My little Rover 620Ti projectL

[Felly Magic]

I do LOL that Rover decided not to go all shouty about the performance, and just put '600' on the bootlid, and no daft spoilers either. Discreet performance

[EssDeeWon]

I do LOL that Rover decided not to go all shouty about the performance, and just put '600' on the bootlid, and no daft spoilers either. Discreet performance

 

Subaru cater for all that show off'y bollox.  Can everyone hear me?  Can everyone see me??

 

Rover did well with this 600, if it did have silly shouty go faster bits then I don't think I'd like it.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Subaru cater for all that show off'y bollox.  Can everyone hear me?  Can everyone see me??

 

Rover did well with this 600, if it did have silly shouty go faster bits then I don't think I'd like it.

But they might have sold a few more!

[fatharris]

Oh god I'm looking at these on eBay again. I've barely got £20 to my name and all I can think about is getting another Rover

[Felly Magic]

Oh god I'm looking at these on eBay again. I've barely got £20 to my name and all I can think about is getting another Rover

Wait for Trigger to Roffle it LOL

[Brodders]

But they might have sold a few more!

I am not too sure, those who would have wanted a showy performance saloon most likely wouldn't have gone for a Rover. They would have bought something like a BMW instead.

 

In fact, I am not entirely sure who would have bought something like this apart from the the police service, which is a shame as after having seen this today, I have to say it is bloody nice. Very understated and elegant. Good to have met you today anyway Trigger, and great work with it so far. It is in pretty much perfect condition. If it is raffled I will probably put myself down for a ticket.

[coalnotdole]

I really like the look of this, If this its raffled I'd definately brake my roffle-virginity and buy a ticket!

[Lacquer Peel]

Subaru cater for all that show off'y bollox. Can everyone hear me? Can everyone see me??

 

Rover did well with this 600, if it did have silly shouty go faster bits then I don't think I'd like it.

The original Legacy turbo is quite subtle, and rapid.

 

The Ti is the most fuel efficient 600 apart from the diesel, the Honda engines are thirsty buggers.

[somewhatfoolish]

In fact, I am not entirely sure who would have bought something like this apart from the the police service, which is a shame as after having seen this today, I have to say it is bloody nice. Very understated and elegant.

At least some of them started out as fleet lease, I knew an accountant who had 4 of these in a row as company cars.

 

I'll have 3 randoms if there's a roffle for this exquisite Cowley chariot.

[trigger]

I'll be honest, I'm bloody loving this car, it's just so nice to drive... Other than the clutch which I'm going to change!.

 

I can't work out who the car was marketed towards, the 600 was mostly sold to the older gentleman who wanted Honda reliably with that British class, those in the market for a 200bhp performance car bought BMWS and A4s and the like, they wouldn't have bought a car marketed towards old people so who bought these? All i can think off is that this particular car was sat around for a long while (production stopped in Feb 1999 yet this was registered in Sep 1999 and I've seen wiring in the car date labeled 1998) and the dealer just sold it cheap to get shot of it.

[stuboy]

this is very nice..

[Felly Magic]

I think Trigger has just hit the nail on the head about this car, the 600 did have a Werther's Originals whiff about it, so having one in the range that was faster than top end 3 series BMWs was a bit strange, could have understood it if they'd taken the 600 touring car racing in a big way

[Spottedlaurel]

It's good that such anomalies exist, it proves that humans are/were still involved. I suppose someone thought that Rover should have a presence in the sporty saloon market, and back then there might still have been fleet buyers who would demand a British only policy?

 

Looks great anyway. I like that fact it has a local registration, fairly rare when so many were pre-registered.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I suppose you could get fairly basic a understated Mondeo and Cavalier/ Vectra V6es, that would have been direct fleet competitors.

I wonder how sales would have gone if the Peter Stevens/ Ripspeed Catalogue/ Lairy paint , MG Revival* had happened during the 600's run rather than the 75's?

 

620Ti c.7000 sales

MG ZT c. 20,000 sales

 

That's all ZTs from dizzlers to V8s and estates though, and I suppose you should add 800 Vitesses and Turbos to the 600 sales ( and maybe 623s).

I have far too much time on my hands today!

[mercedade]

I can't work out who the car was marketed towards, the 600 was mostly sold to the older gentleman who wanted Honda reliably with that British class, those in the market for a 200bhp performance car bought BMWS and A4s and the like, they wouldn't have bought a car marketed towards old people so who bought these?

Just for the sake of comparison, I'll copy and past the 'first impressions' post I put on another forum the day I collected my 820 Vitesse.

 

First impressions:

 

It's an 800 - it is STAGGERING just how dated it feels compared to the Galant, which is only 18 months younger. My first 800 was a star-ship mileage (330k) diesel, my second was a lowered/noisy/gangsta Mk1 827. This is my third, and it's remarkable how there is so little to choose between them. Obviously equipment varies, as does performance, but there's no denying that you're essentially driving a 14 year old car which is actually 28 years old (if you start from the first of the 800s). At the end of its production life, its target market must have been miniscule - a performance car dressed up to look like a gentleman's club, based on a 15 year old design? Bonkers.

 

HOWEVER - none of that is a bad thing. The interior is a genuinely lovely place to be - the best condition 800 I've had by some considerable distance. The interior is spotless bar some wear on the driver's seat bolster (finished off very nicely by a rear ash tray supplied by Brad to fill the gap from the missing one) and absolutely everything works. It even smells right, thanks to the leather slapped everywhere.

 

The seats are the most comfortable too - I like leather to look at, but I genuinely believe that sitting in full leather seats (from experience of either of my Jags or the 825 diesel) aggravates my back pain - perhaps something to do with the effort required to stop yourself slipping about? It's a pretty tenuous link I know, but I never seemed to have that problem in cloth seats, so the 1/2 leather is perfect for me.

 

Exterior:

 

Again, I'm very very impressed. It's had a pretty decent sill repair on one side, and a solid but ugly (if virtually hidden) repair on the other. For what I paid, I'm happy. I'll attempt to clean up the ugly one over Xmas, and chuck a little oil in the sills to prevent a re-occurrence. The other stuff (scuffed bumpers, not-quite matched paint on wing repairs, small dent in drivers door) - again, I've certainly paid more for much worse. Overall impression though is of a very tidy car.

 

Of course, one thing I'd forgotten is just how poor 800 headlights really are. The lights themselves are pretty clear and clean (and have Rover headlight covers on) but the light dispersal is as bad as I remember. Have some of the Halfords high power bulbs to put in (left over from the 827) to give it a bit more juice.

 

Performance:

 

I've had a 2.0 T series (non-turbo) before in my 220 GTi and thought it was a great, great engine. Basically, the addition of the turbo seems to allow it to maintain the performance of the 220 despite the significant extra weight of the 800. It is a hugely entertaining drive. Hopefully, I'll improve on my current 28 mpg once I stop wanting to overtake everything on the duel carriageway...

[mercedade]

Christ - making those quotes work was much harder than expected! I am a massive IT fail.