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Rover Tomcat Opinions

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Motown Rank: Citroen Ami

Motown

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7 minutes ago, rmt87 said:

Inteirior is currently in the shed. Needs new sills a few patches on floors and probs needs a new fuel tank. Has been off the road 12 years or so. Keeping this one for the time being. 

No worries burt thank you anyway! Wish you all the best with it 

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Motown Rank: Citroen Ami

Motown

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9 minutes ago, PiperCub said:

Always had a sneaking regard for the Tomcat, never common certainly round here. 

Used to love watching the race series they did for the 2.0l ones back in the 90's & 00's.

The one in the pics looks nice but those wheels need to be binned ASAP, don't know what make they are (& don't care) but they look like some of that Rip(off)speed shit Halfrauds used to sell. Would question the 2K price too, that's pretty stiff for a not-particularly-popular car. (No offence but the R8 isn't really is it - I used to have a 214!).

Indeed if i buy the car the wheels will go and be changed for something more in line with good taste haha

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Motown Rank: Citroen Ami

Motown

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5 minutes ago, loserone said:

I thought only the 220s were "tomcats".  

 

My brother was tasked with putting development miles on them (and 623s) on track during his gap year at university.

TOMCAT refers to the car not the size of the engine ;) 

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Craig the Princess Rank: Renault 16

Craig the Princess

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5 hours ago, Craig the Princess said:

As the owner of a very sad Tomcat, they are really, really good.

Mainly severe lacquer peel that scares children, horses and Mary Whitehouse.

It's a 220 which is quick rather than fast, and reasonably tough, crank sensors aside.

 

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lesapandre Rank: Talbot Tagora

lesapandre

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3 hours ago, cort1977 said:

If it's not too rusty then well worth bargaining down the price to cover a set decent wheels and some mild de-barrying. Great 90s colour.

These were at a point when Rover still had a chance of making it as manufacturer. I remember the fantastic good vibes about these coupes at the time.  Rover went all snobby and I recall were very anti the cool Tomcat moniker. I mean why not keep to the BMC tradition of looking at success in the face and then walk away.

I would say these are one of the most desirable Rovers of the era and is a well-worth buy and a great steer. 

Mechanically - sounds like it will need work - I would drive and then see what happens...

Price - given the fault a little ritzy...why not try them with a ridiculous PX. If you don't have one perhaps someone on here has something worthless to induce them to buy.

Or just put in a polite lowball offer after viewing and walk away - see what happens you never know the phone might ring.

Opting out of any dealer 'warranty' and taking it on a 'spares' basis with no comeback might get some off - particularly in light of the smoke - one good blast down the M-way may lead to who knows what...

Go take a look - I know how difficult it will be selling anything with that  'advisory' unless to someone like us lot.

And is talked about a lot on this site - the market for 'old' cars seems to have vaporized in the face of finance on new stuff.

 

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N Dentressangle Rank: Citroen Ami

N Dentressangle

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I had a 220 Tomcat ages ago - non-turbo. It was very nearly a fantastic car.

The good:

- quick enough for most things

- that shape

- quite well screwed together, with a decent cabin

- decent FWD handling, with plenty of torque steer and understeer available on demand

 

The bad:

- stupid targa roof, which was a faff to take out and store in a special foam lined bag (yes, I even had that with the car) in the boot. At anything over 60, it generated lots of wind noise. The car must have been only 10 years old at the time, and the seals were in good nick, with all adjusted correctly. It was just all designed in the same way as a big Britax popout sunroof, and needed a bit of cash throwing at a properly engineered answer. That's a theme we'll develop...

- low gearing. Even in 5th, 70 was pulling enough revs to be intrusively noisy. With a biq, torquey M series there was really no need for that. The car could have been a brilliant cruiser, but was probably less refined on the motorway than our '95 Metro 1.1. Did nobody from Longbridge try it on the M42 before they made it? Maybe they got stuck in traffic, or couldn't be bothered to go beyond the dual carriageway bit of the A38.

