Replacing your Rover

robin collis

Active Member
I hav owned my 3500S for over 30yrs. The longest I have owned any ca in my life. I have no real intention of replacing i at the moment, but I sometimes ask my self "what would I replace it with?" Not a question I want to have to answer.
What would other Forum members consider replacing their Rover with. ether s a 'hobby classic' or as their only car?
I sometime ponder this question, but never come up with an answer, but thoughts are:-
1. Modern car. Moderns are so god now that it seems you simply pick one you like the look of, nd it will do all you want of it.
Of the moderns I have driven recently, a BMW 330 cdi stand out, but Diesels are hated now, so what?
2 Dream cars; Porsche 911 is a perennial favourite, it does everything so well, but could I afford the insurance, depreciation and maintenance?
Same with all the performance cars of today. i live in Surrey, and where could I use that performance ?
3. Another Classic; E types are a dream to look at and die nicely, but sometimes I want 4 seats, and Oh so expensive. I used to hanker after a P5, but now getting out of my price range.
If I had to change, I would probably just give up and buy something like a Honda Civic or VW UP.

Apart from the economy of driving a P6; classic insurance, no road tax, no depreciation... There is he bonus that UK police still like them and some have fond memories of when they were a standard patrol car. Twice I have been let off from driving offences because the officers that stopped me like the car and talked more about that than my offence. (Not that I condone breaking the law, but we all do something stupid once in a while.)
The only downside I have found to owning a P6 is that there is a breed of modern driver, often in a Civic or Astra, who finds an old car like mine an affront, and must overtake it.
 
As a bloke that bought his P6 new in '72 ,this was my main driver for about ten years when I thought it was time to upgrade , so I sold it and bought in succession most of the cars I lusted after.
After the novelty wore off all these different dream breeds, none really lived up to a P6 engineering.
Basically had to track my old P6 down and buy it back.- fortunately it was just as I sold her albeit a few more K's on the clock.
These days I hack around in a modern Pug for those A to B runs, but the old P6 gets to lift her skirts on sunny days for that fun factor.
I get a great deal of pleasure keeping her in top shape, mostly through trial and error and the amazing help off this website.
Most modern mechanics aren't even trained in older technology like SU carbs or BW35 boxes anymore and know sweet FA on the idiosyncratic workings of the well engineered P6.
 
At some point l will have to sell my '02 Rover 75, mainly due to emission controls. I will then revert to my P6/A60 estate/P5B until such time as they come under the cosh too.
But l have no clue what l would replace the 75 with if l had to, it's such a great car. Modern comfort features but not overloaded with ridiculous electronic gimmicks.
So barring emission controls in your area l would go for a 75. Other than that another classic of some sort.
 
I have my Rover, a 2011 Citroen C3 Picasso and a 2005 Mercedes CLK320 convertible. The Rover is my classic just for fun. The Citroen is a workhorse. It is a 1.6 turbo diesel and does 60mpg. It has loads of room and is fun to drive and cheap to run. The Mercedes is really another toy. it's got 115k on the clock and cost a mere £2400 and for that you get a real luxury motor. I also have a Volkswagen camper van that I am restoring but that's another story!! I love them all and find that buying cars that are 10-20 years old gives a great range without the really high costs. These are still what I consider to be 'modern' cars and so usually have good build quality and mechanics, and decent rust proofing. This bracket is still in the 'older car but not valuable' bracket and there are some pretty cool motors to be had if you choose carefully!!
 
We have an early Freelander 2 in good spec. It's not worth a candle but is a truly great all-rounder, whether taking rubbish to the tip or cruising the motorway & wouldn't really need anything else if we had to stick with one car.

We bought it 7 years ago when we regularly towed a caravan, which it handled really well, but now that's gone we wouldn't replace the Freelander if it expires. We just have too many cars.....:rolleyes:
 
I have two 2008 SAAB 9-3 (saloon and a convertible) as our daily drivers. Not sure what we would replace them with. Harder than ever to find manuals here in the states, plus most modern cars lack the engagement in driving. Alas, like Rover, Saab are no more….
 
I too have a Saab 9-3 2008 as my, not daily, but modern driver. I'll keep it because I can't thing what I'd want to change it to. Previous I had an Alfa 156, as you say the Alfa engaged the driver, the SAAB just gets me around with comfort. For me even the 2008 Saab has too much electronics interfering with the driving of the car for you.
When the Rover is being kept outside, it is most used transport I have, but not enough electronic driving aids for the winter greasy roads. :eek:
 
When we remove our rose tinted glasses and peer into the winter gloom who in their right minds wants to jump into a classic car on a Frosty, damp, dark winter morning, and then spend the next 10 miles trying to see where you are going through a constantly misting screen, being wiped by anything that is to hand ? Not me !
Ever since I sold my Mini in the seventies classics have never been daily drivers.
So as for keeping an old classic as a daily driver - forget it.
It really is horses for courses, oldies are great in the summer for pleasure use. However I also hate the latest generation of moderns with all the electrikery. Most hated gadget, the electronic handbrake ! - Don't get me started on that one.

