RE: Rover 75 Tourer | Shed of the Week
Discussion
Dreadful looking things - OAP styling, horrible high dash, typically with matching beige trim, and the later ones had huge panel gaps around the front end.
But, talk to anyone that’s owned or driven them and surprisingly there is a lot more to these than you’d ever guess (as shown above from those in the know).
The ride and comfort on these was exceptional and it turns out they were very well engineered. This explains pricing for these sheds they hold their shed value exceedingly well!
A friend just sold a scruffy one of these base spec with no mot it sold straight away for £650! A sure sign of a shed that’s always in demand and owners tend to keep hold of them for long periods ( possibly until their final years - the owners not the cars which live on as exceedingly good sheds!).
No I won’t be buying one either but owners love them to bits.
But, talk to anyone that’s owned or driven them and surprisingly there is a lot more to these than you’d ever guess (as shown above from those in the know).
The ride and comfort on these was exceptional and it turns out they were very well engineered. This explains pricing for these sheds they hold their shed value exceedingly well!
A friend just sold a scruffy one of these base spec with no mot it sold straight away for £650! A sure sign of a shed that’s always in demand and owners tend to keep hold of them for long periods ( possibly until their final years - the owners not the cars which live on as exceedingly good sheds!).
No I won’t be buying one either but owners love them to bits.
xcseventy said:
Agreed. Ran a saloon version of this with a manual box for 3 years and 40,000 miles. Sold at 145,000 miles. Did many a European roadtrip and was a superb cruiser.
Two issues I had:
- Thermostat issue which mean the engine ran cold. I did eventually get this replaced.
- No boot handle/latch on the outside, so only way to open was an electronic button near drivers seat. This was fine when it worked, but when it stopped, I had to leave a long wooden cane down the side of the interior, so I could press the button and also open the boot and the same time.
Haha, love the cane solution. Someone needs to start a thread for innovative and interesting bodges for modern(ish) cars. Two issues I had:
- Thermostat issue which mean the engine ran cold. I did eventually get this replaced.
- No boot handle/latch on the outside, so only way to open was an electronic button near drivers seat. This was fine when it worked, but when it stopped, I had to leave a long wooden cane down the side of the interior, so I could press the button and also open the boot and the same time.
The first & only time I've ridden in one of these it was being used as a taxi with probably close to 200k miles on it. I came away very impressed with how well it had held up considering the lifestyle & heavy usage it had taken in its stride. I'll give it a thumbs up & yah boo sucks to the remoaners still harping on about BNP/Brexit etc whenever these or S Types are mentioned!.
Mate at work had one, at the time I was driving a Celica and made a few jokes a out the car being a bit dated and dull, then went for a drive in it... And it all changed. The level of comfort was amazing, the think just soaked up the bumps and the interior is a very nice place to be.
As a few have mentioned above, don't knock it till you've tried it. These are seriously under rated cars.
Also has a V6 MG version for a week as a hire car, nice upgrade from the astra I ordered, looked the looks and the power but the big wheels and tough suspension sort of ruined it.
As a few have mentioned above, don't knock it till you've tried it. These are seriously under rated cars.
Also has a V6 MG version for a week as a hire car, nice upgrade from the astra I ordered, looked the looks and the power but the big wheels and tough suspension sort of ruined it.
Had an MGZTT diesel version of this back in 2004. Wonderful beast and much underrated.
Front wheel drive from memory and plenty of room in the back for the dogs.
Shame on you badge snobs. Give them a go you might be surprised.
Racked up 100,000 miles in 3 years and the only thing that failed was the fuel pump at 80,000 and that only cost £75 to repair.
Vastly underrated IMHO.
Front wheel drive from memory and plenty of room in the back for the dogs.
Shame on you badge snobs. Give them a go you might be surprised.
Racked up 100,000 miles in 3 years and the only thing that failed was the fuel pump at 80,000 and that only cost £75 to repair.
Vastly underrated IMHO.
These are a great car really and very underrated, I ran a manual 2003 2.0CDT saloon a few years back, very comfortable and not a bad drive, good on fuel as well plus I did not give a stuff about the image.
However I would add that the build quality was shocking, mine leaked into the boot through the body seams, the rear window leaked and I was advised not to remove and reseal as new rear screens were not available at the time, also various strange and random electrical faults, mostly traced to the fact that the main wiring harness was not even wrapped in harness tape and was rubbing through on the chassis leg.
From what I understand the earlier cars were better and as time went on more and more money was cut from the budget.
Also for people say that it should have been rwd, from what I understand it was designed as rwd but BMW had a change of heart and did not want to take sales from the 5 series so it was switch to fwd.
However I would add that the build quality was shocking, mine leaked into the boot through the body seams, the rear window leaked and I was advised not to remove and reseal as new rear screens were not available at the time, also various strange and random electrical faults, mostly traced to the fact that the main wiring harness was not even wrapped in harness tape and was rubbing through on the chassis leg.
From what I understand the earlier cars were better and as time went on more and more money was cut from the budget.
Also for people say that it should have been rwd, from what I understand it was designed as rwd but BMW had a change of heart and did not want to take sales from the 5 series so it was switch to fwd.
