RE: SOTW: Rover 200 BRM
Discussion
Twincam16 said:
You may slag it off, but have you seen how much you pay for an MG Maestro Turbo these days? You'll struggle to find one in SOTW territory, put it that way. Rarity, chuckability and a kind of perverse exclusivity do have a habit of forcing prices up in the long run.
Times change. When they were new, the MG BGT was frequently bought by twentysomethings after a cool, cheap, practical car that was fun to drive. Now those first buyers are in their forties, fifties and sixties and routinely pay upwards of £5k for a mint 'B', even though, to its detractors, it's 'just' a rebodied Morris Oxford.
To many, hot hatches replaced sports cars. Take a look around and you'll see many twentysomethings with a similar outlook to BGT-man back in the '70s driving around in ZRs.
Yes, to some it's 'just' a rebadged Rover, but to the people who bought them, from the teenager bowled over by the fact that a ZR1.4 could be his first car, to the club rallyist who started out with a 180, they will be as desirable as an MG BGT over time.
So, picture the 'ordinary' classic car scene in, say, 15 years. The Ford Ka will have replaced the Mini in the affections of the young drivers who started out with the smallest car that also happened to be fun and distinctively styled. The Peugeot 106 will have a massive following (it just will. I know loads of people who could very easily afford far more desirable cars who are clinging onto their 106s, having fallen deeply in love with the willing engine, handling and neat Pininfarina looks - there's a lot of 205 GTi 1.6 about them).
But I reckon that in classic car shows of the future, whereas the F will take the place of the B roadster, the ZR will be the 'new' BGT, a popular classic and also a popular 'starter classic' due to massive club support and practicality. With this wave of nostalgia, demand will be high for good examples.
Now, against that backdrop, where people will pay handsomely for a nice ZR180, imagine what they'll fork out for a BRM?
Not a snowballs chance in hell....Times change. When they were new, the MG BGT was frequently bought by twentysomethings after a cool, cheap, practical car that was fun to drive. Now those first buyers are in their forties, fifties and sixties and routinely pay upwards of £5k for a mint 'B', even though, to its detractors, it's 'just' a rebodied Morris Oxford.
To many, hot hatches replaced sports cars. Take a look around and you'll see many twentysomethings with a similar outlook to BGT-man back in the '70s driving around in ZRs.
Yes, to some it's 'just' a rebadged Rover, but to the people who bought them, from the teenager bowled over by the fact that a ZR1.4 could be his first car, to the club rallyist who started out with a 180, they will be as desirable as an MG BGT over time.
So, picture the 'ordinary' classic car scene in, say, 15 years. The Ford Ka will have replaced the Mini in the affections of the young drivers who started out with the smallest car that also happened to be fun and distinctively styled. The Peugeot 106 will have a massive following (it just will. I know loads of people who could very easily afford far more desirable cars who are clinging onto their 106s, having fallen deeply in love with the willing engine, handling and neat Pininfarina looks - there's a lot of 205 GTi 1.6 about them).
But I reckon that in classic car shows of the future, whereas the F will take the place of the B roadster, the ZR will be the 'new' BGT, a popular classic and also a popular 'starter classic' due to massive club support and practicality. With this wave of nostalgia, demand will be high for good examples.
Now, against that backdrop, where people will pay handsomely for a nice ZR180, imagine what they'll fork out for a BRM?
Papa Hotel said:
I just can't get past that orange mouth. And the interior looks like Huggy Bear had a go at the design.
I don't hate it, but I do have ownership experience of another tarted up version of the same car and could never recommend that. Ok, the head gasket thing is a boring cliche but as a whole, the car is riddled with problems. No sale. It IS interesting though.
I've heard you say about your R200 before. Curious but what issues did you have with it? Only ask as my bro is on his 2nd, both my cousins have them (both diesels, one turbo one not) and a friend has another one. Not know any issues with any of them that weren't due to abuse or lack of maintenance. I don't hate it, but I do have ownership experience of another tarted up version of the same car and could never recommend that. Ok, the head gasket thing is a boring cliche but as a whole, the car is riddled with problems. No sale. It IS interesting though.
