[MartinInverness]

Hello forum,

Since Saturday I have become the very happy custodian of a lovely 1991 216 SLI which is now based up in the Scottish Highlands.

I've always quite fancied one of these as being in my early 30's nearly all my childhood memories of being in a car took place in the back of a 416 SLI (M180 EFL) which my dad owned from 1996 through to 2002 when it was written off after a small bump with a bollard and the insurance company deemed the car not worth repairing. Prior to this was a short lived time with an xr3i but prior to that was a Burgundy 213 which itself replaced a mint green Montego so safe to assume my dads was a fan of the brand in the 80's and 90's. (A collection of unremarkable VW's on modern PCP schemes followed.....) My original plan for the car is to take part in some of the events that my local car club puts on through the year. One of the restrictions is that cars must be pre 2000 and the Rover ticks that box perfectly although the organisers did allow me to use my R52 BMW Mini (boo/hiss) I did feel that my 2006 car was not in the spirit of the event and set out to find something more suited for this years event in September. (https://www.highlandcarclub.co.uk/la-cr ... pandemonia).

Staying in Inverness meant a long weekend trip to just outside Walsall to get my new car. Setting off after work on Friday evening I got a coach from Inverness to Glasgow leaving at around 5pm and arriving in Glasgow after 9pm. A connection to get to the airport took about another 45 minutes as I was staying at the very convenient Holiday Inn hotel which is at departures.

Saturday morning was an early start with a 7am flight from Glasgow to Birmingham. Arriving in Birmingham around 8am it took around an hour to make my way to New Street. Then commenced the search for a Wetherspoons to get a good breakfast inside me before having to carry out some small shopping tasks provided to me by my wife when in Birmingham (there was no way I was to be allowed to purchase a car unseen at the other end of the country without some sort of "compensation gifts" of her choice)

I had arranged to meet Richard the seller (A Rover enthusiast - I would be most surprised if he was not on here somewhere!) around 2pm so got some more public transport in the form of a train to Walsall followed by a bus that would take me to where the car was based. A bite to eat for lunch then off to get the car. Richard was most helpful in showing the car to me, and it was exactly as described over gumtree which if anybody has ever bought a car off gumtree knows is a very rare thing indeed! The seller did seem genuinely sad to see the car go so it must have been a positive ownership experience he had with the car.

With paperwork completed I drove away with J189 OJC for the 465 mile journey home in my unknown to me 30 year old car. Up the M6 towards Dumfries was the journey planned in for Saturday and it was a smooth and comfortable drive the whole way there. Stopping for fuel just off the motorway in Warrington (around 10p per litre less than the motorway services) I otherwise went straight to Dumfries. Arriving in Dumfries around 7pm I went to the local Tesco to find a pressure washer to blast off the road muck (lance only - no use of the brush) and a refuel ready to start the following days journey.

Sunday morning was a long lie until my 8am breakfast booking. With both the car and myself fuelled we headed off towards Glasgow up the M74 for another straight forward drive. At Glasgow I decided that I had enough of the straight trunk roads and headed west for my final stretch up to the Highlands via the A82 instead of the A9. A nice scenic drive around Loch Lomond, through Glencoe and all the way up to Loch Ness (home) was the journey of Sunday. Here is where I got to open the car up a bit more and was very surprised to discover a car that liked the twisty roads as much as it was happy on the motorway and was pleased with myself for not allowing a 2017 Golf GTI get away from me all the way from Fort William to Inverness. I must admit that I could only catch him on the twisty bits and as a local motorcyclist I am very familiar with the road and his obsessive braking for sweeping corners suggested that he maybe was not a local - still, good going for keeping the pace in a 30 year old 1.6 family hatchback!

I had planned to "improve" the car with coil overs, new alloys and tyres, upgrade the exhaust, tint the windows and other boy racer style items that had I owned the car aged 17 would have made it perfect. However, now I have seen how original the previous owners have kept it down to the original dealer number plates I feel that would be criminal to do to the car so plans are:
- Get the sagging roof lining sorted
- Take it to my local body shop to get any of the small paint/rust issues corrected and checked over for anything preventative that I can get done now.
- Have the aftermarket alarm removed
- Have the aftermarket parking sensors removed (not sure whether a body shop could repair the holes or whether I would require another bumper)
- Anything mechanical that is required as already booked in with my brother who is a mechanic as a homer for the weekend.

I will figure out how to get some pictures uploaded here. I also want to ask a question about my wheels, they appear to be the SEI alloys (apologies if I am wrong) which I've not seen any pictures of pre facelift SLI cars wearing so I assume they must have been changed at some point. the spare in the boot is also a 15" so maybe they had been specced on as an option as normally when wheels are upgraded people don't tend to also put a larger spare in the boot. Otherwise I am going to get some steel 14 inch wheels and go on the hunt for the year and spec correct wheel trims.

Thanks

Martin

[MartinInverness]

[StubbornPatriot]

Welcome to the club Martin. Yes, we know Richard and the car, a little bit. You've got a lovely example there and it's good to know you're looking to keep it original. You'll find plenty of help, support and enthusiasm on here and in the club. It was good to read of your trouble free journey too. We have a few other members up your way and I wouldn't be surprised if some make themselves known to you shortly. Keep us updated and best of luck with the new Rover. Cheers, Duncan.

[MartinInverness]

Hi Duncan,

Thanks for the reply. Good to hear the car is already known a little in the club.

It drove up perfectly - I would quite happily take it on a long trip again without any concerns.

Martin

[Montegoman]

This car gets about a bit. The club's first record of it was in the Wirral. It was then bought by a member in Kent, who then sold it to a member in Birmingham and now it is in the north of Scotland! And that's all in the past three years!

[Topcat Tomcat]

I’ll take the A82 over the A9 every time. I like the top photo of part of the Horseshoe Curve with the iconic Ben Dorain just out of shot to the left.

[MartinInverness]

This car gets about a bit. The club's first record of it was in the Wirral. It was then bought by a member in Kent, who then sold it to a member in Birmingham and now it is in the north of Scotland! And that's all in the past three years!

It does seem to have been passed around a few times over the past 3 years. I understand the second owner had it for around 25 years and the car was originally from Colwyn bay in Wales.

[MartinInverness]

I’ll take the A82 over the A9 every time. I like the top photo of part of the Horseshoe Curve with the iconic Ben Dorain just out of shot to the left.

It is a great road to go. I did also get a picture showing just over to the left! It was a clear day so good for a picture or two.

[GTiJohn]

Well done for finding out how enjoyable these cars are so quickly

Those alloys were fitted to SEis and GSis too but not, as far as I remember, optional on other models.

Regarding replacing the headlining, there's an article on how to do it in the Apr- Jun 2020 edition of The Viking on pages 20~25. You can access it via the Member's Area.

[220 GSi turbo]

And what a way to get acquainted with your new car!

It is likely that the alloy wheels have been fitted at some point in the car's life: although they first appeared on the Coupe in 1992 and then got rolled out on to GTis and GSis soon afterwards, I don't remember them being an option on mainstream models until much later.
My dad ordered a new 216 SLi in the summer of 1994 and the 7-spoke alloys was one of the several options he went for.

If you ask a question in the main 'chat' forum, I am sure somebody will be able to advise on the correct wheeltrims for the year of your car