere near as good. There's no point comparing it to other or better cars, just the Granada or the Carlton, as that's what the market was like back then. It was just the same with a Montego, which can only be compared with a Sierra or a Cavalier, same with the Maestro which can only be compared with an Escort or Astra, and the same with the Metro which can only be compared with a Fiesta or a Nova. Yes, other cars were available, but so what? they weren't competitors, even if they were in the exact same market segment.

I sold all the above mentioned cars back in the eighties, and all the punter was looking at back then were the other two of the trio, and that was it. In the company car market, they would usually be the only cars on the list too. If you could have a 1.3L or 1.6L, Ford, Vauxhall or Austin Rover was your lot, and Mr & Mrs retail would stick with a choice of the same three too. Which is why the rest of the World only had 1% or 2% UK market share each.

[Dunelm Alumnus]

Had a manual 827 of the earlier shape above for a while.

Was really quite rapid in a straight line but not at its best with corners.

Engine was the Honda unit and never missed a beat. Shame about the rest of it really...........

[Twincam16]

BOR said:

I'm slightly cross that it's reached Shed status, rather than classic.

I think it's a shame it's mainly remembered as Alan Partridge's car, simply because it means everyone ignores its finest hour:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6noOET7Eik

[jamer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMESnHBpMkc The fastback advert of 1981... quality






Above all its a Rover

Edited by jamer on Friday 2nd December 14:41

[Balmoral Green]

Herbie75 said:

Auto box would often downshift mid corner in an attempt to send you into the nearest ditch...

My Fabia vRS 1.4TSI 7spd DSG does the exact same thing, even locked in manual mode.

[gforceg]

jamer said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMESnHBpMkc The fastback advert of 1981... quality

Brilliant delusions of adequacy.

[Baryonyx]

Very interesting shed of the week. Rover are still far outside of 'cool' which means they're looked at with some objectivity, instead of the relentless fawning you'd see for a BMW of the same era (though no doubt the BMW would be the better car).

Mind you, I'd not like to use one of these as a pursuit car, as mentioned earlier! A friend of mine who was on traffic from the late 80's and early 90's cut his teeth on a 24v Senator, which he reckoned was a good car. He also had a lot of good things to say about the top spec Granada of the time, which I'd be far more inclined to buy than one of these Rovers. However, despite concerns about the quality of these Rovers, I do feel a great sadness that the British barge is a thing of the past. We were as good as the Germans at designing them, though perhaps not quite as good at building them.

The Rover 'Tomcat' Turbo Coupe is the Rover for me!

[SWoll]

Balmoral Green said:

king arthur said:

SWoll said:

For me the 800 is the perfect example of buyers desperately attempting to buy British, even if far superior machinery was available elsewhere for cheaper.

You have to remember it was conceived in the time of the Ford Granada and Vauxhall Carlton, and at the time was arguably a better car (in some ways, not in every way). It just failed to move with the times through lack of investment.

Exactly. When this car was launched, Austin Rover, Ford and Vauxhall had roughly 25% EACH of the UK market. It's direct competitors were the Granada and Carlton, which were nowhere near as good. There's no point comparing it to other or better cars, just the Granada or the Carlton, as that's what the market was like back then. It was just the same with a Montego, which can only be compared with a Sierra or a Cavalier, same with the Maestro which can only be compared with an Escort or Astra, and the same with the Metro which can only be compared with a Fiesta or a Nova. Yes, other cars were available, but so what? they weren't competitors, even if they were in the exact same market segment.

I sold all the above mentioned cars back in the eighties, and all the punter was looking at back then were the other two of the trio, and that was it. In the company car market, they would usually be the only cars on the list too. If you could have a 1.3L or 1.6L, Ford, Vauxhall or Austin Rover was your lot, and Mr & Mrs retail would stick with a choice of the same three too. Which is why the rest of the World only had 1% or 2% UK market share each.

At the end of the day, as has been proven above, the 800 was pitched price wise the same as a 5 series and considerably higher than an equivalent Granada or Carlton so as far as I am concerned they can be considered its competition. The fact that people think of it as a Granada competitor just proves that no-one bought into the "prestigious" brand thing.

[Balmoral Green]

Regarding the reliability, it does seem to be perceived wisdom, or common knowledge that the cars were unreliable. However, this is somewhat urban myth, as from 1983 Austin Rovers warranty returns were no more than industry average, and from 1986 until they died, they were actually below the industry average. Even Sam Toy, UK Ford boss at the time commented that he was quite pleased that people were wrong about AR, as the cars were quite good and the reliability issues from the seventies were long gone. LJK Setright would speak well of them too.

[J4CKO]

chunkymonkey71 said:

80s cool!

I remember one of these being parked near my mates house, it had big wheels and looked fantastic to my 20/21 year old self, yes it does look like a big Montego, but I had a Montego in the same colour so the damage was already done, ended up with an 820i for a bit.

[Balmoral Green]

SWoll said:

no-one bought into the "prestigious" brand thing.

That appears to be your error, as I don't recall anyone thinking that at the time, and I was there. For most people it was a choice of Ford, Vauxhall, or Austin Rover.

Or are you Hyacinth Bucket?

[Baryonyx]

Twincam16 said:

I think it's a shame it's mainly remembered as Alan Partridge's car, simply because it means everyone ignores its finest hour:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6noOET7Eik

Just watched that, Jesus Christ that was some great driving! He really had that Rover shifting! Looked fantastic out on the road too.

[Nickellarse]

A field sales rep had one of these at a company I worked for in the mid nineties. He raved about it being really comfortable as he smashed the miles week in week out. Sadly, all we did was rinse him for being a cock and called him Partridge.

It was probably a nice motor... However, we were all on car allowances and the "proper men" all went for 3.2 911's which cost loads more cash. We may have been broke, but we looked cool and had loads more fun.

[SWoll]

Balmoral Green said:

SWoll said:

no-one bought into the "prestigious" brand thing.

That appears to be your error, as I don't recall anyone thinking that at the time, and I was there. For most people it was a choice of Ford, Vauxhall, or Austin Rover.

Or are you Hyacinth Bucket?

That's my point, if you read my post again. No-one bought into the idea, but with their pricing and marketing its certainly something that Rover tried to convince people of.

[SuperHangOn]

muppet42 said:

Those MK1's were actually sharp looking cars.

Should have been RWD with the RV8, would have moved along nicely with the 3.9 and 4.6 from the Range Rovers later in life.