It's Time to Come Clean

"DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke)
08/24/2019 at 23:48 • Filed to: None

My name is DaftRyosuke. I am 24 years old, born and raised in the United States, I have never set a single foot outside of my country, and I am absolutely obsessed with Rovers built from the 1980s-onward.

Despite the constant belittlement and talk of reliability issues, despite the farce that was Sterling, and despite the fact that I have never seen any of these cars with my own two eyes, I have a lust for some of them that goes beyond most cars that my own great country put out during the same timespan, and I have no clue as to why, nor do I really know how to explain it.

When did this addiction start?

I would like to say it’s been roughly ten years since I first felt anything for a Rover. Top Gear had aired its British Leyland special, the one in which Jeremy Clarkson picked a Rover 3500 (colloquially known as the SD1) for a series of challenges to prove that it was in fact a great car. I was immediately stricken by the SD1's 70s wedge look and its V8 power, but turned off by its problematic build quality and longevity issues. Still, it was a great looking car.

A few years later I stumbled upon the episode of Top Gear where they competed to see what was the finest British car on sale at the time. James picked the Rover 75, which I found to be quite interesting, because it definitely looked like a knock-off Jaguar S-Type, but better. I was at the time really into old-fashioned, posh luxury cars and the 75 seemed definitely up my alley.

I want to say that the addiction was dormant from the time I saw the 75 up until recently, where it seemed to skyrocket dramatically.

Who do you feel is responsible for your addiction?

Mostly Top Gear. However, there is this one YouTube channel that makes videos about a lot of these old post-Leyland British cars, called Big Car. He’s done a video about every single Rover post-Leyland, and learning about all the tidbits and fun facts about every single one of these cars is the main reason my interest has peaked lately.

But in reality, the truth is nobody is responsible except for myself. I’m okay with that.

Do you feel as though your addiction may cause you to act irrationally?

Possibly.

The only irrational act I can think of now is collecting Rover diecast models. A few of the early 800 and 400 models are currently legal to import stateside, but I don’t feel like going through the hassle. I could buy a Sterling, but that requires finding one. Reliability is, of course, not their standpoint, but then again what 30+ year old car is really all that reliable? My LS400 is a great point in case (I still love it though, more on that in a few months).

Will you seek help?

Not a chance. I may be the only person in Alabama that even gives the slightest crap about Rovers, and possibly for good reason. But I find them unique and desirable in their own odd way. Perhaps someday I’ll import a 75 Tourer like the one above and arrive at Cars and Coffee listening to a slew of Terry Wogan tapes to the amazement of .5 people in attendance. It’s something nice to think about.

Why can’t you just be normal?

Because that’s boring!

DISCUSSION (11)

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/24/2019 at 23:51

It’s come back to Longbridge™.

Kinja'd!!!

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo
08/24/2019 at 23:55

It’s gone on strike.

Chariotoflove > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 00:03

I remember that episode with James May talking up the Rover 75. He said he wanted to waft. I understand the desire to waft in comfort. I didn’t know what a Rover was until that show, but it made an impression.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 00:04

i think you need a mg zr

Kinja'd!!!

i normally like to shit on british cars for being piles of crap.... and this mg aint much different............. but damn does it look nice

not for canada - australian in disguise > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 00:34

I’m in full agreement with your love of post-1980s Rovers. I fully intend on importing a 75 when I have the resources to do so. Preferably a late model estate (because I like the grille and the updated viking longship badge they only had for a few years) from the continent (because LHD + metric gauges = basically a Canadian-market car).

Kinja'd!!!

An Alan Partridge-spec 800 is also very much on my list of cars to one day import and own.

Kinja'd!!!

Also, Big Car is an absolutely fantastic channel and satisfies my urges for information on weird mundane British-market cars nobody really cares about.

Josh - the lost soldier > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 00:36

Well, I’m not in Alabama anymore, but I can assure you you’re not the only one in the state with a liking for Rover, and British motors in general . For me, it was an obsession with MG, to the point where I almost imported an MG Midget just to tool around in. There was a guy who lived near me that had an Austin Mini, RHD and all. It was awesome! Not to mention the various Austin Sprites hangin’ around

If you're going to go and import a Rover, can I ask that you import an SD1 and bring it to Cars and Coffee? That'd be pretty sweet.

glemon > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 00:47

I am a British car guy, and I didn't know these later cars existed. I liked the SD1 when it was current, I think they even sold one or two of them in my small, Midwestern town. But those later cars, new to me, the coupe in the top pic is handsome.

  > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 01:34

You’ve brought up a car I haven’t thought about in a very long time. The 75s seemed like they were everywhere when I was a kid in South Africa, because I remember making the same comparison to the S -type. That’s always been an ugly car.

Kinja'd!!!

Some thing I remember distinctly about them was how the crease on the trunk cuts into the lights... t he design must have impressed me . That and the fact that they had oval dials for some reason.

Svend > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
08/25/2019 at 01:52

Reliability. Man I get annoyed when people start saying ‘VWs are unreliable’, ‘Rovers are unreliable’, etc... and the thing is it’s usually the North American built VWs that are unreliable, and North Americans that say about it about Rovers is because they are driving a 30+ year old Rover.

In our house we’ve had a

1983 (A reg) Austin Metro 5 door in metallic light blue.

Kinja'd!!!

1994 (M reg) Rover 820Si saloon in British Racing Green (and you did waft in it, it was no slouch but you didn’t want to get somewhere fast, you wanted to relax and enjoy the comfort).

Kinja'd!!!

1994 (M reg) Rover 416SLi saloon in BRG, that one was unreliable because my grand dad ( his car) did all the work on it and he was crap at diagnosing stuff, but it the car battery related and nothing else in the end.

Kinja'd!!!