sold All about that BASE - Rover 820 END

[Dick Longbridge]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Was this there? May have been slightly later.

That reminds me a bit of the MG EX - E concept which I saw at the Motorshow in the mid 1980s. Oof. 

I reckon the designers had been smoking Jag and Pontiac flavoured rollies at the time. 

[AnthonyG]

There were definitely two-door or ‘coupe’ versions of the first generation 800 planned, as with the associated Legend saloon which was also available as a coupe within a year or two. 

I think the lack of success from the Sterling brand in the US put paid to initial launch plans, at that was the intended market. By the time they came round to sorting the European market version it was practically time for the second generation model anyway. 

Not sure about a convertible though, I suspect it wouldn’t have been feasible, Honda never bothered. 

[AnthonyG]

5 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

You know banger racers aren't afraid of rust, right? 

Yep, I just didn’t think a Rover 800 was interesting enough to bother completely rebuilding one just to wreck it.  It’s not a Panhard!

Maybe these are old enough for ‘classic’ banger racing now?

[Asimo]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Was this there? May have been slightly later.

Not sure, up on a plinth there was something funky with “Vitesse” graphics.
It was hard to be professional and just fix the printer in the corner of the studio when I just wanted to ogle everything and knock on Roy Axe’s door…

[sierraman]

14 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

Why the hell would a banger racer want one of these with rotten windscreen pillars? It sounds like a trip to A & E at best and a ‘life changing injury’ at worst. 

Have the oval enthusiasts run out of Mondeos? 

Mk1/2 are getting a bit thin on the ground but can still be found life expired. I would not want to be taking a shunt in that Rover 800 with 4 Mondeo’s piling into the back but it takes all sorts. Sometimes it’s a case of racing something ‘different’. 

[MantaGTE85]

It looks to be getting in much worse shape around the sunroof since our favourite tea-and-cake-loving YouTuber sold it 4 years ago. A great shame. I still can't get my head around Rover selling a really nice executive car based on the Honda Legend with an Austin Ambassador engine up front. I wonder how many carb-fed 820s were actually sold. 

[riek]

10 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

I still can't get my head around Rover selling a really nice executive car based on the Honda Legend with an Austin Ambassador engine up front. 

That sounds exactly like something BL and its successor companies would do. The amount of engineering effort they spent on shoehorning parts they already had into new designs must have been incredible.

[SiC]

I imagine the carb engine tooling was all but pretty much paid off. So with just the cost of engineering the lump in, it's probably a setup that can be quite profitable for the company. 

There were and still are many people who don't care too much about what engine is upfront providing it starts and drives the vehicle.