Having had the std 200 , Vi, BRM, and ZR I think they make a great little run around just too expensive from new .. had Rover addressed the flakey engine image sooner and had the Vi as a base model with the BRM top spec and ZR somewhere in the middle things may just have been very different ...
I've owned one of these for the last two years and I like it ....a lot
For thise wondering how many are left, this is courtesy of some hard work by Adam over at theBRM.co.uk.
From the DVLA
As at the 22 August 2010 there were 429 licensed vehicles and 117 vehicles with a Statutory Off Road Notification where the make is Rover and the model is 200 BRM.
For thise wondering how many are left, this is courtesy of some hard work by Adam over at theBRM.co.uk.
From the DVLA
As at the 22 August 2010 there were 429 licensed vehicles and 117 vehicles with a Statutory Off Road Notification where the make is Rover and the model is 200 BRM.
I have one tucked away in storage. Used it to commute in for a few months and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not overly fast but with a straight through exhaust it sounded lovely and handled surprisingly well. Personally I think the interior looks lovely. Seats are not very supportive and you slide across them easily but its a nice place to be. Gear stick gets extremely hot in the summer too being solid aluminium. Economic, quick rather than fast, rare, nice shape and parts are cheap. I might have to dig it out of the barn in the summer and get it recommissioned. If you can find a decent one I would certainly recommend it as a cheap and unusual run about.
300bhp/ton said:
Papa Hotel said:
I just can't get past that orange mouth. And the interior looks like Huggy Bear had a go at the design.
I don't hate it, but I do have ownership experience of another tarted up version of the same car and could never recommend that. Ok, the head gasket thing is a boring cliche but as a whole, the car is riddled with problems. No sale. It IS interesting though.
I've heard you say about your R200 before. Curious but what issues did you have with it? Only ask as my bro is on his 2nd, both my cousins have them (both diesels, one turbo one not) and a friend has another one. Not know any issues with any of them that weren't due to abuse or lack of maintenance. I don't hate it, but I do have ownership experience of another tarted up version of the same car and could never recommend that. Ok, the head gasket thing is a boring cliche but as a whole, the car is riddled with problems. No sale. It IS interesting though.
As a SOTW though I love this! Everyone knows you can get a tatty XJ for under a grand, but this is decided left-field. Great choice!
In the USA it is often Ford who are the joke of the car fraternity, Found On The Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, sadly in the UK it is Rover. I can imagine having some fun in this car and being a bit different. Measure this up against one of my favourites, a Cireon XM, now Shed territory and there is no way the XM could compete, my two were always in the garage well before shed time. In spirit I am with Rover...
300bhp/ton said:
I've heard you say about your R200 before. Curious but what issues did you have with it? Only ask as my bro is on his 2nd, both my cousins have them (both diesels, one turbo one not) and a friend has another one. Not know any issues with any of them that weren't due to abuse or lack of maintenance.
Boot jammed shut, rear seats wouldn't come forwards, boot was effectively rendered useless. Refused to start regularly. The dashboard, seats and sunroof sounded like they were trying to form some sort of squeak and rattle orchestra... which was useful because the car had no stereo in it when I picked it up, clearly the PDI was thorough and quality control in Brum had their job nailed. The inside door handle trim would fall off when the door was shut. Oh, the rear window just exploded one frosty night, that was nice. Brakes seized on occasion. Apart from that, the thing was a joy to drive, it really was! I loved it but was glad to be rid and vowed never to have another Rover/MG product. Mostly minor annoyances but still symptomatic of a car that was just inherently bad. The car was brand new, the probs I had were not down to maintenance issues and it wasn't abused, I probably nursed that car more than any I've owned before it or since.
My mate's got two of them and runs one as a track car. We used to give him loads of stick but to be fair its not a bad little car and surprisingly quick. The track car is a bit of a beast as well. Here's a link for anyone's whose interested...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25QYzoF-Lk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25QYzoF-Lk
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