RE: Rover 75: PH Carpool

RE: Rover 75: PH Carpool

Monday 17th April 2017

Rover 75: PH Carpool

Two PistonHeads boxes ticked with this Carpool and Shed Of The Week combined!



Name: Piotr Frankowski
Car: Rover 75 2.5 litre
Owned since: February 2017
Previously owned: Lots!

Polish pilots in British machinery a proven combo
Polish pilots in British machinery a proven combo
Why I bought it:
"I have always wanted a Bristol. I will have one before I die, but I wanted something British. I run a company in the UK and thought it would be wrong not to go local. This one I found in a dismal used car lot in the Midlands, and bought it from two Afghans whom I impressed by recognising they were talking Pashtu to each other. I felt like I was rescuing an unloved dog from an animal shelter."

What I wish I’d known:
"I immediately bought a Haynes manual. At the price that I bought my Rover - £700 - research other than finding that the bodywork was basically sound was unnecessary."

Things I love:
"What I really love is that cultured purr of the V6 as the revs smoothly rise to meet the redline, the sophistication of the damping, and the fact that I can really push on bumpy B-roads. The bodywork is scruffy with scratches, dings and dents which are a legacy of the previous elderly owners and their parking issues."

Things I hate:
"I hate nothing… it is one of these cars that has a calming effect on me. Not like a sedative, but more like the smell of comfort food when you are angry. It makes me more tolerant of other people, even those in German cars."

Rover provides a relaxing wind-down from day job
Rover provides a relaxing wind-down from day job
Costs:
"A cambelt job was almost as expensive as the car, with a water pump thrown in. I have since got new Toyo tires, a set of road Powerflex bushes, a new oil cooler, a good Sony radio and new wheel bearings plus some other assorted items. Fuel consumption is also looking reasonable, all the more so because the engine is fantastically flexible, pulling easily in fourth almost from standstill."

Where I’ve been:
"Now that is the funniest part. I, a Polish guy, run Arrinera Racing Ltd here in the UK, which builds and tests our Arrinera Hussarya GT3 race cars. I drive my Rover 75 to circuits like Silverstone, Blyton Park or Snetterton and then get behind the wheel of a purebred racer. On the way home the Rover again calms me down with its waft factor."

What next?
"I don't think I could sell it, as I could not sell a dog either. The next stage of upgrades will be uprated shocks and better brakes, because braided brake lines are already fitted."


Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!

Author
Discussion

HorneyMX5

Original Poster:

5,306 posts

149 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Brilliant. I loved my ZT CDTi. Very under rated cars.

HeMightBeBanned

617 posts

177 months

Monday 17th April 2017
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Nice photo at Shelsley Walsh. I'm more interested to hear about what was going on there, than about an aged Rover shed.

PistonBroker

2,406 posts

225 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
HeMightBeBanned said:
Nice photo at Shelsley Walsh. I'm more interested to hear about what was going on there, than about an aged Rover shed.
Agreed. A follow-up on that would be great.

mx-tro

290 posts

219 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Great carpool. I have been thinking of Rover 75's a lot recently as an antidote to the daily harshness of my hot hatch on UK roads. Seem to be quite the bargain now, so shouldn't be too tricky to make the case to SWMBO...

Given your day job, have you felt the need to fettle the 75 at all?

l354uge

2,892 posts

120 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Love it, I bought a top spec 75 with 2.5 v6 for £240 a few months back, it was tired and unloved but over a load of long journeys it was the perfect companion. I'm usually quite a manic driver that likes to push on but when I was in the rover I was zen. Great cars.

Sadly, I had to sell mine (took a while, no one was interested) to some blokes who were going to send its engine to Africa frown I need a 2l v6 auto tourer desperately


Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Why didn't these sell better when they were new? I've been in one that was a mini cab as a passenger and it seemed like a really nice car to ride around in.

stevemiller

533 posts

164 months

Monday 17th April 2017
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Nice car but I am a little biased. I bought a 2001 75 CDTI for £650 boxing day 2016. Since then I have covered over 12k miles averaging over 50mpg on my mainly motorway commutes. Floaty and quite a serene way to pass a long drive. I have now committed to a major outlay - £260 for four Avon 225/45/17 tyres fitted.

I also run a supercharged V8 ZT, have done so for over eight years. Must be the cheapest way to a 400bhp saloon with a long ownership. The £650 car is my fifth ZT/75.

Edited by stevemiller on Monday 17th April 16:31

daveinhampshire

527 posts

125 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Willy Nilly said:
Why didn't these sell better when they were new? I've been in one that was a mini cab as a passenger and it seemed like a really nice car to ride around in.
The usual Rover mistake, try and pitch the car above the market it belonged. If you look at the engine outputs it was far better matched to the Mondeo/Saab 9-3 of the era, instead they went after the E39 BMW and Mercedes, it didn't have a chance. Add the Marmite interior and Rovers already trashed reputation it was never going to be easy.

Saying that I'd buy one as a cheap run about, they're well built and I personally really like the interior, the V8 would be a good bet as a future classic.

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
daveinhampshire said:
Willy Nilly said:
Why didn't these sell better when they were new? I've been in one that was a mini cab as a passenger and it seemed like a really nice car to ride around in.
The usual Rover mistake, try and pitch the car above the market it belonged. If you look at the engine outputs it was far better matched to the Mondeo/Saab 9-3 of the era, instead they went after the E39 BMW and Mercedes, it didn't have a chance. Add the Marmite interior and Rovers already trashed reputation it was never going to be easy.

Saying that I'd buy one as a cheap run about, they're well built and I personally really like the interior, the V8 would be a good bet as a future classic.
So a fundamentally good car that was poorly marketed?

bennyboydurham

1,617 posts

173 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
I had a brand new MG ZT-T as a company car for a short while back in 2002 and apart from the ruinous fuel economy, I really liked it.

I think the problem with the 75 generally was that the retro styling wasn't to everyone's taste, it was oddly sized in between say the 3 Series/C Class and 5/E Class segments and it was released at the point where the Rover brand had been tarnished. The dash for smaller premium cars had started by then and Rover was largely churning out reheated ex-Honda dross from the early 90s. If you look how successful the MINI and Land Rover brands have been since given the right product and marketing, it makes one wonder where and what Rover could have been now.

Edited by bennyboydurham on Monday 17th April 16:07

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
That KV6 is a lovely, lovely engine and really makes the car. The difference between an early model with the KV6 and a late Phoenix car with all the quality stripped out and a wky diesel engine is immense.

daveinhampshire

527 posts

125 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Willy Nilly said:
daveinhampshire said:
Willy Nilly said:
Why didn't these sell better when they were new? I've been in one that was a mini cab as a passenger and it seemed like a really nice car to ride around in.
The usual Rover mistake, try and pitch the car above the market it belonged. If you look at the engine outputs it was far better matched to the Mondeo/Saab 9-3 of the era, instead they went after the E39 BMW and Mercedes, it didn't have a chance. Add the Marmite interior and Rovers already trashed reputation it was never going to be easy.

Saying that I'd buy one as a cheap run about, they're well built and I personally really like the interior, the V8 would be a good bet as a future classic.
So a fundamentally good car that was poorly marketed?
I would say so, it was the same issue with the Rover 400, aimed at the Mondeo market for Mondeo money yet no bigger than the Escort/Focus.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
Are these machines yours?

Noticed them at Poznan Motorshow last weekend, Looked absolutely stunning!

Sadly couldn't get a good look as there were far to many people around.



Alex P

180 posts

127 months

Monday 17th April 2017
quotequote all
I am currently running an almost identical W plate 75 2.0 Club SE manual as a practical winter car. My parents bought it brand new back in 2000 and it is closing in on 100,000 miles now. The colour is Atlantic Blue and really suits the car. I treated it to a full power polish last year which really brought the colour out again.

TBH there are a vastly underrated car as long as you avoid the 1.8 petrol and I am not keen on the BMW diesel either after driving one - the KV6 is much smoother and better suited to the car. Refinement levels are good, the controls are evenly weighted with a solid, smooth feel and the ride quality is better than most cars I have ever been in (I used to work in the motor trade) including the petrol XF that my parents bought to replace it with. Reliability has been very good though the years have caught up with it a bit recently, having had four new springs and a brake calliper. Other than that it has been spot on.

As for them not selling well, I am not convinced that the price was the biggest issue because the 75 is actually larger than E46 3 series and better built than the X-type but was considerably cheaper than both spec for spec. There is a considerable debate over the demise of Rover but the BMW chariman's comments at the launch of the 75 could not have helped. Also buying a British car with traditional styling and comfortable ride was certainly not seen as very 'youthful' or New Labour back in the early 2000s. That the remainder of the MGR range was based on old Hondas probably didn't help the brand image either, especially as MGR replaced the strongest Honda asset (reliable engines) with the good but HGF prone 4 cylinder k-series. Fortunately, the re-engineered KV6 in the 75 does not seem to suffer HGF anything like as much. Interestingly, at the same time BMW were suffering HGF issues on their straight six engine of the same period; a former colleague who worked at a BMW dealer told me they used to stock replacement parts on site as the issues were so common.

jm28

48 posts

114 months

Monday 17th April 2017
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Nice. Love the Polish Air Force style motif on the side.

dunnoreally

952 posts

107 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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One of the pre-Project Drive Cowley cars, I see, so OP still gets to avoid a lot of rather nasty cost-saving measures, and even keeps the real walnut dash. I've fancied one of these in more or less exactly this spec since my old 45, just to see what might have been if MG Rover had a bit more to work with than determination and a load of old Honda bits.

DPSFleet

192 posts

160 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
quotequote all
The styling is still good. Makes an S type Jag look awkward. The fact that you still see so many is testament to the build quality. The inside of a op of the range model is a wonderful place to be.

sjc

13,880 posts

269 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
quotequote all
On my second for barge duties,( both V6 top spec) and the perfect foil to my M400.
First one bought at 8 years old in 2009 with 28K miles for 2300 quid, kept it for 6 years and took it to 90K miles, swapped it for a 2004 30K mile car 2 years ago that I got for £1300, which is now on 70K miles.
The difference in quality and NVH is marked, with the early car being far better. Both have done their jobs brilliantly though, for buttons.

mx-tro

290 posts

219 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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What colour is the OP's 75? Looks reminiscent of Caribbean Blue, but pretty sure that it wasn't offered on 75's.

Alex P

180 posts

127 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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Atlantic Blue - available for the first few years of production and replaced by a slightly more green version later on.