Upto Rovers demise I was entitled to Employee discount with special offers on top of the basic discount we could.get 75s at not far off half price strangely there must have been only available in this colour when offers were on as they were all this colour with a handful of ZT's in various colours , Rovers generally being Sheds even when new not alot of people took up the offers .
They haven't aged well but whoever owns them seam to rate them on the estate I live theirs an OAP with a 54plate zt estate absolutely adores it, this particular car at precovid prices would be under a grand at that price that's fine but you wouldn't get me wanting it now and not when I could buy them cheap Brandnew .
They haven't aged well but whoever owns them seam to rate them on the estate I live theirs an OAP with a 54plate zt estate absolutely adores it, this particular car at precovid prices would be under a grand at that price that's fine but you wouldn't get me wanting it now and not when I could buy them cheap Brandnew .
Great shed this week.
Big, comfortable cruiser and a decent history with it.
Would happily have that.
Had a FL1 with that engine, egr delete, upgrade the hoses, change crankcase filter to the better bmw item and a twisted performance remap gave it a decent upgrade for power.
A friends dad had a 1.8 SE when they were new.
I was very surprised at the space and comfort of it.
Big, comfortable cruiser and a decent history with it.
Would happily have that.
Had a FL1 with that engine, egr delete, upgrade the hoses, change crankcase filter to the better bmw item and a twisted performance remap gave it a decent upgrade for power.
A friends dad had a 1.8 SE when they were new.
I was very surprised at the space and comfort of it.
SirGriffin said:
...
I was always amazed by the amount of people who had a ride in my 75's and said "This is lovely, I didn't realise they were like this!" Nope, that's because they were swept along by the scornful mass who drive gopingly ugly vehicles that look as if they have been in a collision on their way to the showroom, with concrete ride and handling, because they dare not admit that they actually like something different, in case they lose face.
The 75 was a comfortable car designed for the rubbish roads we actually have, instead of something that pandered to the 'ring dreams of the ad men.
Having had both the X-type and S-type, the 75 was head and shoulders above them for build quality, particularly the early interiors.
Lovely cars, and not a hateful touch screen in sight.
I think that the Rover 75s reputation for comfort is overblown. I had to do regular trips from the West Midlands to East Anglia in the early 00s, mostly in horrible weather as I recall. We used to get a lot of new hire-car Rover 75s, especially if more than one of us was going over. I interspersed those with trips on my own, in my own Saab 9-5. Doing the whole trip solo in my Saab, I'd get out of that less tired and achy than if I was sharing the driving in a Rover 75.I was always amazed by the amount of people who had a ride in my 75's and said "This is lovely, I didn't realise they were like this!" Nope, that's because they were swept along by the scornful mass who drive gopingly ugly vehicles that look as if they have been in a collision on their way to the showroom, with concrete ride and handling, because they dare not admit that they actually like something different, in case they lose face.
The 75 was a comfortable car designed for the rubbish roads we actually have, instead of something that pandered to the 'ring dreams of the ad men.
Having had both the X-type and S-type, the 75 was head and shoulders above them for build quality, particularly the early interiors.
Lovely cars, and not a hateful touch screen in sight.
Edited by SirGriffin on Friday 24th June 06:54
The Saab was not perfect, it had way too many reliability issues for my liking, but for comfort? The various 75s were nowhere near, in my experience.
Always liked these since a brief drive in an early saloon, just a great interior ambience, really nice place to be and very comfortable.
The sociology of the car is fascinating. I see a lot of P4 in the roundedness of the styling, especially the C-pillar.
although there's also some P5 and P6 influence inside and out.
The P4 is very much a 'Fifties' car, debuting in 1949, and has perhaps come to represent values of traditional British middle-class-ness (compare to the Mini which arrived in 1959 and is associated with the more progressive / open values of the Sixties).
By being rather deliberately British and traditional (partly perhaps as it was designed to complement rather than compete with contemporary BMWs), the 75 does seem to place itself in the tradition of the P4. Thus it is perhaps not entirely unfair to draw a comparison with Brexit, a 'proudly British' project which looked back to former glories before EU membership and metricisation.
The irony of course is that the 75 is as good as it is because Rover's engineers were given a large development budget by BMW to build the best traditionally British car possible.
Good history at AR Online https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/75/
If you're buying, check the bean-counters' bulletins to see when which corners were cut https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/history-project...
The sociology of the car is fascinating. I see a lot of P4 in the roundedness of the styling, especially the C-pillar.
although there's also some P5 and P6 influence inside and out.
The P4 is very much a 'Fifties' car, debuting in 1949, and has perhaps come to represent values of traditional British middle-class-ness (compare to the Mini which arrived in 1959 and is associated with the more progressive / open values of the Sixties).
By being rather deliberately British and traditional (partly perhaps as it was designed to complement rather than compete with contemporary BMWs), the 75 does seem to place itself in the tradition of the P4. Thus it is perhaps not entirely unfair to draw a comparison with Brexit, a 'proudly British' project which looked back to former glories before EU membership and metricisation.
The irony of course is that the 75 is as good as it is because Rover's engineers were given a large development budget by BMW to build the best traditionally British car possible.
Good history at AR Online https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/75/
If you're buying, check the bean-counters' bulletins to see when which corners were cut https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/history-project...
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