1987 Rover 820E

Pictured above is the original owner, he was the financial director for the London Electricity Board and in 1987 it was time for a new company car. He said he wanted something that would make a good impression when turning up to various meetings. He asked for one of those posh new Sterlings but somehow he ended up with a poverty spec E much to his disappointment, LEB were obviously a tight bunch! But for the next 3 years, the E was his chauffeur driven transport, his driver lived down the road from him and would bring the car out the garage every morning for the journey into London from Epsom. In 1989 he retired and decided he had grown to love the car so much that he'd buy it off the LEB. Over the next 25 years or so the car was garaged and driven all over the country and regularly to Europe. His wife fondly recalled driving it on the Autobahns bless her. At the age of 81 the original owner finally decided to throw in the towel and give up driving, so needed a good home for his old faithful, that's where I come in. The car was advertised on the Rover 800 forum and I jumped at it. £750 later I was behind the wheel of a tidy, comfy 820E with a bit of MOT albeit with a slightly crusty rear arch, the wrong front bumper and later wheeltrims

Despite the fact it had clearly been well looked after, the poor thing hadn't seen a sponge or hoover in years, it was seriously filthy..

But the interior turned out to be really quite nice under the dirt and I just happened to have a set of NOS genuine mats, you've got to love the sea of beige but it is seriously comfy whether you're in the back or front..



apologies for the slightly rubbish pics, it was getting dark by the time i'd finished, but heres the early 6-dial dash all lit up

So far i'm quite happy with it. I've never driven a single point-injection E but was pleasantly surprised, don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near as smooth and refined as an 825 or 827, the the little 2.0 twin cam M16 is quite a sweet unit that is more than capable of giving moderns a shock. I kind of see it as a big squashy Montego, they're so easy to drive and i'm still yet to find anything as comfy as an 800. I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with it yet, I was hoping to get some inspiration from here. I'd never do anything that I couldn't easily put back to standard but we'll see, or I could just keep it totally original

It's just had a fresh mot (only needed 2 front tyres) and good service so I think i'll just enjoy it as it is for now, hoping to get to a few shows

Next up was my 825 KV6 Sterling, this car sounds so good. If you can find a good one, the KV6 so worth it

Welcome to Retro Rides sir...!!!

Your most recent 800 looks amazing and being such an early one deserves to stay exactly as it is!

It looks like you've had some real gems over the years so you quite clearly are an 800 lover as you say... When they look that good I really cannot blame you in the slightest!

Anyhow, keep us updated on any of your 800 adventures!

That is lovely. The Rover is such a sharp looking car in pre facelift form. Please don't modify it. This is a genuinely rare car now and deserves to stay as it is, in my view.

Very nice ICE...!!!!

Cracking...

The early cars (for me) have much more appeal than the rest.

They caused quite a stir when they came out.