SOTW: Rover 420 GSi Turbo
Yes it looks like your Grandad's car, but it does have 200hp...
Sure, there were definitely cooler things to turn up to your mate's party in, but I consoled myself with paraphrasing the Feeder song Buck Rogers: "He's got a brand new car (well not brand new) / Looks like a Jaguar (if you squint) / It's got leather seats (velour) / and a CD player (aftermarket, naturally)".
The thing is, the same sort of things apply to this 420 GSi Turbo - except that it's a fair chunk faster than my old 214, with a 200hp turbocharged 2.0-litre originally used in the Rover 800 before being dropped into the 200 Coupe and then the regular 200 and 400 series cars.
Now, though, the very things that made the 420 Turbos hang around Rover showrooms for so long now make it rather an appealing shed - iron fist power in an M&S polyester glove of a body. These days it's a super-rare beast, too, with How Many Left suggesting that just 13 of the fewer-than-300 built originally remain on the road.
And this particular car could be quite a special one. Ignore the mysterious nose dent (looks like the imprint of a concrete bollard to us) and instead focus on the fact that this is a 200hp sleeper with a potentially genuine 36,000 miles on the clock, and that you can back up by checking all the old MoTs. As long as you like the idea of driving a determinedly uncool car and can source yourself a new front bumper, we reckon £690 is a bit of a steal.
Advert is reproduced below
ROVER 420 GSi (£690)
ROVER 420 GSi , 4 Doors, Manual, Saloon, Petrol, 1993 K Reg, 36274 miles, Blue. HPI CLEAR, Mot'd May 2013, We have record of all the old Mot's, Genuine miles, The car is in good condition inside and out and drives well, ANY PART EXCHANGE WELCOME, Insurance Group:13, £690 p/x welcome
Since it's been brought to our attention that this is a bit of a shed fail (not actually being a turbo), we thought we'd atone for our sins with an SOTW extra - this 44,000-mile Rover 200 BRM.
Provided you can stand the loud red leather interior, and understand the significance of that orange intake, it's a145hp VVC-engined slice of hot hatch fun for just £900 quid...
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god how sad is that, which i hadn't noticed now.
I love the old turbo rover lump.
I had this when i was 20:
Epic fun, over 200bhp with a bleed valve, and it even had a tow hitch.
It looks to be in pretty good condition too and potentially a lot of car for almost no money (would only about cover one new tyre on my current car!)
Surely someone on here has got to buy this SOTW. If I were in the UK I'd do it, just for a laugh. Would be worth turning up at a track day to see how it went (and see if you could get past anyone, just think of the embarassment!)
....sorry...just seen other posts that this is not a turbo and just a cooking GSi...so take back everything I just said! SOTW fail. Had it been a turbo though..
Would be a bit of a sleeper and I bet a challenging drive compare with todays sanitised cars.
Even the 2 litres were brisk.
Why say HPI clear though on a 20 yr old shed??
If you are still paying that off then you are a numpty.
My 2nd car, which replaced an 850cc Mini, was a Rover 214si. Black with beige interior and wood inlay. I narrowed it down to that, or an Escort Eclipse 1.3i. The Rover won because of its great K-Series engine. Revvy and powerful. Just a shame it was attached to a truly awful chassis.
My mates has 1.0 litre metros, novas, etc. I had 50% more power than them. THAT was all that mattered.
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