RE: Rover 827 Vitesse: PH Ad Break
Discussion
I worked for Royal Ordnance in the 90's and for a while was based in Chorley, Lancs and at the time our parent company (British Aerospace) owned Rover and every man and his dog had company cars, changed every 10 months or 10 thousand miles and I remember coming out of a resturant in Euxton Village one evening and without fail every car in a full car park was an 800 of either a Vitesse or Sterling flavour!
Great cars in their time
Great cars in their time
m8rky said:
Christ some good driving there, plus the car seemed to handle it very well. Ive owned quite a few of the v6 honda rovers over the years,3x vitesses 4x sterlings and my favorite was an 827si F732BOA in dark blue with steel wheels and hubcaps,would love to think it was still alive but i doubt it.Interestingly for 800 series anoraks one of the sterlings was a light metallic blue 825 manual on a C plate with a lovely mid brown leather interior,must have been a pre production car but clutch failure meant it was scrapped because it wasnt worth repairing in 1996,seems a shame but at that time they were worthless.
CDP said:
You washed it with the sunroof open?
I see it's also got faded paint on the windscreen pillars. Mine faded badly there too but was easily fixed with a rattle can.
I see it's also got faded paint on the windscreen pillars. Mine faded badly there too but was easily fixed with a rattle can.
Opened the roof after
Dont recall the paint fading there, wasn't that pillar black, I think its just the light on my picIf any of you are interested the Tony Pond TT challenge DVD is only a fiver from Duke Video, I've got one on the way
http://www.dukevideo.com/prd3667/TT-Challenge-DVD
http://www.dukevideo.com/prd3667/TT-Challenge-DVD
Just to piss on the parade, my dad had a 1988 820e (M16 single point injection) Fastback in JRG - F938 PLT. Lovely to sit in on long journeys, extremely comfortable, surprisingly sprightly (though not quick) but not wonderfully reliable. He had it from 1993, and even then, it often required a whack to the fusebox/battery in order to function. Occasionally only a push start would work. And I'll never forget getting halfway up a hill on a holiday to Cornwall, only to have to coast back down to the bottom and cadge some water to cool it down enough to get it started again! In fairness, I think its unreliability may have had more to do with my Dad's absence of mechanical knowledge than the car. My uncle (a mechanic) did sort it out when asked, and it was fine after that, but having presented him with a big bill, my dad didn't want to keep it after that.
However, I've always had a soft spot for the 800. Love them in fact. When I was 17, I wanted to replace the Fiesta for a 1990s 820Si. The insurance was reasonable, and the performance was excellent for a 17yo. I never did get one, but I wish I had.
These days, I want a late model Vitesse (i.e. 200bhp) Coupe. Manual. And the only ones around seem to be badly affected by the tinworm. I can't help feeling that, one day, I'm going to find myself drunkenly bidding on some stupid rotbox on ebay to satisfy the urge. But a decent one is like a hen's tooth.
I can't help being tempted by this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-820-Vitesse-Turbo-...
I'm sure this one could be sorted out:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-800-VITESSE-SPORT-...
And this one, although not a 200bhp model, does look immaculate:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-820-2-0-Vitesse-/2...
However, I've always had a soft spot for the 800. Love them in fact. When I was 17, I wanted to replace the Fiesta for a 1990s 820Si. The insurance was reasonable, and the performance was excellent for a 17yo. I never did get one, but I wish I had.
These days, I want a late model Vitesse (i.e. 200bhp) Coupe. Manual. And the only ones around seem to be badly affected by the tinworm. I can't help feeling that, one day, I'm going to find myself drunkenly bidding on some stupid rotbox on ebay to satisfy the urge. But a decent one is like a hen's tooth.
I can't help being tempted by this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-820-Vitesse-Turbo-...
I'm sure this one could be sorted out:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-800-VITESSE-SPORT-...
And this one, although not a 200bhp model, does look immaculate:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-820-2-0-Vitesse-/2...
mat205125 said:
.... with the track day 200 hiding behind it in the garage?
Ha that was the wife's 216SE. Average to drive but very comfy and high spec. I was brought up with Rovers, my Dad worked for BL and had a new company car every 6 months. I was then able to buy them very cheaply. I learned to drive in a Marina/Ital and moved on to Montego 2.0 and MG Turbo, we also had Mini's, an Acclaim, Princess, Ambassador, SD1, MGB all as company cars.tali1 said:
newdogg06 said:
clonmult said:
Z28DUNC said:
My brother had a black 827 vitesse. For a big old car it shifted and handled quite well. 825 was never as good as the Honda engined cars.
