I can haz Rovershite

[wuvvum]

I picked this up today.

 

 

It's a rather scruffy 214Si 3-door. A mate has owned it for the last five years or so and it's been pretty reliable for him; he's now splashed out on an 07-plate 206 (well if you're going to have a modern Pug a petrol 206 is probably the least unreliable option..) and the Rover was in his way, so I gave him £70 for it. It runs out of T&T on Wednesday, but it usually passes its MoT fairly easily although it can have trouble with the emissions test. It's a pretty boggo spec with keep fit windows and no PAS, but being a 16-valve 1400 it's actually bloody nippy (on the drive home I was overtaking stuff just for the hell of it) and it's quite an endearing thing to drive, although the throttle response for the first inch or so of pedal travel is going to take a bit of getting used to. There's no sign of HGF, and it has the slickest gearbox of any car I've driven in a long time. I don't know how long I'll be keeping it for, but I'll run it around for a little while anyway and see if I decide to hang on to it or not.

[trigger]

I was hoping for some Renault 8 action then for a moment! Looks pretty decent old thing though.

[wuvvum]

Oh yeah, I can see how the title might be a bit misleading. Let me fix that...

[mattblack]

R8s are for WINNAS!

 

Pity about the peeling lacquer, I was going to suggest you give those bumpers a damn good linseed oil-ing.

[Angrydicky]

Nicely saved!

[Pete-M]

Top Chodding.

 

They aren't bad to drive those old things. Willing and easy - like a good woman.

 

[Cavcraft]

I thought the 'good woman' reference was because they liked to boil over at random times

 

Great save there and seventy quid is a bargain. I don't see how you can go wrong there and hopefully the bargain price will offset any minor MOT repairs.

[RoadworkUK]

What a smashing car.

 

Good mate of mine in sixth form had a 414 (GSI? Had grey leather all round, iirc), and it seemed to go like the clappers. I remember going to the NEC in, wow, probably '99 or sommat. Good grief, that's over a third of my life ago.

[Lord Sterling]

Wow, nice score there Wuvvum. I do like R8 200s (moreover earlier models with Orange tailights and without front grilles) I like to see one in more or less original condition, many of the ones still about seem to have been upspecced or modified. A good clean up should see this solid little motor in good steed.

 

I nearly got one of these a few years back, I had a Sierra Sapphire Ghia and one of my mates had a Black 216GTi he was willing to do a swap as he thought my Sierra looked the dogs. Unfortunately I couldnt get insurance on it, everyone was quoting me £2k +. In the end the car was sold onto this lad who used to live in when he got kicked out of his house, it ran out of tax. Not seen it since, I suspect it got taken away and crushed.

[Rod/b]

Bargain! Is it SPI or MPI?

[KruJoe]

I REALLY love these, especially the three doors without stick-on grilles, as fans of the eBay thread will know. I bought one not long ago for £190 with 6 months ticket, my sister is using it atm. The spit of yours, but a five door, 1.4 16v non-pas, no e/w etc. It's an absolute hoot, as you describe. And as cheap to keep on the road as owt.

 

 

I think these grille-less ones with the long indicators were only made for a year or two. I like. Do keep me in mind if/when you've had enough of it. (Though I have the Lada to deal with now.)

 

What's going on with the 'tabs' above the windscreen?

[Spottedlaurel]

Sounds a great buy! Always struck me that these are the sort of cars where the toy count doesn't matter, they still have a faint whiff of quality about them (unlike Escort of the time, for example).

[KruJoe]

That's quite true.

I was going to add that from what I was told when I bought ours, these L-reg ones are early enough to be less vulnerable to OMG HGF. Which is nice.

[ashmicro]

Not quite so kettle-prone as pre-95 should be closed-deck block. Good save.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I LOVE R8's

 

just clocked up 22,000 miles in mine!!! Best car i've ever had. Front tyres have gone egg-shaped unfortunately which means additional vibration inputs - never good when combined with crummy 90's rover interiors. Its a RATTLE FEST!

[Torsten2001]

What a smashing car! Rare and beautiful 2 door too, jealous!

[Barrett.in.the.USA]

Rare and beautiful

 

That may be a slight overreaction! These 3 doors are bloody fugly imho. For 70 bones you can't go far wrong though, good buy!

[ProgRocker]

Nice buy. Will look great after a clean.

[KruJoe]

3 doors are bloody fugly

Incorrect, Sir. They are BANG TIDY ok?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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