So I sold the Rover, and the Elan, and the 2013 daily ( with electronic handbrake ) and bought a 2000's Audi wagon to replace all. It has a proper handbrake :thumb: and half the electronic crap of a modern, the screen demists, it has ABS and traction control, it starts every time !
The verdict. Any 15 - 20 year old well looked after car, sporting or not can be a rewarding compromise between old and new, just find one that makes you smile when driving it and you are there !
 
When we remove our rose tinted glasses and peer into the winter gloom who in their right minds wants to jump into a classic car on a Frosty, damp, dark winter morning, and then spend the next 10 miles trying to see where you are going through a constantly misting screen, being wiped by anything that is to hand ? Not me !

Fortunately most days my commute is by foot, although when going out to see my work clients, I almost always take a P6. The drive is usually no more than a 40 mile round trip & often on lovely B-roads in East Yorkshire. However, over the last few years particularly, I have used my P6s less in poor weather, mainly because whatever rust-proofing I've done, they still don't like British 'back-end' weather & I have a job keeping on top of the bodywork.

So I tend to agree with your sentiments & my classics are more fair-weather cars these days. This is part of the reason I'm looking to downsize; I just don't do the miles to keep 3 P6s regularly mobile & with my Alfa GTV that's 4 semi-dormant classics :rolleyes:.

My plan is to give BOP (V8S) a good service soon & see if I still 'love' it; otherwise it is likely to be the first to go. I no longer have the time nor the inclination to keep them all for ever.
 
Brave buying and Audi! I had one once.. never again!!
The one key essential to buying any car is research, research, research
FSH, Mot check on past years advisories, kerbside check of registered address on V5C, History file, and of course a fair wind all make for a happy experience. I have had many vorsprung cars and they have all been good to me.
 
Fortunately most days my commute is by foot, although when going out to see my work clients, I almost always take a P6. The drive is usually no more than a 40 mile round trip & often on lovely B-roads in East Yorkshire. However, over the last few years particularly, I have used my P6s less in poor weather, mainly because whatever rust-proofing I've done, they still don't like British 'back-end' weather & I have a job keeping on top of the bodywork.

So I tend to agree with your sentiments & my classics are more fair-weather cars these days. This is part of the reason I'm looking to downsize; I just don't do the miles to keep 3 P6s regularly mobile & with my Alfa GTV that's 4 semi-dormant classics :rolleyes:.

My plan is to give BOP (V8S) a good service soon & see if I still 'love' it; otherwise it is likely to be the first to go. I no longer have the time nor the inclination to keep them all for ever.
I have always admired your tenacity and dedication toward your fleet.
 
I do like my modern car.. especially as it almost drives itself. That said, the seats in a P6 are far more comfortable than anything modern I've driven in a while.
 
I do like my modern car.. especially as it almost drives itself. That said, the seats in a P6 are far more comfortable than anything modern I've driven in a while.

You and I are certainly different shapes because the P6 seats are awful for me. Far too short to give enough back support. The most comfortable in a car I actually owned were in a 1980s Audi 100, large armchairs, velour fabric and before the age of massive side bolsters.
 
I have always admired your tenacity and dedication toward your fleet.

Thank-you, but as I'm getting older it's a bit too much :(.

P6s still aren't worth a huge amount, so it's not like I've got tens of £'000s tied up in them, hence keeping them doesn't matter too much. But maintaining them as reliable classics is a never-ending job, which is losing its shine a bit.

But then which do I keep......:hmm:
 
Brave buying and Audi! I had one once.. never again!!

I like mine. It was a company car but I have now bought it as the taxman was having a bit too much of a laugh with me.

It is technically head and shoulders above the P6 as it's a lot more powerful, easier to drive in the ice/snow/muddy roads, does nearly 50mpg, quieter, lots of toys many of which I quite like, A/C so clear glass, sat nav, etc etc

Two things Sparky has though, the Audi doesn't make me smile when driving it :cool:, and I can look under the bonnet of the P6 and know what things do.
 
My pockets aren't deep enough to permit ownership of more than one vehicle, so my blue heap continues to serve stalwart duty as my daily driver, ten years on from my having rebuilt it. Well, on days when it isn't with my mechanic, which seem to have be some quite common recently. :(
If I did stumble over a big bag of cash I dare say I'd buy something else equally impractical, and probably of a similar age, if not older still. I'd like a P5B. I wouldn't mind a second V8 P6, a really good and importantly unmolested automatic one. Much as I enjoy now rowing my own gears, urban driving in London sometimes makes me a bit wistful about having gone over to a manual box. It would be nice to be able to choose between a smooth cruiser as Rover intended, or my creaky-but-stiff poly bushed creation, which no longer wallows around but does rather shake the fillings out of my teeth over bumps!
I've not seen it in person, but from the few photos I have seen on the internet I am quite taken with the 'Gladys' coupé prototype that was based on P6 underpinnings. If I could afford to have something coachbuilt, a replica would be quite something, to my mind. Not on wires, perhaps in Arden Green, on Magstars or Jensen wheels. Pukka!

1966_Rover_P6_2000S_%27Gladys%27_Prototype_2.0.jpg
 
My dream car is a slab-side Cobra, with a stupidly aggressive 289. But dream cars are way down the fiscal priority list.....
 
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