- stupid boot hatch. Another casualty of designing a new model on the cheap, the hatch the Tomcat should have had never happened, so you're left trying to post your shopping through a letterbox type hatch at the back which feels smaller than a classic Mini's. To be fair, if the last two had been sorted I wouldn't have given a toss about the boot space - no-one buys a coupe for practicality.

 

I think I had the Tomcat for about 6 months before I sold it. It felt like such a near-miss from being a really fantastic car, and made the typical BL 'oh, that'll do' design faults even more annoying. Definitely a future classic and decent investment, but I don't think I'd have another.

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clayts450 Rank: Renault 16

clayts450

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If you must go for the 2 litre it really needs to be the T-series.

I agree with the above that the M-series, whilst a good old lump, just doesn't tick the same boxes as the T (when comparing an M 820 and a T 420). The T just pulls much much better and always seems to have more to give.

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flat4alfa Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

flat4alfa

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Turquoise, Auto and only the 1.6 kettle - that scraped the last test? There’s is no market for it, even off a tidy private driveway

Looking at the Arfur Daley housing Estate yard it’s sitting at, it will sit there for months at that money (even with its mind-trick Screen Price) and will just get thrown into the auctions once the tyres are down and it’s in the way 

If you really want it, rock up with 1200 notes as he likely only gave 600 for it to start with

 

 

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The Moog Rank: Talbot Tagora

The Moog

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If you must go for the 2 litre it really needs to be the T-series.
I agree with the above that the M-series, whilst a good old lump, just doesn't tick the same boxes as the T (when comparing an M 820 and a T 420). The T just pulls much much better and always seems to have more to give.
Plus getting bits for M Series is certainly challenging. Even Rimmer Bros didn't stock a lot of stuff. T series you can get what you want!
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Motown Rank: Citroen Ami

Motown

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4 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Turquoise, Auto and only the 1.6 kettle - that scraped the last test? There’s is no market for it, even off a tidy private driveway

Looking at the Arfur Daley housing Estate yard it’s sitting at, it will sit there for months at that money (even with its mind-trick Screen Price) and will just get thrown into the auctions once the tyres are down and it’s in the way 

If you really want it, rock up with 1200 notes as he likely only gave 600 for it to start with

 

 

Precisely i feel i like i should buy it just in order to save it..... Its unlikely the cars life will end well sat on an overpriced dealership in Blackpool ?

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Garythesnail Rank: Citroen Ami

Garythesnail

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4 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Turquoise, Auto and only the 1.6 kettle -

That'll be the reliable* Honda engine in a 1600 automatic. 

Daughter had one for a couple of years (1800 VVC in green with ash interior and leather with the facelift dash something like R86 OPR . . . or not) and was a good car. She sold it at the bottom of the price curve? for a much more* practical Mitsubishi FTO.

Arches and sills and no more than the usual stuff o  cars this age.

Not worth my 2 grand.

 

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flat4alfa Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

flat4alfa

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1 hour ago, Motown said:

 There has always been so question as to whether this website is accurate or not

Calculated straight from the quarterly DVLA figures

I was surprised that were that many!

So with my ‘crikey it must be a classic soon then’ hat on, perhaps you could go and see it, but one late afternoon. 1) kick its tyres, 2) rev its valve stems off, 3) check it shifts properly, 4) come to a decision with cash, 5) see Blackpool at night afterwards, looking through the T-roof glass at the pretty lights, 6) boil over just outside Preston, while still smiling

?

 

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Motown Rank: Citroen Ami

Motown

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49 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Calculated straight from the quarterly DVLA figures

I was surprised that were that many!

So with my ‘crikey it must be a classic soon then’ hat on, perhaps you could go and see it, but one late afternoon. 1) kick its tyres, 2) rev its valve stems off, 3) check it shifts properly, 4) come to a decision with cash, 5) see Blackpool at night afterwards, looking through the T-roof glass at the pretty lights, 6) boil over just outside Preston, while still smiling

?

 

I will most likely take the trip to Blackpool in January if the car is still available haggle with salesman and throw some cash at him in order to save the car. I wont be hanging around Blackpool for very long though. My last trip ended with a stroll on the beach and trying to dispatch a used condom which had stuck itself to the bottom of my shoe... That doesn't happen in Whitby or Fuerteventura

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