Your Rover SD3 stories (mine has ended)

[Sealtainn]

"Mind that pothole dear"

Mrs Seal had a D plate 213S as her first car when I met her. Galloping rotbox it was too, the only time I drove it was to the scrapyard to send it on its final journey - steering was woollier than the festive shepherds flock.

I'd still like to take a spin in a well sorted one

[vulgalour]

When it comes to bodywork...

 

 

[eddyramrod]

I'll post pics later (going out in a few minutes) but this morning I've left it with Martin for rad-flush and cambelt.  That takes care of the real essentials, then I've got till Easter or so to get the rough OSR arch sorted, and a new roof liner in.  Good thing I've still got the Saab for work!

[Bobthebeard]

Well bought!

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

SD3s are brilliant, especially Honda-powered ones. I absolutely loved mine. Unfortunately, their reputation for rusting is well deserved. A year of daily use was enough for the sills and floor of mine to all but disappear !

[dollywobbler]

I bloody hate that programme and I fear it's enough for me never to go near one...

 

But they do seem rather jolly, even if they do dissolve.

[cort1977]

Love the implied one-upmanship of the fancy (VdP?) versions of these.   They were well cast in that bloody programme anyway.

[Vince70]

My father had the 216 Vandenplas with a grey leather interior back in the early 90s and I think even though the car was only about 5/6 years old it was showing signs of rust in some really unusual places..

 

I will say though it was really nice to drive and the revvy S series efi made my old CVH XR3 I had at the time feel like a boat anchor and the gearbox was really precise and I preferred driving that car to my XR and it was really economical..

[Formula Autos]

Love that thing Eddy - the cars of my childhood, as my Dad had three in a row from the mid '80s to the mid '90s. His first was a 213S on a C plate, which he kept for about five years. High miles when he bought it, and never ailed much. He upgraded to a facelift model on a D plate with sod all miles that he didn't really take to as it was a povvo spec one - this one was in his hands for about 18 months. Next up was a 216 Sprint on an F plate, with a stumpy little rubber spoiler on the boot lid and colour coded wheel trims (the luxury!). That one rusted out in all kinds of weird places and was a borderline MOT failure at about six years old. My Dad did look after his motors - he garaged it all the time and I was a weird kid who constantly washed it for him. He got lucky with that one in that the chemical factory where he worked had an accident one day that dropped a cloud of something caustic on the cars in the car park and surrounding streets, followed by the almost inevitable Cumbrian rain. This resulted in the chemical works paying for a full respray which, after my Dad did a deal with the body shop to sort out the rust at the same time, ended up with him having a very smart looking motor to trade in.

 

Having experienced ARG "quality" like that though he took the SVM solution, and bought a 460 to replace it.

 

Still, a good design, which always felt nicely airy and spacious - no doubt because of the low dash and window line. Very different to today's panzer wagons.

 

Excelsior purchasing!

[outlaw118]

216VDP 

[Guest Lord Sward]

These Honda 213s do need the belt changing.  The 1.6 S-series is the non-interference engine.

[New POD]

What did you think of my home town Eddy?

 

 

Are you from Widnes ? I always thought it slightly less of a shithole than Runcorn. I once did my Christmas shopping in Widnes, on my way home from work.

[EssDeeWon]

Nicely bought, what impeccable taste. These things are really rare now.

 

My uncle had a brand new G reg in 1989 as a company car.

[eddyramrod]

I believe I did promise you some more snaps...  These were all taken this morning, in the back yard at work.  By some miracle it wasn't raining!  Let's begin with a couple of general exteriors...

And now a couple of specific exteriors.  See how the sunroof doesn't look closed?  It doesn't seem to be leaking, but I suspect it wants looking at fairly soon.

Now look at the arc in the top trim of the windscreen.  That clearly isn't right, but again, doesn't seem to be leaking.  The drive home from Widnes would have shown up any leaks, trust me!

Here's the underbonnet shot...

...nothing looks untoward there.  I do need to have a leaf-removal session though.

And so to the boot, where we find a spare wheel that looks correct, and a tidy floor.

But what's this?  Let's look closer...

The complete original wheel-changing kit, even including a pressure gauge!

Interior now, and here's the mileage (the trip is my miles, I zeroed it as we set off from the seller's industrial unit).

Seats are in nice condition...

...which is more than can be said for the roof lining...

...and sadly, also for this arch.

Those two jobs are on the agenda, some time in the New Year.

[phil_lihp]

You've done alright there, given the state most of these were in by the mid-nineties that's practically showroom fresh!

[EssDeeWon]

Yeah I call genuine 50k there looking at the seats and the nice straight digits on the milometer

[eddyramrod]

I agree.  I reckon this was some old boy's retirement car.  They were popular in that market, which unfortunately ruled them out for almost everyone else.  I'd much rather have this than an equivalent Orion or Astra.

[MarvinsMom]

for a 25-26 year old Ro-nda that looks amazing, he have indeed bought i think a good one there.

 

you still need a bead seat cover and a pork pie hat, and a nice tweed jacket.

 

yes, a nice tweed jacket, and some driving gloves, the string backed ones?

 

or are those only needed i driving an MGB?

[eddyramrod]

Beaded seat cover - never.

Pork pie hat - possible, bordering on likely.  Flat cap less likely but also just about possible.

Tweed jacket - also possible, depends what the charity shops have in.

String-backed gloves - for MGBs only!

 

I'm thinking I can't get away with driving this in jeans and a T-shirt!

[MarvinsMom]

see, you have to maintain your standards, Richard.

 

just what the neighbours think otherwise?

[eddyramrod]

Yes dear.

[MarvinsMom]

what out for the cyclist, dear...

[eddyramrod]

What cyclist? (splat!)

[HH-R]

Don't forget the Royal Doulton with the hand painted periwinkles!

[eddyramrod]

I'm looking forward to the time when Daisy and Rose want taking somewhere...

[MarvinsMom]

or if they should ever turn up unexpectedly with their "super" cortina....

 

oh the shame, the shame.....

[hauserplenty]

"I feel so sorry for the bin man... It must be so hard for him to tell what to take and what to leave behind..."

[Sudsprint]

What an endearing little car.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Well bought!

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I always had my suspicions, but this picture confirms it .Richard was banging the tarty sister on the backseat of the Rover at every available opportunity .

Hope this isn't why Eddy was attracted to one, have you got a sister in law?

[Angrydicky]

That's a really nice little car, and as others have said, really rare now. Last one I saw was a B reg in gold on the M2 last year, it was a great moment as I overtook him in my (B reg) Maestro!

 

I hope, given that you tend to avoid manuals, that this is a TRIO-MATIC?