Cavcraft Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Number one in a series of (probably) one. Take one internet auction site purchase. Contact seller, arrange collection. Go to work in van (nice little earner on way home) call to seller's house, don't examine car. Pay, get V5C and key, drive home in van, return later on fancy* Italian steed and achieve 5 personal bests on Strava without trying too hard.Arrive a destination, 6.5 miles away... Put sexy Italian steed in boot, drive home. Right, nicely spec'd 420'iL' 2.0 litre petrol. Starts on the button, brakes a little sticky as it's been standing a few weeks he said. I'm not exacly driving to the end of the world and back, but there's always that nagging worry about your first time driving a cheapo motor. Will it break down, will it explode, do all the gears work, do the brakes work, does the clutch slip, yadda, yadda yadda?Drove great, not a massive amount of power around the 2k revs mark, get to three and things start happening, get to 4 as you're giving it some and f*ck me, off it goes in some style. Bit of a roar from the exhaust, but an odd feeling as it doesn't feel like you should be going quick, and in something shitter (ha!) you'd probably notice it more.Slightly woolly feel, but I'm probably being a bit harsh as my current yardstick is the MX5 and that's everything a car should be with cherries on top. Not too clonky over bumps, surprisingly refined but think the tracking out a touch due to minor pull to the right.I seem to get a lot of my awful cars from the South Wirral area and I have my favourite 'test drive' route coming home down the back lanes. I started giving the Rover some and it does that ace thing where you can just piss about rolling off the throttle then booting it again in 3rd and 4th and it pulled really well. I like doing that if unsure of corners etc: sort of roll off until you can see the other side, then foot flat down, and bang, we're off again. It's that sort of 'driveability' some cars have that make them more fun to use, just easy but involving at the same time, if that makes sense. Noticed the temp gauge needle was under the radar a bit when I started the car up, like it'd dropped a bit so was worried it didn't work. Needless concern, it warmed up as I'd have expected and worked fine without overheating despite a hefty Italian tune-up. The leather seats are the epitome of comfort without being too slidey and I reckon a long journey would be pretty effortless as there's enough grunt to make it easy to overtake and it's quite calm and relaxing to drive. Engine looks mintola, tyres etc all good and the mileage (77,000) probably genuine. It even feels like you'd expect a Rover too, all sort of pretend posh and the target market for a very limited audience who probably cling to the good old days of the Empire, or some such bollocks. Probably worth remembering that most of my cars are so shit that a skateboard with a six inch nail for a seat would seem like luxury, but it's a nice old bus and no mistaking. Less shit, more pictures... Fin. EssDeeWon, HillmanImp, trigger and 31 others 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 That's nice, so it can't be yours. Genuinely looks like it cost ten times your usual budget!Love the picture with your collection in the background though. Cavcraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Those seats look lovely. Like cheap alfa seats. HillmanImp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 It even feels like you'd expect a Rover too, all sort of pretend posh and the target market for a very limited audience who probably cling to the good old days of the Empire, or some such bollocks. rover3.jpgrover4.jpgrover5.jpgrover6.jpgrover7.jpgrover8.jpg Fin. Pretty much sums these up! The only trouble is, I feel I am slipping toward the abyss of gifferdom that these obviously intended to appeal to and each one I see begins to repel me less than the one before. Those seats definitely aren't helping...... Cavcraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Badger Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Qwality reportage for a qwality automobile. 2.0 Rovers are the best kind of Rovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffgeezer Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 I like that a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chodweaver Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 It's a bit of a shock, even now, seeing how many bits of those were straight out of the Honda Civic that I had as a company car for a while. That was the 1.6 VTEC though, with cloth, and my enduring memory of it was that the 'Pirates black metallic' that I chose for it, had rather less metallic in it than I hoped. And that's it. Totally unmemorable. Glad to hear that the leather, 2 litre and the badge makes it a whole lot more rewarding to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 These are great, not tried a 2.0 45/400 in petrol mode but have diesel and that was pretty fast. Incedently I was in the CavCraft town of Chester today but only passing through, caught the very comfy leather seated bus to Shotton railway station heading towards: Warrington Wassa plan for the Rover? Keep/sell/scrap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucedoctor Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 T Series FTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 That's a weird set up (Shotton to Warrington) train must have been quite close to my gaffe at some point. If you ever get some notice you're heading through and want a lift somewhere just give me a shout, if I'm off can easily sort something out. Lord Sterling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 spolier off steels and 2.0 badge cul8r and go baiting s3s BorniteIdentity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 T-series FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod/b Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 T Series FTW. T-series FTWIt's no K series... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 It's no O series. These are great cars, I had an HH-R 420i in olive green. Grunty, handled and rode really nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod/b Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Grunty, handled and rode really nicely.I bet the car wasn't bad either Lacquer Peel, johngarty and Cavcraft 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 They all seemed fairly nippy those shape of Rovers. The 1.6 in particular pissed all over the Focus/Astra for performance. Until it overheated. Still I'd love another Rover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssDeeWon Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 POSH! Thats pretty much how my current 75 purchase went, I didn't test drive it, just went and paid giffer seller (after a 100 phone calls about how much it might be worth cos yellow) then returned on Specialized Hardrock a day later which got thrown across the back seat of said Rover then drove said banger off home and discovered a multitude of knocks and bangs. But it didn't explode or overheat, surely these 2 things are meant to happen when you buy a cheap old Rover blind? Win. Cavcraft and Lord Sterling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheezey Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 My parents had a 416SLi saloon(N312 HAT) for a while. It had a cloth interior but it was the comfiest car ever. Went like stink as well. This looks lovely. I like the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 It's no K series...tank feck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Even I like that, Billy. What are you doing wrong? Cavcraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_lihp Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Fantastic stuff, if I hadn't already agreed to Mr B's dopehead castoff 214 I would be all over this like a cheap suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 finally seeing the light and swerving the fuck outta corsas j tin ftw (sort of) Cavcraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebargeken Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Swap yer a veg slurpy A4 in a couple of weeks time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Shame it ain't got a towbar.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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