I had an 827 Sterling Coupe. A superb car, had it for 13 years, never let me down. Eventually, the tin worm won. Sad day. I now have a CDTI 75, again, it's a real lovely car. I guess I'm a Rover nut.
Great video, brings back fond memories, I was one of the fourteen Master Sterling Technicians in the U.S. When they pulled out of the U.S. market the president of Rover Group flew to all the dealerships and thanked us personally. Some of the best people I have ever worked with. A shout out to any of you guys from back in the day!
I had a Sterling in the US. Drove out of the dealership as they closed. Dashboard electrics dead. Died at a petrol station next day. Towed to dealer. They told me they needed a Sterling technician to visit to repair the car. 10 days later I picked it up, drove about 40 miles. Stopped in a car park. Turned the engine off. Realised straight away that the Sterling would not restart again. Towed to another dealer. They told me they needed a Sterling technician to visit to repair the car. They had the car for about 3 weeks. They could not fix it. I was refunded under lemon law. In 6 weeks the Sterling was in my possession for just 3 days. The Sterling was a Cr-P Car. A terrible advertisement for Great Britain in the USA.
My 827 Vitesse was (and actually stil is) the best car I’ve ever owned. Lovely leather Recaro seats, smooth V6 with masses of power and a ride that was quiet, even on the German autobahn. The Champagne colour and light interior gave it a luxurious feeling, many passengers were impressed. I miss him/her...
Yes, and second-hand they could be bought for next to nothing - nobody wanted them because or Rovers notorious reputation for building lemons... which by this time was completely unjustified!
@@phuketexplorer as a young boy (1974/1975) I had a BL-garage on my way to school. And always on the way back I used to go there, sit in the new models in the showroom or talked to the mechanics in the garage. And I remember one of them saying that the products were great, but the strikes would finally kill the industry. I didn’t believe him, because I loved all of the cars, so did many other Dutchman, and I believed that this would save them. Unfortunately he was right at the end. Such a damned shame…
@@harm7602vicount-Visconti During the mid 80's to late 90's, I had a good friend who was a manager in the Rover CAD office at Solihull. He was paid an annual salary of around £55K, for basically doing next to nothing! Just one of the reasons they ran out of money. 🙄
I found a P plate Rover 800 with a 2 Liter engine up for sale at a scrapyardfor £250 in 2006. Car was in mint condition (the owner was to old to drive). I bought the car, drove away and had it for two years with no issues at all. It was gold with grey cloth upholstery and run ASA a clock. Never failed and a great road car. Eventually sold it for £50 and the new owner wrecked it. Thank you for your great videos. 👍
My parents had the 820Ti, burgundy red with black leather Recaro sits. It was trully a fast and yet comfortable car. We all remember our 800 with nostalgia.🤩
I had one, really loved it. Just realize he isn't joking about the "quality" issues. The engine/suspension is possibly the only good parts of these cars.
I had a red 2.0 litre Rover 820 Sterling hatch back I never had any problems with it . The car was very stylish and comfortable for the day . I only had a few repairs done to it . The Rover had very good back seat space for me and the Mrs .
Worked on many Rover 827's that the Met Police were running as Traffic and Armed Response vehicles, along with heavily armored versions and a few 820i models that were used for driving big nobs around. That 2.7 Honda engine was an absolute gem., it took such a hammering, often from stone cold with the ARV's yet it never failed, the same can't be said for the Auto boxes and the body work, but they were lovely cars to drive and work on, and I've fond memories of them.
Still using my 89 Sterling 827 Sli on a regular basis. The tin worm is starting but not serious for a 32 year old car. It is still fun to drive ( daily driver is a Focus ST) and doesn't worry me when getting dunked in the Hudson River, launching jet skis.
I delivered a new one to Brick Lane when they first came out. Two noticeable things were the wipers getting confused when you changed speed on them and not knowing which way to turn and the headlight washer jets stayed on when you put the lights on. Something like 6 miles on the clock when I started the journey. I thought they were awful at the time. A brittle stretched Montego with absolutely no design features at all - I loved the SDI, but they did seem to get better after the facelift - and that coupe 😄
My 1993 Rover 800 was one of the nicest driving executive card I drove. Much nicer than the subsequent 1998 Mercedes E Class that drove like a tank with horrible steering. I took the River to 73,000 and it was extremely reliable. Only failure was a replacement coil.
Some old couple still drive an r reg midnight blue sterling fastback. Its 2020 they got it while I was still at secondary school. Its not rusting visibly either. They live in a nice 500k house so are not poor. Makes me feel sort of nostalgic looking at it cos my uncle had a sterling saloon kv6 in the late 90s company car. It felt so normal almost modern to travel in then but now seeing this old thing in motion it looks so regal wafting to crayford sainsburys. The wheels are laughably small.
