I do t yet know why the 200 and 400 are so undervalued - even the 800s don’t hold much in the way of commanding good money. Any reason why? To me they were a huge hit and are part of the BMC story. It just seems whenever I say I have a classic rover people don’t understand why. I picked up a one owner example of a216GSI today for just £600 any thoughts ?

I’ve owned several Rovers, all been good cheap cars, easy to work on compared to modern, spares cheap enough, just have wrong image for the main stream crowd I think.
My present 45 has become a lock down project possibly saved it from the scrap man really. As to prices they are good value and very usable classic / retro cars to use. They shouldn’t loose any value but think we have to be realistic that they aren’t going to reach the high prices of comparable Fords or Vws.
Hope yours turns out to be a good buy and you enjoy ownership.

It's the badge and there built here that's all it is

I think when the last Rover was the cityrover you can see why some ppl dislike then, heck if the first rover I saw was a cityrover I probably would need convincing it's a good brand

I remember back in 1997 when I was looking for a replacement for my 1991 Rover 216Gsi.

At that point Rover had just introduced the bubble shape 400 series. The popular motoring press were not that keen on the new car in particular the interior, instrumentation etc.

After a few false starts I did buy a newish Rover 416Sli and within a few months the wife bought a Honda Civic 1.5Lsi (the same shape and interior and built on the same production line).

The motoring press were very impressed with the new Honda Civic and in particular praised the interior and clear instrumentation. Go figure?

Tbh, I think the R8 is probably the best Rover and the bubble was slightly worse but still a good car

I would agree. I still regret trading the R8 in for the bubble shaped 416 Sli.

Just for info, I traded in my 1989 MG Maestro 2.0i for the R8 (a 1991 216 Gsi). The R8 was quite a step change in quality and reliability.

I know this is quite old but, I think it’s because Rover was never quite far away from negative publicity, it started to have suffer just like the tabloids are making celebrities suffer over the smallest of goings on that today standards now wouldn’t even make page 4 of the guardian newspaper.

Rover never quite knew how to capitalise on something good, they offered us cabs coupe’s and 3drs and by the mid late 90’s and the design I thought was sleek in the early 90’s.

I loved the coupe’s and GTI and GSI, a sort of light touch face lift later on but it really wasn’t the oomph and by the late 90’s as an impressionable teen it was old and not on my radar to have one as my first car, by 1998 rover came a bit late with is bubble shaped 200, Ford and Vauxhall had well established itself in the small car market for many by this time, having been a named driver on dads 218SD and his 216S bubble by the time I was 17, the cars had been become rather “old men” cars as by then Vauxhall Ford VW Audi BMW had better style, equipment, better outward operational Reputation, by the late 90’s the design for the 45 was a box reminiscent of the Austin/triumph acclaim 200 days of old, and the engine reliability had become poor with its by 20k miles you’ll have a big bill reputation, had Rover accepted that HGF was a thing earlier and corrected most of the issues under engine redesign and offered part cost to fix dealer maintained cars upto a certain year, it could had chance at saving face but by this time damage was done, in swept BMW, strangled design crossover, strangled engine design and output, and slowly killed it off for the bigger prize, then we’ll let’s not talk about the painful Phoenix lot shall we!

I’m not a fan of the current designed MG’s their what I call a marmite brand now, you either love them or hate them.

Now though, I think best looking R8 was the vvc coupe in its final production form in 1998 (having the 200 bubble type dash that I believe the cabs also had in last run productions).

Now though unless you drove a rover in 200/400/600/800 forms you never really appreciated how good they were especially with handling our country lanes and courners here in wales.

carfixmobile wrote: ↑Sat Dec 11, 2021 9:36 pm I would agree. I still regret trading the R8 in for the bubble shaped 416 Sli.

Just for info, I traded in my 1989 MG Maestro 2.0i for the R8 (a 1991 216 Gsi). The R8 was quite a step change in quality and reliability.

I owned a silver 214 SEi for 6 years, 2005 to 2011. Went everywhere in that car and loved it. Used it for work daily, holiday, tip runs, all sorts. My first two children even came home from hospital in it after being born!

At the time I sold it I lived in a small house, no garage, no money, and needed a bigger car. I sold it and bought a Rover 75 Tourer instead.

I never really got on with the 75 and was glad to sell it 18 months/2 years later.

If I was I my current position in 2011 (ie, having a better job, more space, and a garage), I’d have kept my SEi for sure and restored it. Sadly it’s long since been sent to the crusher. But thankfully I can relive my youth with my current SEi which I am enjoying very much!

I agree that Rover, and virtually anything that was made in Britain for a time suffered from a biased negative press.
Since buying a 45 just about everyone I know, and their pet dog has become an expert in everything Rover.

eg,,, Wot U wont one of em for ?.

The ed gasgits blow every 5 mins on em.

Az it got a floor in it *laughs*.

OOO look its got funny andles to wind down the windaz,,,,,,etc.

Have they ever owned one ?,,, NO is invariably the answer. They were put off buying when New by negative press, and the opinions formed at the time pervade to present day.
Comfortable, Good Visibility, Great Heaters, Roomy, Superb Lights, Good Leg room, Nice Handling, Stylish ? yes ide say so,,,I could go on,,,, A great means of propelling me around.

I have a feeling that the present young generation of car fans will, if they are not starting to already, notice the Rovers and appreciate them more.

Until then, I will be Rocking up to work in my Highly Valued, Very different Grandad Mobile