Friday 31st July 2015

Shed Of The Week: MG ZT-T / Rover 75 Tourer

Both ends of the Rover wagon spectrum explored by Shed this week with a 75 diesel and ZT-T V6

---

Two for the price of one this week as we explore the varying appeal of the Rover/MG 75/ZT wagon.

Both our Sheds are from 2001, the year in which George Bush was sworn into office, quite literally probably; Stanley Kubrick had his Space Odyssey; and Shed discovered that Mrs Shed had a vestigial tail.

Still a handsome old bus

The thing that rescues this Rover from the usual curled top lip and sneer of disdain is the oily lump under the bonnet. There can't be many people who don't know that this is the same BMW 2.0-litre turbodiesel unit that has been thrumming busy execs up and down the world's motorways for who knows how long.

Actually, that's not quite right, there are some people who aren't aware of the gold ahead of them thar sills. A pal of Shed's picked one of these CDT Rovers up last year for buttons and has been serenely motoring on since then with a gratifyingly small number of diesel receipts in the glovebox and zero repair bills to spoil his fun.

Admittedly, from an engineering design perspective this engine is about as fresh as last week's Fyffes banana or Shed witticism. But let's take nothing away from it, for many years it was the undisputed king of the donks. That knowledge has always kept CDT prices pretty buoyant. Even now there really aren't that many in the three-figure bracket.

And for more sensible PHers

The miles are highish on both cars but perhaps just high enough for them to have leapt majestically over most of the major hurdles that might have blighted their lives up to now. With the diesel engine of course that will be injector trouble and the dual mass flywheel clutch. When it's running well the 2.5 petrol six in the MG is a refined and composed unit, much like the car itself. You may encounter any, all or none of a myriad of problems affecting head gaskets, coil springs, brake master cylinders, thermostat housing seals, cambelts, coil packs and clutches. Don't expect much above 25mpg, but opening the story out to all 75s/ZTs do expect a wide range of pleasure and horror stories in almost equal measure from angry or ecstatic owners. Water ingress through the tailgate was a problem on early estates.

The ads, particularly for the Rover, are typical dealer fare, grammatically odd mixtures of capital letters and commas and each in their own way a splendid triumph of content over flow, but at least they give you a good idea that these were decently specified cars. Well built ones, too. Even the appalling sticker underneath the Rover's tailgate can't take away from the still sound finish fourteen years down the road. Looking at that sticker you suspect the owner of the Rover either had a brilliant sense of humour or none at all.

CALL FOR MORE INFO. DO IT NOW

The MG of course is rather less smelly looking. Give those Brummie lads their due, they knew how to slap paint on. Shame the chaps at the top weren't quite so diligent.

Which one would you have? The shiny money in every sense is on the MG but Shed suspects that a significant underbelly of PHers looking for a tool capable of most things and with minimal running costs would sign up for the Rover.

Anyway, here are those ads. Try and read the Rover one out loud in one breath. That's how it was written.

Here is the ZT-T ad and here's the 75.

Blue, LONG MOT, HPI CLEAR, CALL FOR MORE INFO, 5+ owners, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels (18in), Electric Windows (Front/Rear), In Car Entertainment (Radio/Cassette). 5 seats, WE'VE CHNAGED ADDRESS! AS OF 1ST MAY WE ARE AT MAULDEN GARDEN CENTRE, A507, MK452GP, £895
2.5 190 + 5dr

Zircon silver
Insurance Group 8, Part exchange trade clearance, ABS, Air Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels, Body Coloured Bumpers, Central Locking, Drivers Airbag, Folding Rear Seats, Front Electric Windows, Front Fog Lights, Height Adjustable Drivers Seat, Immobiliser, Passenger Airbag, Power Steering, Radio/Cassette, Rear Electric Windows, Remote Central Locking, Roof Rails, Service Indicator, Side Airbags, Steering Wheel Rake Adjustment, Steering Wheel Reach Adjustment, Trip Computer,Tel: David : 07511 667260

 

[MadDog1962]

The MG looks a lot more appealing than the Rover. Those cheesy stickers are danger signs for me.

Not my cup of char really, but for less than 900 quid it seems like a lot of car in not bad shape.

[RoverP6B]

The pre-facelift 75 is still an achingly pretty thing. I would love a 2.5 KV6 example. Saloon or Tourer, not fussy...