Having worked on these as an engineer, at the Cowley plant, for a supplier of many of the components I do remeber very fondly seeing the very advanced for the time production methods used particulalry of note was the first time laser guided robots where used to apply the screen bonding and then to install both the front and rear screens which was fascinating to watch. The specification of the Honda Legend suspension components was higher than the rover with design tweeks to make it better but they where both great cars for the time.
@@procta2343 The K series was a heap of crap. Cylinder heads leaking in the showroom. Ones that did not leak in the showroom came with a warranty. Guaranteed for the head to definitely leak. They leaked in an unusual fashion. Most engines if the head gasket blows water leaks into the oil. In the K series it was common for oil to leak into the water.and destroy heater cores and pipes. The K series destroyed Rover as mechanics told customers not to touch them with a barge pole.
I've had 7 in total and still own 2 of them. One of them has nearly 200000 miles on it and has been completely dependable. The only reason I don't use it every day is I have a Rover 75 tourer (£250 6 years ago and now 223000 miles, with equal dependability) I do still take it on long trips though! All of my Rover 800s have been excellent!.
I remember a Rover 75 tourer going through an auction, no one bided on it, the auctioneer said any offers then? and some one shouted £100 quid, car sold for £150 quid in the end, Me and my mate said that's a lot of car for little money there, so some one got a bargain there.
Had a Sterling in the US. The car had terrible electrics but was built like a tank. My son was Tboned at 60 mph and only got a broken finger. The other guy didn’t fair so well. Thanks for the post.
This was lucky, since I saw a picture of the Honda LEGEND version, where the roof was buckled, in just a 30mph crash! I expect it all depended what the angle of the crash was!
At 19 I was serving as a young Royal Marine in Plymouth in 1990 and I had my eye on an E reg Rover 820i saloon. I’m 99% sure it was Vospers at Marsh Mills. Despite my pipe dreams it wasn’t to be. The insurance was double the value of the car ha ha. I was however more than happy with my Austin Montego red with grey bottom trim. D710 MUH. It got me from Plymouth to Northumberland many a weekend without a hick. Unfortunately it was the structure of the car that let it down. I’m sure the engine had plenty of life in it despite it having 130, 000 miles. Great videos, keep them coming 👍😃
As an American, I’ve always had a weird fascination with this era of British cars. They’ve never had a great reputation here in NA, but the first time I got to sit in a Sterling Fastback when I was a young man working at a service garage in the 90s, I was blown away at how beautiful the interior was, and how stylish and futuristic the car looked. I may gird my wallet’s loins and buy a nice example of one someday 😂
Real enjoyed this. My father had a Sterling 2.5 then a lovely black 800 2.7 saloon. Then an 800 coupe in a beautiful dark red metallic.. He did high mileages in all of them with his job, and they served him well. Still have lovely memories as a child in these cars.
Great video, thanks. My father had an '88 Sterling with the Honda 2.7 which eventually died at 198k due to rust more than anything else. This probably led me to buy a four year old '96 Sterling with the 2.5 KV6 when I was 26. It behaved itself for about 3 years and then finally cooked it heads, it was well over 100k by then though. I nearly bought a "new" 18 month old unregistered 75 but Rover had gone bust by then and I didn't take the chance.
I owned a 827 Stirling, which had been extended by a Birmingham Coach Builder by approximately half a metre and rebadged Vanden Plas. It’s first owner after conversion was Rover Group themselves. I was lucky enough to acquire photos and copy of various drawings, invoices etc. I bought the car for £3,000 and sold it 5 years later for £7,500. I had no mechanical issues, except a new exhaust, which had to be modified. The only bodywork problems where the roof having to be refilled and painted due to it flexing because of the extra length. I wished I kept it as it was a one off and would be worth a lot more now.
My dad liked the Sterling so much he had four of them, one after the other. One of them was the hatchback version and I remember him being so impressed that if you had the wipers on and put the car into reverse, the rear wiper came on automatically. I was always more impressed by the individual electrically adjustable rear seats on the first two he owned.
My father had about 8 rovers, and liked everyone. His two 800 coupe were fantastic cars. Strong, reliable, smooth and quick. The leather interiors were absolutely beautiful.
