Friday 20th March 2009

SOTW: Rover 75 V6

Who wants to give an old Rover a good home?

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Jim Morrison once sang: ‘This is the end. Beautiful friend.’ Ok, so the Rover 75 wasn’t exactly beautiful but it was good looking, bar the chintzy chrome, and in many ways it was the end for the British carmaker.

Even though it was born so cynically old fashioned it may as well have had a Werthers' Original holder near the ashtray the poor 75 actually put up a good fight. It won so many awards there’d be barely enough room to scratch them into the factory-fitted oversized rear number plate, including What Car? ‘Car of the Year’ and was shortlisted for the ‘European Car of the Year Awards’.

But as we all know this wasn’t enough to save poor old Rover from terminal decline. The 75 then was a last hoorah for the company, a glimmering hope that everything would be ok if only they could find some cash to build cars not badges for ancient Indian superminis.

In a moment of madness the 75 was even fitted with a Ford V8 and transformed into rear-drive, and then of course there were the handsome MG ZT variants, but they are nothing more than a memory of what a decent Rover could be like.

And now they are cheap – very cheap. Go to Autotrader and you can take your pick of 75s, all seemingly in good nick. Which is exactly what I did, and despite being tempted by the saloon version they all came in nasty colours, which is why I went for this estate (sorry, Tourer) version instead.

Obviously it’s got a V6, the 2.0-litre in this case, and despite the high mileage it has plenty of toys and a 12 month MOT. All this for £995, and if you don’t like it there’s plenty more to choose from…

Ad reads: '2001 Y Reg ROVER 75 2.0 V6 Club SE. 5 Doors, Automatic, Estate, Petrol, 157,998 miles, Blue. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Air conditioning, Alloy wheels, Central locking, Computer, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Foglights, Head restraints.

' Folding rear seats, Lumbar support, Immobiliser, Passenger airbag, Power assisted steering, Rear armrest, Remote locking, Roof rails, Radio/Cassette, Side airbags, Rear headrests, COMES WITH 12 MONTHS MOT, TAKEN IN PX, Anti theft system, Child locks, Chrome wheels, Cloth upholstery.

'Climate Control, Colour coding - Body, Heated screen, Locking wheel nuts, Metallic paintwork, Multi function steering wheel, Radio, Sunblind. Insurance Group:11, ITS TAXED TILL 31st MARCH 2009, AND IT COMES WITH 12 MONTHS MOT. £995.'

[aarondrs]

Not sure about this one. I would "want" the 2.5V6 to start with and two Rovers in two weeks of SOTW seems excessive. An underpowered, slow (even by last weeks 30 year old car standards, FWD, estate(sorry tourer)car does not a PH SOTW make.

[dpbird90]

Slightly disappointing SOTW this week, there was a nice Jag XJS V12 in the PH classifieds for shed money:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/944048.htm

That's my SOTW

[Frimley111R]

[RobCrezz]

aarondrs said:

Not sure about this one. I would "want" the 2.5V6 to start with and two Rovers in two weeks of SOTW seems excessive. An underpowered, slow (even by last weeks 30 year old car standards, FWD, estate(sorry tourer)car does not a PH SOTW make.

Looks ok to me. Cheap comfortable barge to waft around in.

[GTIR]

No, no, no, no!

No

Never

Ever

Poor show, 2/10 must do better.

[Ricky944s2]

Shame, I would have went for it if it had a full up-to-date service history from an officail dealer!!

[stevebedford1969]

And if you must do it get an X Reg (or older) i.e. where the emmissions are not used for road tax.

This will soon be costing £400+ per year in road tax - Which will soon be more than it's worth. AVOID!

[G'kar]

Looks like a fair bit of kit for a bag, tbh.

[stevebedford1969]

Ricky944s2 said:

Shame, I would have went for it if it had a full up-to-date service history from an officail dealer!!

It's not April Fool's day for another few weeks..............Tell me you are joking?!

[KimZ]

Ricky944s2 said:

Shame, I would have went for it if it had a full up-to-date service history from an officail dealer!!

Indeed and don't forget the extended factory guarantee...

[xjr88]

Is this shed of the week, or heap of the week? :/

[durbster]

I had a lift in one of these recently and it was the smoothest ride I've ever experienced. I'd consider one if I had to bomb up and down the motorway regularly I reckon.

[Rarst]

beige steering wheel!

i'm not anti-rover by any stretch but this is weak. must try harder!

[Prometheus]

The 75 was actually a good car, but as usual it will be written off by the badge snobs.

[pSyCoSiS]

dpbird90 said:

Slightly disappointing SOTW this week, there was a nice Jag XJS V12 in the PH classifieds for shed money:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/944048.htm

That's my SOTW

Agree mate - that is a lovely shed of the week, with a 'proper' engine!

Cheap at 995 too!

[900T-R]

Come on folks, for a grand this is bl00dy lovely for wafting up and down motorways. And don't give me the 'yeah but I've seen an XYZ super sportster on a B-plate for that amount' - you're missing the point. You can get pretty much any car for a grand if you're willing to spend a gazillion to bring it up to scratch.

[OllieWinchester]

So, 2.0 V6. Not good.
Automatic. Hmmm. No thanks.
Estate. Ok.

All packaged up in lovely front wheel drive Rover-ness.

Not a good shed by any stretch, in the list of cars I would buy for £1k, that would come waaay down the list I'm afraid.

[Frimley111R]

FFS! It says 'Pistonheads SPEED MATTERS' on the home page so why do we have another old barge?

0/10 - again!

[RacingPete]

I couldn't believe that what effectively is a Rover badged Beemer was down as low as this... plenty of car for the money, definitely a good car for cruising long distance on motorways.. and there seems to be quite a few at that price!!

[Negative Creep]

If I needed a comfy mile muncher I could think of a lot worse options. Always had a bit of a soft spot for these cars, ride is excellent and they aren't that bad to drive. Shame about the 'country pub' interior though