Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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There is way too much emphasis on the word 'classic' when we talk about old cars. A Mini Cooper may well be a classic and a MK2 Jag may well be labelled as a classic but precious few mass manufactured cars can ever be or will ever be 'classic' in any way shape or form. This quantifies my thinking on the 800 series. Its never going to be a classic but, without a doubt, it was one of the best looking executive saloons of the late 80s to mid 90s that money could buy. Its still one of the best looking executive saloons that was ever manufactured.
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tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
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Link in my signature, below! Thanks copy ordered! Looking forward to reading it I hope you enjoy it! Thank you.
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Twenty pages in and this book is fantastic !! It's a must read for petrolheads
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Fraud owners club member 2003 W211 Mercedes E class 1998 ex bt fiesta van
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820
South East
Posts: 790
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I worked in the quality department of Rover, and other car manufacturers, training them in how to measure the quality of how their cars were built. I was personal friends with the head of quality at Cowley. I wrote a book about my first hand experiences, cleared by a lawyer for accuracy and risk of litigation. I probably still have the data in the office somewhere relating to the build quality of the 600 and 800. I was at Cowley from the last day they built the rubbish MGRV8 to the first of the shonky new MINI. My book is selling quite well on Amazon, you don't have to buy a copy to know that I'd be happy to own one, despite all their flaws. The leather turning green in the sunshine was my favourite. ETA - I'm smiling. I do like the 800, don't take it personally. If you spend enough money on advertising telling people they are in the ultimate driving machine, vorsprung durch technik, and so on people will believe it, even when your brand new £80,000 car wont start the morning after delivery, or 2 or 3 customers a month are trying to back their under 6 months old cars due to unreliability. Same if you keep repeating how bad something is, whether right or wrong you end up believing it yourself, makes a good story
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rude
Part of things
Posts: 537
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A fella near me has just got an 800. When he bought it round it was like an old friend turning up. It made me 'want one' instantly but I've been lucky enough to have owned one in the past (red 820Si hatch) and it was a fantastic machine so the want for one soon passed luckily. In my opinion they have the best darn velour seats in history and it doesn't matter how old or used it is, they always have that Rover smell in them when the sun gets on them...And lets face it, they made super looking cop cars. I was gutted when I discovered my old Grandad chopped his 25,000 mile minty Sterling in for a 75 when they came out.
I guess the totally morally wrong scrappage scheme and the like saw a lot of these off as at the time they were uneconomical old hulks, the phase most big cars go through, prices for good ones are worth a watch over the next few years. If I wasn't ball and chained to my BM, I'd have a look to owning another for sure. Buy one today!
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1986 Haunted BMW E24 635CSi 1999 Povo spec BMW E36 1.8i Touring Work Hack 2001 Petrol annihilating Discovery V8 2000 Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 ~NEW~
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I've found myself looking on eBay at them And also the 600 models from the early 90s Another car that may replace my mgf!!
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Fraud owners club member 2003 W211 Mercedes E class 1998 ex bt fiesta van
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rude
Part of things
Posts: 537
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I got mine to do the ultimate waft simply by over enthusiastically 'avoiding an obstacle at speed'. This resulted in a slalom type side to side 70mph waft from the rear end several times... fully controlled of course... not. Ended up in a straight line eventually though! That must have looked so cool.
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1986 Haunted BMW E24 635CSi 1999 Povo spec BMW E36 1.8i Touring Work Hack 2001 Petrol annihilating Discovery V8 2000 Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 ~NEW~
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"Britischer Architekt"
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,151
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Hardly any seem to have survived, though they weren't exactly plentiful back in the day. The Mk1 in particular is a seriously handsome car, especially in saloon form. They're very definitely in the "I've not seen one of those for years" category at the moment but not the frothing "Phwoar, it's one of those!" category yet that seems to separate a classic from an old car. Personally, I reckon any car that's survived against the odds for 30+ years deserves recognition, especially when you consider built-in obsolescence on top of all the other age related issues. For me the Mk1 800 already is a classic and the curvier Mk2 is very nearly visually distinctive from contemporary traffic to be there too, a couple more years should do it. The most astonishing thing about the 800 is how big they still look in a modern setting. They were big cars back in the day, now they also look quite sleek. The last one I saw was an 820 in September last year. Even without its wheel trims it looked a grand old slab of a thing.
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AB car pix
Posted a lot
Car mag' snapper
Posts: 1,337
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Who gives a damn what people want tp classify them as? If they're cool they're cool! I've always fancied a white over grey Mk1 827 Sterling saloon. Superb looking cars.
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1979 Chrysler Horizon 1.3 GL 1980 Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia 1985 Ford Sierra 3dr 1985 Ford Escort Mk3 1988 Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 1989 Ford Escort 1.3 Popular 1995 Volvo 960 1996 BMW 525i 1998 BMW 323i 1999 BMW 530d 2003 BMW 530i . www.facebook.com/ABCARPIX
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