2004 Rover Streetwise . . . . .
Discussion
Being a shining example of crap-ness is as good an indicator of a classic car as any. I mean you'd be hard-pressed to describe one of those Izetta or Messerschmitt microcars as being good but they have huge followings.
Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Edited by //j17 on Friday 20th March 09:24
//j17 said:
Being a shining example of crap-ness is as good an indicator of a classic car as any. I mean you'd be hard-pressed to describe one of those Izetta or Messerschmitt microcars as being good but they have huge followings.
Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Are you not thinking of the City Rover as the cheap Indian car? Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Edited by //j17 on Friday 20th March 09:24
Streetwise was a jacked-up, body cladded Rover 25. Arguably very prescient of things to come.
I seem to remember it was commissioned when a new design boss discovered that none of the designers who worked for him had chosen a Rover company car - they had all gone for MG variants.
Duke Caboom said:
//j17 said:
Being a shining example of crap-ness is as good an indicator of a classic car as any. I mean you'd be hard-pressed to describe one of those Izetta or Messerschmitt microcars as being good but they have huge followings.
Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Are you not thinking of the City Rover as the cheap Indian car? Let's face it, walk down a line of 90s Rovers at a classic car show in 20 years and you'll hear people say:
1. Ah, the 75. That was the actually good one BMW made.
2. Ah, the Streetwise. That was the cheap Indian car with a Rover badge and not-cheap price that Rover were so embarrassed by they wouldn't give the press one to test drive so they had to go to dealers posing as members of the public to get test drives!
3. Ah, the, umm, let me look at the back...45. That was... Was it the slightly restyled 600? Or 400? And they we just restyled Honda...umm, cars.
Edited by //j17 on Friday 20th March 09:24
Streetwise was a jacked-up, body cladded Rover 25. Arguably very prescient of things to come.
I seem to remember it was commissioned when a new design boss discovered that none of the designers who worked for him had chosen a Rover company car - they had all gone for MG variants.
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I have some sympathy with this view but... being ahead of your time in a game like car design is no good. You need to be designing exactly the right car for the times.I wouldn't think of it as a classic, not least on the fact that 2004 still feels relatively current, but then I'm just about old enough to remember when 2-door MkII Escorts were a similar age and considered just crappy cars people who couldn't afford better had. That said, a Streetwise is probably more on the end of the Avenger or Allegro where even once it reaches the age of being a classic by default it will only ever have a cult following, combined with the odd few who fancy a cheap older car to mess around with or remember being driven around in one years ago.
Probably the best definition for me would be that it's a HubNut car. Not particularly loved, not well regarded by the masses, but will provide decent cheap transport for someone and is interesting in its own way once you get over it not being the performance model or the one that won all the awards when it was new. This one more than most, given the surrounding context of the decline of Rover Group and their attempts to survive with a core lineup of ageing models.
Probably the best definition for me would be that it's a HubNut car. Not particularly loved, not well regarded by the masses, but will provide decent cheap transport for someone and is interesting in its own way once you get over it not being the performance model or the one that won all the awards when it was new. This one more than most, given the surrounding context of the decline of Rover Group and their attempts to survive with a core lineup of ageing models.
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
Agreed.Doesn't make it any good, mind! Having said that I had a Rover 214 as a first car and it was OK for the 1.5k it cost.
My Daughter's got one she inherited from from her Grandmother's partner (I know; council). She does winter and summer seasons in the alps and has been there and back several times without issue. I drove it once and the auxiliary belt broke, got caught in the cam belt, made it skip a tooth and bent all the valves. Put another cylinder head on it and off it went again until it split the hose from the turbo. Changed that and full boost again. Then the clutch went due to the release arm partially seizing. Got and new clutch fitted but the speedo sensor broke. Fitted a new one and the speedo works again. Then the MAF sensor got a bit dirty which confuses the engine management. A quick squirt with IPA and full power again. Seems OK at the moment. Touch wood.
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I think Renault beat them to it by several years by sticking a load of plastic tat all over a Megane Scenic.My work had a Streetwise as a pool car for several years. It was an auto with a sequential 'manual' mode. My god it was slow, with a big thirst for a 1.4 (iirc). I had to do several trips to Stansted airport and back which was a 350 mile run. it always felt like you had to hold 75% throttle to do 70mph.... It never let the company down in the time we had it, but was it beyond dull and completely average at everything it did.
finlo said:
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I think Renault beat them to it by several years by sticking a load of plastic tat all over a Megane Scenic.[quote=Spydaman]My Daughter's got one she inherited from from her Grandmother's partner (I know; council). She does winter and summer seasons in the alps and has been there and back several times without issue. I drove it once and the auxiliary belt broke, got caught in the cam belt, made it skip a tooth and bent all the valves.
Put another cylinder head on it and off it went again until it split the hose from the turbo. Changed that and full boost again.
Didnt know these had a turbo??
Steve.
Put another cylinder head on it and off it went again until it split the hose from the turbo. Changed that and full boost again.
Didnt know these had a turbo??
Steve.
JxJ Jr. said:
finlo said:
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I think Renault beat them to it by several years by sticking a load of plastic tat all over a Megane Scenic.I bought an S-reg R3 200 when I was 19, all my friends thought I was bananas to buy it instead of a Golf. I loved it, 2.0TD and a few modifications here and there was a decent machine to own and damn reliable.
I'd have another IF I could find one again in Brooklands Green, they all disappeared and the chances of finding another are slim, though I'd have a clean BRM if one came up at the right price!
So much was the respect I had for this car that when a replacement was due for my parents' Focus TDDi estate, I bought them sight unseen a 75 Tourer CDT. nearly 4 years later it has been as good as all the reviews said, and super cheap to maintain and run. So far, we can't find anything that would do the same job to replace it, and as it's a 2004 model, knocking on a bit, but the latest ones were only on a 2006 plate. So they're keeping it until it will cry no more I think.
I'd have another IF I could find one again in Brooklands Green, they all disappeared and the chances of finding another are slim, though I'd have a clean BRM if one came up at the right price!
So much was the respect I had for this car that when a replacement was due for my parents' Focus TDDi estate, I bought them sight unseen a 75 Tourer CDT. nearly 4 years later it has been as good as all the reviews said, and super cheap to maintain and run. So far, we can't find anything that would do the same job to replace it, and as it's a 2004 model, knocking on a bit, but the latest ones were only on a 2006 plate. So they're keeping it until it will cry no more I think.
finlo said:
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I think Renault beat them to it by several years by sticking a load of plastic tat all over a Megane Scenic.NewUsername said:
JxJ Jr. said:
finlo said:
NewUsername said:
The streetwise was another product of the brilliant Rover/MG design team......they may not have had the hardware to make modern fresh cars but that Streetwise pre-empted current fashion by a long way. Way ahead of its time
I think Renault beat them to it by several years by sticking a load of plastic tat all over a Megane Scenic.Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff