Rover 75, was like the poor man's Jag

"El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First!" (lightningzone) 11/05/2014 at 14:40 • Filed to: None

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It was mass market, but it had a V8.

It should've been Rover's comeback, but it was Rover's last gasp for air.

We lost Pontiac, the British lost Rover.

Party-vi > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 14:43

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Minus the yawning chasm of a hood-gap, this looks really good.

My citroen won't start > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 14:44

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I quite like the 750, same front, better rear.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > My citroen won't start 11/05/2014 at 14:48

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Yeah, but the Chinese make it now, and we all know what that means. And in a good British fashion, they haven't really updated it, from 2005.

Cé hé sin > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 14:49

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It was available with a V8 and sold thus equipped in tiny numbers. Usually it had a Rover petrol or BMW diesel, both of them I4s.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Party-vi 11/05/2014 at 14:51

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Back then, the British were thinking that panel gaps add charm.

505Turbeaux > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 14:52

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there was some promise we were going to see these stateside. I wish we had. They would be worth about $500 by now and likely be in pieces, but I loved the look

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Cé hé sin 11/05/2014 at 14:52

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We 'muricans.

We like V8.

V8 goooooood.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Cé hé sin 11/05/2014 at 14:57

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Weren't the 4 cylinders also FWD?

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > 505Turbeaux 11/05/2014 at 15:02

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Le Mons project from hell?

Svend > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:06

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This one was supposed to be the comeback of the 'Riley' brand.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:13

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I think it was more like the British Oldsmobile, from my limited experience.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:14

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I would like to own one someday. This or a MG ZT-T 260.

They have a Mustang v8. They were converted from FWD to RWD.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 11/05/2014 at 15:15

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Everything (both 4 cyls & the V6) was FWD except the V8.

Steve in Manhattan > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:18

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I recall that James May likes this car. He's a level-headed bloke.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 11/05/2014 at 15:23

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Well, it doesn't really matter, since they are all dead, now.

Svend > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:23

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We had a Rover 75 Connoisseur with the 1.8K-series engine and had no problems at all with her. I still see the car about the city and she has some great lines and character but rear legroom was minimal, fronts seat legroom was narrow and narrow further with the cup holders open but she handled and drove well.

Sure I'd of loved a V8 if the fuel was being given to me for free.

The sister, the MG ZT260 with after market exhaust sounds gorgeous.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder 11/05/2014 at 15:28

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Better be quick, its just a matter of time until Jezza drops pianos on those, too.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Svend 11/05/2014 at 15:29

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Wasn't that supposed to have a little BMW common sense?

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 15:31

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I just checked, there are only 2 for sale. A sedan ZT-T 260 from 2004 with 140k km on it is already 13.500 Euro...

The other one is from 2004 and has 50k km. It costs a massive 29.500 Euros!

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder 11/05/2014 at 15:37

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I like the green, but for $50.000, there are many new, fun cars, you can buy.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Steve in Manhattan 11/05/2014 at 15:38

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Looks too big, for him, I think.

Cé hé sin > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 11/05/2014 at 15:59

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Yes, they had to completely redesign the car to enable the V8 to drive the rear wheels.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > Cé hé sin 11/05/2014 at 16:02

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I still don't understand why they did that.

Svend > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 16:14

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'BMW common sense', in what regard?

Cé hé sin > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 11/05/2014 at 16:14

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With hindsight, neither does anyone else. It was a lot of expenditure for a model that almost no one bought.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Svend 11/05/2014 at 16:27

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Materials, interior space, fit and finish and reliability.

Svend > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 16:35

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The reliability was an issue with the 1.8K-series engine as it was prone to head gasket failure and many engines went pop early on before it was caught and had them replaced but on the whole the car and the other engines on offer were pretty well built and put together and although I say there wasn't much legroom there was sufficient that you could move, just not stretch out much.

Thunderface > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 16:55

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It looks like a Chinese rip-off

duurtlang > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 17:00

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If I'm not mistaken it had the V8 drive train from a Mustang.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > duurtlang 11/05/2014 at 17:12

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Too bad they got Ford's engine, from Ford's confused years.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 17:46

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Few were sold with the V8, which came from the Mustang. Less than a thousand I think actually. And remarkably, Clarkson likes it a lot.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 11/05/2014 at 18:38

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Even after a decade, this car has charisma. The Chinese Rovers(or whatever they call it now) are as forgettable as they are poorly built.

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 11/05/2014 at 18:38

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It also had MG Rover Powertrain's KV6, which was partially based on the K4's architecture.

ranwhenparked > Party-vi 11/05/2014 at 18:39

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It was an ultra-cheap facelift done less than a year before the company collapsed, all they could afford to do was change the plastic parts, so they never got the sheet metal to fit right on the '04-'05 versions.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 18:40

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Well that's not entirely true. I've been to shows where MG Rowe have been displaying their cars. While not class leading by any means, none of them were terrible either. Nothing fell apart at my fingertips, no matter how hard I pushed and probed.

ranwhenparked > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/05/2014 at 18:44

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The 75/ZT was MG Rover's only really competitive car and the only one that sold in consistently decent numbers during their 5 year existence, though it was getting a bit old by the end. It launched at the same time as the Jaguar S-Type and the two were basically direct competitors on the British market, though the 75 was arguably the better car at the time.

Certainly, the Jaguar had a horrible cheap plastic rental car interior while the Rover was practically a Rolls in comparison. Only a few years after the S-Type launched, Ford/JLR did a heavy redesign of the cabin that resulted in it looking almost like a carbon copy of the 75's.

Of course, you do need to realize that the standard 75 was FWD with a choice of petrol V6 or petrol and diesel I4s.

The 75 V8 was converted to RWD and fitted with the Ford V8. MG Rover lost a boatload of money on every one built, but it wasn't as big of a financial disaster as it might have been, since the RWD conversion resulted in enough changes to the rear suspension to get out of paying BMW royalties on their Z-axle design.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 11/06/2014 at 15:00

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Pretty sure they do, after a few weeks, lol.

And they are still so, so forgettable. To bad the Chinese didn't applied the same method, applied by the Indians at JLR - pump money and let the people who know what to do, do their job.

Leon711 > 505Turbeaux 11/17/2014 at 11:58

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suprisingly quite a few exist still, and they aren't half bad apparently.

also, wood and leather.