Hello!
My name is André, I am from Portugal, and I have a Rover 213SE!
It was bought back at 14th April 1987, by my grandfather, on a rare colour: Silk Green.
It was supposed to have electric sunroof, but there was a mistake, and so, no sunroof.
Still, it is not badly equipped - 4x electric windows, electric & heated mirrors, rear armrest, and so on.
Enough chat, some photos:
The first photo of the Viking: (from late April 1987)
I have lots of older photos of it, but lets get to the newer ones.
My grandfather always kept it at the garage, as he loved the car. But in 2002, since with his age the 213 was not the best car for him (mainly because of the heavy non-assisted steering), he had to buy a new car, and he gave the Rover to my mom.
So she used it ans abused it, without any care at all. And after that, it was used by my older brother sometimes (when he got his driver license) and my middle brother, daily (also, right after passing the final driving exam). So, as you might excpect, some dents and scratches and rust started to appear.
Back in 2009, this was it:
I actually liked the car, but an year later or so, as I was turning 16, I started to search for a car to myself. I was looking for another Rover, a newer one, probably a 414GSi, or Rover 45.
All I wanted was a british-style saloon (with wood and chrome), with a reasoable boot, 4 doors, which was someway exclusive, comfortable, but which would be fun to drive, on the other hand. It had to be reasonably quick and it had to have a petrol engine.
But soon I realized the 213 had all of these things (except for the quickness and handling). Still, I was watching it getting worse every day that went by, so, I decided do ask my parents to have it.
The first thing I did was to switch the original wheels (165/80 13) to our ex-Concerto (we had a 1.4GL, which suffered an accident) ones (175/65 14). Just that made a difference on the 213's handling. But I wasn't still satisfied.
Another thing which was bothering me, specially knowing the other cars I had at home had bigger engines (apart from the Minis, Honda Civic Aerodeck, and Datsun 1200 pick-up), was the fact that the EV2 was really, really slow. Soft, silent... But slow.
And also, it was giving me some hard time, related to overheating problems.
So... EV2 out!
And the D14A1 from the Concerto in.
I know, I could go for a bigger engine, such as the D16A8/9, but I already had the 1.4 at home, and I didn't wan this 213 to be quick as hell. I want it to be soft and comfortable as it already was, but a little quicker.
And I rather like the 1.4 in here than in the Concerto. It is quieter (the Concerto had no soundproofing whatsoever, the 213 has... Actually, more than the Civic Aerodeck, which is 11 years younger!), and quicker (thanks to the weight diffence), at least, until the 150-160 kph.
After this, the 213 started to get some age problems fixed, and some modifications, in order to be exactly what I wanted it to be: It has to look differently from a stock 213, with some exterior details from the Rover 216 Vitesse.
But, in the interior, it will be as "top range" as possible, like a 213 Vanden Plas.
My name is André, I am from Portugal, and I have a Rover 213SE!
It was bought back at 14th April 1987, by my grandfather, on a rare colour: Silk Green.
It was supposed to have electric sunroof, but there was a mistake, and so, no sunroof.
Still, it is not badly equipped - 4x electric windows, electric & heated mirrors, rear armrest, and so on.
Enough chat, some photos:
The first photo of the Viking: (from late April 1987)
I have lots of older photos of it, but lets get to the newer ones.
My grandfather always kept it at the garage, as he loved the car. But in 2002, since with his age the 213 was not the best car for him (mainly because of the heavy non-assisted steering), he had to buy a new car, and he gave the Rover to my mom.
So she used it ans abused it, without any care at all. And after that, it was used by my older brother sometimes (when he got his driver license) and my middle brother, daily (also, right after passing the final driving exam). So, as you might excpect, some dents and scratches and rust started to appear.
Back in 2009, this was it:
I actually liked the car, but an year later or so, as I was turning 16, I started to search for a car to myself. I was looking for another Rover, a newer one, probably a 414GSi, or Rover 45.
All I wanted was a british-style saloon (with wood and chrome), with a reasoable boot, 4 doors, which was someway exclusive, comfortable, but which would be fun to drive, on the other hand. It had to be reasonably quick and it had to have a petrol engine.
But soon I realized the 213 had all of these things (except for the quickness and handling). Still, I was watching it getting worse every day that went by, so, I decided do ask my parents to have it.
The first thing I did was to switch the original wheels (165/80 13) to our ex-Concerto (we had a 1.4GL, which suffered an accident) ones (175/65 14). Just that made a difference on the 213's handling. But I wasn't still satisfied.
Another thing which was bothering me, specially knowing the other cars I had at home had bigger engines (apart from the Minis, Honda Civic Aerodeck, and Datsun 1200 pick-up), was the fact that the EV2 was really, really slow. Soft, silent... But slow.
And also, it was giving me some hard time, related to overheating problems.
So... EV2 out!
And the D14A1 from the Concerto in.
I know, I could go for a bigger engine, such as the D16A8/9, but I already had the 1.4 at home, and I didn't wan this 213 to be quick as hell. I want it to be soft and comfortable as it already was, but a little quicker.
And I rather like the 1.4 in here than in the Concerto. It is quieter (the Concerto had no soundproofing whatsoever, the 213 has... Actually, more than the Civic Aerodeck, which is 11 years younger!), and quicker (thanks to the weight diffence), at least, until the 150-160 kph.
After this, the 213 started to get some age problems fixed, and some modifications, in order to be exactly what I wanted it to be: It has to look differently from a stock 213, with some exterior details from the Rover 216 Vitesse.
But, in the interior, it will be as "top range" as possible, like a 213 Vanden Plas.
Love the D14 conversion, really smart.