[X5TUU]

Sweet jesus no ... and what are them stickers ... ladies riding a flaming wheel, wolf face and stick on rubber air vents

I appreciate its a whole lot of scrap metal for the money but I personally would genuinely rather take the pauper-wagon (aka bus)

[muppet42]

When out and about looking for an interesting car for under a grand, a saloon version of the MG ZT shown was up for £600 locally complete with intriguing Powerflow exhaust. Was clean as but had a month's MOT breaking my rule of needing at least 6 months, so I ended up spending another hundred and got the Fiat Coupe. Though it's needed a little work due to age, I've not regretted it for a minute :-)

The MG did interest me though, I like the mildly sporty styling and the road tests of the time showed they were a good steer. Plus the tourer version could probably handle a healthy jaunt to Ikea once in a while. So, it's still on the list but I'd like something notably faster than what I have. And I don't yet have the need for a more practical motor :-P

The standard 75 is a little bit old hat to me. It suffers from what a lot of journos used to say Jaguar suffered from before the XF appeared on the scene - but with faker wood. And then there's the massive rear number plates...

Anyway, the MG gets my approval.

[HorneyMX5]

I had a manual ZT CDTi 135+ for 18 months and 30,000 miles.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

It had it's faults and troubles (Leaky boot, clutch went, digi display temperamental etc) but out of the 30+ cars I've owned it's one of my faves. It was frugal and comfortable on a long journey and yet you could wind it up an a B road and really hussle it along. I loved the interior, the seats were very comfortable and I still think the styling is good. People were often surprised it was a cheap runabout and one co-worker mistook it for a Bentley, ha ha.

[pSyCoSiS]

The MG is quite a fresh looking car even today, and it is a fair chunk of car for the money.

Rover is definitely the sensible option, but if it's running right, that's not a bad thing. It'll do the job of being a family hack very well.

[andymadmak]

what on earth are those bits stuck to the 75?

The ZT T is a good car. I ran one (190 V6) for several years, and put more than 100k miles on it. The guy I sold it to took it to more than 160K miles and then he sold it on again..... They do take the miles well so long as you put in the right coolant, oil, etc. Handled well too.

[Numeric]

Go for the Rover - this car was designed to waft not hoon and their are few better wafters than a 75 CDT with the engine management upograde for 132ps (no other changes than 2 mins with a lap top). The suspension was only sorted on the MG with the softer springs which came in 2002/3 I think, till then over rough surfaces I used to think the 75 was quicker.

Pulled out of London after a bad nights sleep in central London at 05.30 and was having dinner in Viena at 19.30 without any aches and feeling more refreshed than when I started - not much other than a full size luxo barge would have been better than the 75.

[X5TUU]

HorneyMX5 said:

one co-worker mistook it for a Bentley, ha ha.

Blimey, I hope they booked in for an eye test soon after (#shgts [as the kids these days say])

[burningdinos]

I thought it was both for the price of one shed !

By the way, did anyone notice the silver Saab next to the Rover? That's the definition of "dodgy paintwork" right there

[slowhand99]

And the 75 was available with a Mustang V8, LSD and shares in Good Year for a while. Where are they now?

[VolvoT5]

Would have to be the ZT-T for me, although neither appeal much. I drove a ZT diesel and it was dog slow and that was the higher output model. Also thought the driving position was odd but I'm rather tall so could just be I didn't fit as intended.

The rover just looks nasty and it is being sold by Derby Car Centre too? No thanks.

[P4ROT]

Is that a Ripspeed shifter on the 75?

[KarlMac]

slowhand99 said:

And the 75 was available with a Mustang V8, LSD and shares in Good Year for a while. Where are they now?

This is the one I'm keeping my eye one. Less than two grand = Hipster drift pig.

[VolvoT5]

KarlMac said:

This is the one I'm keeping my eye one. Less than two grand = Hipster drift pig.

Made in such small numbers I can't see them ever being less than 2k.

[RobinBanks]

P4ROT said:

Is that a Ripspeed shifter on the 75?

Looks like it. It was the first thing I noticed

KarlMac said:

This is the one I'm keeping my eye one. Less than two grand = Hipster drift pig.

You'll never get one for that price. They're just too rare, unique, odd and last of line. There will always be people willing to pay more than that.

[Amirhussain]

RoverP6B said:

The pre-facelift 75 is still an achingly pretty thing. I would love a 2.5 KV6 example. Saloon or Tourer, not fussy...

They're decent looking cars, but far from 'achingly pretty'. IMO.

[carinaman]

There's been some lovely looking cars on the ZT & ZT-T forum a black estate in East Anglia and a red saloon with V8 style twin exhausts in the North East. Great looking cars and tempting for the money.

[Madkat]

The ZT is possibly one of the most aggressive looking barges on the road but also has the handling know how and (after some audible tweaks) the bark to back it up.

look very dated now but i don't think that's a bad thing with the current Solidworks/maya/autodesk/catia etc designed generation.

If i needed a banger i'd have one. But not the 75.

[Rumblestripe]

I've always had a soft spot for the V6 petrol 75s. I have good memories of having a red metallic estate as a long term hire for 6-8 months and loved it. It was quick enough to surprise BMWs et al when exiting roundabouts. I believe the MG version had more horses? It felt pretty well screwed together and the interior was a nice place to be. Bit thirsty though.