Bargetastic! Rover Limousine Content...
Discussion
My strange Roverphiliac tendencies are all ready well documented on PH, having driven Rover 75s almost exclusively as dailies for the past 5 years or so, but I think my latest purchase really does mean I'm destined for the funny farm before too long.
A gentleman in Nottingham advertised this for sale, and having spoken with him I mulled over the prospect of adding a rare, yet potentially ruinous Rover 75 Limousine to the fleet. It's a MK2 75 LWB which is significantly longer than the standard car. This particular vehicle was built by McNellie Coachbuilders on behalf of MG-Rover and despite being a MK1 car, it was converted by Rover to MK2 spec. This is THE car that was photographed for the MK2 LWB Brochure.
It's had a strange old life... The conversion from a normal Rover 75 to being registered was over a year and a half, and once it was registered in 2004 it seems to have been sold at a large discount through SMC Rover in Uxbridge. For the next couple of years it put on a LOT of miles (nearly 50k between 2007-08), and was MOT'd every 6 months - obviously it was registered as a private hire vehicle but I suspect it was doing motorway work rather than taking drunks home every night.
From there it looks to have been sold to a wedding and funeral company who used it predominantly as a wedding vehicle, and then sold to a chap who is a Rover enthusiast which is who I bought it from. Since 2012 it's only done around 10,000 miles and currently sits on 160,000.
I picked the car up at the beginning of August, but it's been sat in storage since then until I had time to get it into my local MGR specialist / weirdo who could give it a good going over. I've just received the car back, having had a full inspection and the following work completed:
Full service (Oil, Coolant, brake fluid, filters, wiper blades)
New front springs (NSF was fractured)
Front top mount bearings
New airbox (Cracked)
Headlamp wash repaired (necessary for MOT due to Xenons)
MOT!
Genuinely quite surprised and relieved at the amount of work that didn't require doing! I'm now finally putting some mileage on the thing, and for its mileage it drives absolutely lovely. It's got Rover's 2.5KV6 engine which seems to be in rude health and hauls the car around pretty well. No funny suspension noises & no trim rattles or creaks inside! The standard length 75 rides well, but this is definitely wafter, and I suspect Bettie sound deadening as cabin noise is significantly reduced vs my other examples.
A gentleman in Nottingham advertised this for sale, and having spoken with him I mulled over the prospect of adding a rare, yet potentially ruinous Rover 75 Limousine to the fleet. It's a MK2 75 LWB which is significantly longer than the standard car. This particular vehicle was built by McNellie Coachbuilders on behalf of MG-Rover and despite being a MK1 car, it was converted by Rover to MK2 spec. This is THE car that was photographed for the MK2 LWB Brochure.
It's had a strange old life... The conversion from a normal Rover 75 to being registered was over a year and a half, and once it was registered in 2004 it seems to have been sold at a large discount through SMC Rover in Uxbridge. For the next couple of years it put on a LOT of miles (nearly 50k between 2007-08), and was MOT'd every 6 months - obviously it was registered as a private hire vehicle but I suspect it was doing motorway work rather than taking drunks home every night.
From there it looks to have been sold to a wedding and funeral company who used it predominantly as a wedding vehicle, and then sold to a chap who is a Rover enthusiast which is who I bought it from. Since 2012 it's only done around 10,000 miles and currently sits on 160,000.
I picked the car up at the beginning of August, but it's been sat in storage since then until I had time to get it into my local MGR specialist / weirdo who could give it a good going over. I've just received the car back, having had a full inspection and the following work completed:
Full service (Oil, Coolant, brake fluid, filters, wiper blades)
New front springs (NSF was fractured)
Front top mount bearings
New airbox (Cracked)
Headlamp wash repaired (necessary for MOT due to Xenons)
MOT!
Genuinely quite surprised and relieved at the amount of work that didn't require doing! I'm now finally putting some mileage on the thing, and for its mileage it drives absolutely lovely. It's got Rover's 2.5KV6 engine which seems to be in rude health and hauls the car around pretty well. No funny suspension noises & no trim rattles or creaks inside! The standard length 75 rides well, but this is definitely wafter, and I suspect Bettie sound deadening as cabin noise is significantly reduced vs my other examples.
sjc said:
When you say converted to mk2 spec, was it just the exterior so you got the better quality interior and materials of the mk1?
It's had a full conversion so, for example, holding the unlock button on the key will pop the boot etc...The carpet is thick but different to the ones in even the PPD ones I've owned. Probably something mcnellie sourced? It has all the PPD bits but I don't know whether they've been added by a previous owner. I know the contemporary leather was added by the guy who had a wedding business (I assume the interior wasn't great after being used as private hire...)
Lovely!
Take it you’ve done the usual scuttle drain checks etc? What about the VIS motors etc, are they working as they should?
I nearly bought a 75 Estate a few years back, facelift, 190 V6 conversion from a ZT with very low miles and a few other nice touches, but pipped to the post and ended up with another ZT haha
Take it you’ve done the usual scuttle drain checks etc? What about the VIS motors etc, are they working as they should?
I nearly bought a 75 Estate a few years back, facelift, 190 V6 conversion from a ZT with very low miles and a few other nice touches, but pipped to the post and ended up with another ZT haha
d_a_n1979 said:
Lovely!
Take it you’ve done the usual scuttle drain checks etc? What about the VIS motors etc, are they working as they should?
I nearly bought a 75 Estate a few years back, facelift, 190 V6 conversion from a ZT with very low miles and a few other nice touches, but pipped to the post and ended up with another ZT haha
Yes all checks in order!!Take it you’ve done the usual scuttle drain checks etc? What about the VIS motors etc, are they working as they should?
I nearly bought a 75 Estate a few years back, facelift, 190 V6 conversion from a ZT with very low miles and a few other nice touches, but pipped to the post and ended up with another ZT haha
VIS motors were replaced by the previous owner and have been upgraded to self testing ones - so all good on that front! Not even a hint of inlet rattle on this one!
Considering it's a high mileage KV6 it really does run lovely.
|https://thumbsnap.com/pFZz1tpI[/url]
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff