Rover 75's. Are they future classics?

[egg]

Just posting to say top thread folks, interesting opinions, no attacks on dissenters. This place is g8!

[D Spares & Tyres]

Yes. They are sex on four wheels

I agree with that

 

A short bit of pleasure followed by a sticky mess underneath. And you get to feel a tit

[EssDeeWon]

To a degree I agree with all the comments made so far on this thread.

 

Here is my 12 pence worth...

 

Maybe in about 20 years but even then not mega money or 'Ford Scene 5 figures money' that's for sure.  Early black seal cars are already thin on the ground but prices are still rock bottom..   (apart from the odd optimistic wannabe dealer who's sprinkled too much coke over his Wheatabix ).

 

I don't ever see these becoming sceney or fashionable and thank goodness for that, I quite like the fact I could go and buy another one next week for 500 quid.

[purplebargeken]

I think they are ace cars. I've had 2. I'd go V6 or diesel auto every time. My next one will NOT be dark blue however. Moonstone or white, or that metallic light blue.

[dollywobbler]

No, they are not future classics. They're classics already. Huge and enthusiastic club following, really nice ones starting to fetch coin, featured in the classic press, rust can be an issue. Therefore, classic. See also Jaguar X-Type.

 

Sure, you can still buy one of either for Autoshite money, but that supply will run out very swiftly I suspect. Low mileage, good history, top condition examples of both are now both harder to find and definitely not Autoshite money.

[Junkman]

As usual, I am baffled by the AS love for this car.  I hear that R75s are competent, good to drive and so on, but their looks, both inside and out, are to me the essence of boring and blancmange. To each his own, and all that.

 

I'm not a fan of S Type Jaguar looks either.  I assume that no one would think for a minute that a Jag X Type will ever become a classic, and the saloon ones of those are meh to look at.  I have an estate one, and think it looks OK and drives quite well, but I can't see me or anyone else falling in love with the type.

 

 

I can't stand 21st century retro kitsch.

I never liked the 75, always found it as attractive as those dreadful neo Georgian new developments and I predicted it's not going to save Rover when I saw the first one. Had I been one of those new car leasers, even I'd probably have done what millions did, namely raise an eyebrow and sign on the dotted line at the nearest BMW dealership. Them guys in Munich must have laughed all the way to the bank. Oh, wait...

 

Despite that, the 75 will obviously be a classic long before any contemporary 3 Series will be.

Then there is the V8, which became a classic the day after it was launched.

Do I want one of those? Yes, but I'd have to interior rape a Club.

[UltraWomble]

What makes a car a "classic"

And will the Rover 75 be one in years to come?

 

Dunno really  - some of it is nostalgia driven as todays 17 / 18 YO's get some coin behind them and in years to come want a nostalgia trip down memory lane - how many would have had an R75 as a first car though? Or even aspired to one as a future car?

Did the R75 feature prominently in any popular film or TV shows that the yoof remember with fondness? As a child did they want to be that person ( Think Bodie & Doyle et al). Does the R75 have a rally or race pedigree that aspiring drivers might want to "do theirs up" as a replica?

Some of it is "design classic" driven for cars that were cutting edge in their day and even now still look unique.

 

So from that point of view I dont think prices will go silly like Ford Escorts or Capri's. Im not even convinced that they will reach SD1 levels of pricing, but you never know your luck in a raffle.

 

My thoughts, buy one because you like it and enjoy it and it does what you want, not because you think that you will be able to retire to Benidorm on the proceeds of a future sale.

[For Fiats Sake]

These cars are so retro they're bound* to become a fashion icon eventually, could literally be worth many many L,S & D.

[Junkman]

What makes a car a "classic"

And will the Rover 75 be one in years to come?

 

Dunno really  - some of it is nostalgia driven as todays 17 / 18 YO's get some coin behind them and in years to come want a nostalgia trip down memory lane - how many would have had an R75 as a first car though? Or even aspired to one as a future car?

Did the R75 feature prominently in any popular film or TV shows that the yoof remember with fondness? As a child did they want to be that person ( Think Bodie & Doyle et al). Does the R75 have a rally or race pedigree that aspiring drivers might want to "do theirs up" as a replica?

Some of it is "design classic" driven for cars that were cutting edge in their day and even now still look unique.

 

So from that point of view I dont think prices will go silly like Ford Escorts or Capri's. Im not even convinced that they will reach SD1 levels of pricing, but you never know your luck in a raffle.

 

My thoughts, buy one because you like it and enjoy it and it does what you want, not because you think that you will be able to retire to Benidorm on the proceeds of a future sale.

 

If any of this had an influence on whether a classic became a classic, then most of todays classics wouldn't be classics.

The 75 will undoubtedly become a classic, although like pretty much all Rovers before it, a bargain basement cassic.

[barefoot]

Did the R75 feature prominently in any popular film or TV shows that the yoof remember with fondness?

.

Yes.

I am that youth, and I want to be just like Inspector Barny.

[UltraWomble]

Yes.

I am that youth, and I want to be just like Inspector Barny.

Then you also need a Mondeo and an X-Type.

[Guest Breadvan72]

 See also Jaguar X-Type.

 

 

 

 

Do you think that the X Type is or will become a classic car?  I don't really see it myself, even though I own one.   It's a good enough car, and better than the internet Jagdeo blah generally maintains, but I'm not sure that it will ever inspire TEH LOVE.  

 

OK, I agree that any car can potentially be called "classic" if it survives a long while.  A 1980 base model Vauxhall shopping hatchback is now a classic car, of a sort, but that's a different sort of thing. 

[oldcars]

 Having worked in the car industry from 1988 until 1997 and been involved with Rover I have a soft spot for them. Warts and all.

Cool, what did you do job wise that involved Rover?

[sierraman]

I thought the diesel was the best one. Drove really well, good on fuel.

[Bobthebeard]

Cool, what did you do job wise that involved Rover?

I worked at Lucas Automotive in Burnley. In the injection moulding department making switchgear for the R8 amongst others. Happy days.

[Negative Creep]

I can't stand 21st century retro kitsch.

I never liked the 75, always found it as attractive as those dreadful neo Georgian new developments and I predicted it's not going to save Rover when I saw the first one. Had I been one of those new car leasers, even I'd probably have done what millions did, namely raise an eyebrow and sign on the dotted line at the nearest BMW dealership. Them guys in Munich must have laughed all the way to the bank. Oh, wait...

 

Despite that, the 75 will obviously be a classic long before any contemporary 3 Series will be.

Then there is the V8, which became a classic the day after it was launched.

Do I want one of those? Yes, but I'd have to interior rape a Club.

 

 

I quite liked my 75, it was comfy, never went wrong and people thought it was far more expensive than it actually was. On the downside the 2.0v6, whilst sounding nice, was the fatal combination of being slow and thirsty. I can put up with one, not both.

[Bobthebeard]

^^ The 2.5 V6 doesn't seem particularly thirsty IMHO.... Ok not particularly fast I agree!

The 75 did 305 miles home from Kent on Sunday and used approximately £40 of petrol (circa £1.15 per litre) so not horrendous.

[hpi_matrix]

I would like to think these would become classic first:

 

 

 

I couldn't fault mine when I owned one and the 2.0 T - Series is a cracking engine.

[HMC]

Right product wrong badge? Rover took the 'retro' route- as was very fashionable at the time. I wonder whether tactically it would have been better to launch the platform as mg rather than the 75 and have more modern, techy detailing and firmer set up from the off. Maybe the badge had run its course and the mg more performance orientated "brand" would have found a more receptive market. Even if this had been considered, I suspect BMW would have veto'd this. BMW were keen for Rover to have a distinct identity, and any potential overlap with their own brand through the creation of MG sports saloons would have tread on precious 3 series territory.

 

Arguably though BMW bankrolled its development, its wish to avoid internal competition pushed the model into a niche that was less sellable to the 00's buyer, which limited its success.

[Guest Breadvan72]

It was odd in some ways that MG ended up as a sports saloon brand.  BMW owned and still own the Triumph brand, and Triumph was always more sports saloony than MG (which IIRC did a sports saloon in the fifties, but then concentrated on sports/GT cars until the era of hot hatches and badge engineered saloons arrived). Triumph also did better sports cars than MG ever did, but for various reasons MG survived as a brand whilst Triumph died.  BMW is unlikely ever to revive a brand that was once its rival.

[Guest Breadvan72]

R200s, 400s, 600s, 800s - isn't there a problem with them being at least partly Hondas?  I mean a problem from them being classic cars point of view, not from the point of view of whether they work as cars.

[John F]

Are you lot completely mad?

 

Post-war Rovers are 'cooking' cars. They've NO chance of becoming classics in the Jaguar E-Type / Lancia Stratos, etc. sense.

 

The P5 has just about made it into the lower end of the 'true' classics league, but approx. Â£8-10k for a 50-year old car is hardly a fortune and it'd cost you more than that in storage before an R8 or equivalent was worth anything like the same amount, if ever.

 

That doesn't make them bad cars though. It just makes them cheap cars.

[oldcars]

Are you lot completely mad?

 

Yes, we are on here.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Eh? I'm fairly sure no-one is saying old Rovers are ever gonna be competing with Lancia Stratos's for space in billionaire dream garages across the middle east

[John F]

Yes, we are on here.

 

[John F]

Eh? I'm fairly sure no-one is saying old Rovers are ever gonna be competing with Lancia Stratos's for space in billionaire dream garages across the middle east

 

I was exaggerating, Boll.

[Captain Furious]

Problem with the 75 and to some extent the X type, is even when they were new they weren't that popular, they weren't a 'working class hero' or something that people aspired to own.  The only reason they're having a bit of a renaissance now is because they're dirt cheap "lotto car for the money" etc.  I don't think that necessarily equates to future classic status, because as soon as people start trying to add classic tax the demand will drop off.

 

I would say to become valuable cars generally need to have had some hallowed history in motorsport or badge linking them to it, eg RS, AMG, M, Cosworth, Quattro etc, been incredibly rare or unusual, had a cutting edge revolutionary design or feature or at least been desireable and sought after when they were new.  The rest will increase in value marginally as they get harder to find, but ultimately remain around shiters budgets.  Personally i'm quite happy if thats the outcome.

[barefoot]

Or be a VW T2.

[Bobthebeard]

Problem with the 75 and to some extent the X type, is even when they were new they weren't that popular, they weren't a 'working class hero' or something that people aspired to own.  The only reason they're having a bit of a renaissance now is because they're dirt cheap "lotto car for the money" etc.  I don't think that necessarily equates to future classic status, because as soon as people start trying to add classic tax the demand will drop off.

 

I would say to become valuable cars generally need to have had some hallowed history in motorsport or badge linking them to it, eg RS, AMG, M, Cosworth, Quattro etc, been incredibly rare or unusual, had a cutting edge revolutionary design or feature or at least been desireable and sought after when they were new.  The rest will increase in value marginally as they get harder to find, but ultimately remain around shiters budgets.  Personally i'm quite happy if thats the outcome.

A shame really that Rover products aren't as popular as they should be IMHO. Made in the UK by folks that cared. (Although some didn't care at all on the production line sadly) My involvement with Rover was a happy time during the late 1980's and early 90's. A genuine desire to make good cars that would compete with the German stuff. Sadly it didn't go that well.

[John F]

I think Rover's lack of popularity has been covered earlier in this thread - the public perception of the brand is marred by memory of poor quality, of dated & stuffy designs and of the cars being made by folks that DIDN'T care.

 

It's difficult for a brand to recover from that sort of reputation.