Er, the 825 was originally Honda engined ....The very first 800 V6's had a 2.5 Honda V6, later upgraded to a 2.7, then the '96 facelift gave it the less than reliable Rover developed KV6 2.5. So you're both right!
tali1 said:
clonmult said:
Z28DUNC said:
My brother had a black 827 vitesse. For a big old car it shifted and handled quite well. 825 was never as good as the Honda engined cars.
Er, the 825 was originally Honda engined ....
As in my previous post i think he his referring to later 825 Rover Kv6
Er, the 825 was originally Honda engined ....
As in my previous post i think he his referring to later 825 Rover Kv6
Edited by newdogg06 on Friday 15th March 17:08
newdogg06 said:
Did you drive an early 820? 8v carb 'O' series, as from the Montego? Acceleration similar to a stunned slug.
Montego efi was ok, turbo was better, first car I did more than 120mph in. But no where near as smooth or a quick as the 2.7 V6 in the 800 VitesseEdited by newdogg06 on Friday 15th March 17:09
newdogg06 said:
slippery said:
The 820E was without doubt the 'dog' of the range. 
Did you drive an early 820? 8v carb 'O' series, as from the Montego? Acceleration similar to a stunned slug.Edited by newdogg06 on Friday 15th March 17:09
http://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/3398...
Sorry but these were rubbish. There's hardly any left. My brother joked that 800s were sheds when they were delivered. They were mostly bought as company cars owing to buy British procurement policies. The 827 did at least have a decent engine, and probably went well. But that didn't stop it from being a huge fail in most other quality aspects.
The ad is crap too. The whole thing is like a case study in why Rover went down the drain.
The ad is crap too. The whole thing is like a case study in why Rover went down the drain.
A PH thread about a car I once owned (Sterling at least), so I have to tell you what to think of it, and why some of you are wrong
It was big, long and low and handsome in a low-key way, in its first iteration at least. A refreshing change from the current blobby, arse-in-the-air look that is in favour - the later revised ones lost some of the the crisp chiselled features.
It is a refined cruiser, and more than passable at it. The FWD configuration showed itself when you stamped on the go peddle and it squirmed a bit - otherwise it swooped about nicely, fast enough to get into and get out of trouble (it was about 300kg lighter than the XJs of the same period and slippery). Interior was all leather and wood - which suits me fine, so am I. A very comfy place to sit.
It evoked no silly stuff from other drivers. Proved reliable too (okay some electrical stuff died a bit but the important bits proved very tough), and of course massively cheap - it was at 100,000+ and I got her for a song. It was based on a Honda Legend, and that wasn't a bad car to start with. Yes, it was a bit anonymous, which was occasionally useful.
The SDI looked good and modern (for the early 70s is was radical stuff) - but underneath the oily bits were not so up to date (back to the 60s) - the 800 was modern on launch. It'll never reach the same classic status, although you take out the V8 and SD1 loses it too.
Blah, blah, blah, British car industry etc. we know the drill. But I have a soft spot for this bit of it.
It was big, long and low and handsome in a low-key way, in its first iteration at least. A refreshing change from the current blobby, arse-in-the-air look that is in favour - the later revised ones lost some of the the crisp chiselled features.
It is a refined cruiser, and more than passable at it. The FWD configuration showed itself when you stamped on the go peddle and it squirmed a bit - otherwise it swooped about nicely, fast enough to get into and get out of trouble (it was about 300kg lighter than the XJs of the same period and slippery). Interior was all leather and wood - which suits me fine, so am I. A very comfy place to sit.
It evoked no silly stuff from other drivers. Proved reliable too (okay some electrical stuff died a bit but the important bits proved very tough), and of course massively cheap - it was at 100,000+ and I got her for a song. It was based on a Honda Legend, and that wasn't a bad car to start with. Yes, it was a bit anonymous, which was occasionally useful.
The SDI looked good and modern (for the early 70s is was radical stuff) - but underneath the oily bits were not so up to date (back to the 60s) - the 800 was modern on launch. It'll never reach the same classic status, although you take out the V8 and SD1 loses it too.
Blah, blah, blah, British car industry etc. we know the drill. But I have a soft spot for this bit of it.
MadDog1962 said:
Sorry but these were rubbish. There's hardly any left. My brother joked that 800s were sheds when they were delivered. They were mostly bought as company cars owing to buy British procurement policies. The 827 did at least have a decent engine, and probably went well. But that didn't stop it from being a huge fail in most other quality aspects.
The ad is crap too. The whole thing is like a case study in why Rover went down the drain.
I disagree on the quality points, everything on mine worked just like everything on my BMW worked, the headlights were better than the beamer, for the money the interior was higher quality and better fitted out. I think it was probably faster than its 525i contempory, it certainly had more space.The ad is crap too. The whole thing is like a case study in why Rover went down the drain.
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