My first car when I turned 18 in 2014 was a Rover 820Si probably one of the very few remaining in Denmark at that time. It had a lovely motor, a super pleasant ride and overall just a cool and unusual car. It had tonnes of electrical issues and tonnes of rust, 3/4 fenders were rusty enough to fail MOT and it was literally rusty all over.. And it did 6-7 km/l in city driving depending on the climate, so the 68 litres petrol tank emptied quickly for a 2.0 :) But I still miss driving it :(
In 1988 I got the chance to sit in a Sterling 825 at an auto show in Worcester MA USA and I loved that interior, the Connelly hides smell great. Just like other wishes, reality steps in and destroyes my dreams. I became the most unsuccessful person because of the way I was born and my dream of owning one became just a memory of the good days when I was early 20s and thought that maybe I would get lucky, I am 54 now and luck, what's that. Even if my ship comes in , you need to be lucky trying to find one in the states
The Fastback is one sexy and practical luxury car. It's such a shame Rover wasn't a more successful marque here in the US, because some of their designs are truly timeless and elegant. The Rover 800 and DS1 are particularly elegant and I would love to have a right-hand drive 800 myself!
I remember these as a child and the adverts promoting the Fastback version were particularly memorable. My father owned one as a secondhand purchase, and it really felt like a premium car. It was exceptionally spacious and a very refined drive. The coupe version is gorgeous, and a car I’d love to have on my driver now. What’s surprising is that you just don’t see any in the road anymore, given so many were built and right up to the late 90’s. The demise of Rover is a real tragedy. As this video shows the rot really set in during the 70s. While workers at Rover/BL were striking their counterparts in Germany were turning the likes of VW, Audi and BMW into the powerhouses that they are now. Such a sad tale. Nevertheless, a very informative film, and thank you very much!
The Rover 800 was a good car. I think the reason there aren't many about now is because they did used to rust once out of the six years corrosion warranty period. I remember going to a service managers seminar at Rover back in the day and the BL manager heading the course openly admitted that serious corrosion under certain conditions could set in at just over seven years. By contrast my 1998 Volvo V70 which I sold to a friend two years ago and now with 215,000 miles still looks as good as new no corrosion or blisters anywhere. To truly understand the Rover BL demise you have to go back to the sixties and BMH, the underfunding and mismanagement started there, I remember Lord Stokes saying of the first Japanese cars, rather arrogantly in my opinion ' they may be more reliable than our cars but the spares for ours are more readily available' as if it's ok to produce a less reliable car so long as there are loads of spares available to repair it. That attitude coupled with the industrial relations problems all through the seventies set the company on a downward spiral from which it would never recover which is a great shame because even the seventies cars were not bad cars it was largely poor quality control that gave them their bad reputation and the later cars from the Triumph acclaim on were really quite good but they were a little boring.
I had a 1988 Sterling 825, a company car. The car rode and handled well. I had a major issue with the brake lights shorting out. It took four service trips to find the problem which was debris in the high brake light causing a short in the electrical system. My other complaints were that the audio system was awful for a luxury car, very poor sound. While the seats were made of beautiful leather, the controls in the center console were installed backwards and upside down for the American market.
My dad had a Rover 800 Diesel Fastback, swift economical practical and comfortable with an electronic heating and ventilation system using pushbutton throughflow modes (face level ventilation / heating / bi-level heating and ventilation i.e warm feet and cool face / demisting and heating / pure demisting i.e screen and side vents with warm air to screen and side vents) and push button air conditioning with temperature / airflow / direction / fan speed display, great stereo, power steering, electric windows and heated front seats.
God I love this channel so much. Just came back to rewatch this one as I'd forgotten about it, and I've taken an unhealthy interest in executive Rovers. But it's no 850. Happy new year x
I had a fastback as a company car. I can honestly say it was the best car I had driven. It was only surpassed later on by the Volvo V70. The problem with the North American launch was that it was simultaneous with the UK launch. To launch a new car straight into the North American market was asking for trouble. They needed to wait for six months to iron out the teething problems.
had a rover sterling 2.7 leather seats automactic really nice car very comfortable .british raceing green .honda engine v6 .it had to go when damp got in the car still miss it
Great videos - love 'em! I used to have a Rover 827Si Fastback... the engine and gearbox were superb, but the bodywork - jeeez! I remember getting it flat out going up the M6 over Shap summit and speedo reading about 145mph - the engine didn't even sound strained.
145 on the M6, couldn't imagine that these days with all the inattentive drivers that would pull out...but sounds like it was a great car I wonder how many are left today.
@@leylandlynxvlog Amazing what you can find on the internet Mike. This is a list that shows how many remaining on the road - don't know how accurate it is. - www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=rover+827 The M6 over Shap is still pretty quiet, but wouldn't even chance doing that now - we live in different times.
Mike Mayaka one near me with the kv6 rover engine fastback sterling not a cat in hells chance that can do 145 or ever did. My uncle had a sterling kv6 r reg as his company car, he constantly moaned about how he missed his non bug eye scorpio 2.9 24v the cosworth fettled one. As a young boy early teen the scorpio def felt more urgent from the rear seats if he floored it up a slip road. But maybe there wasnt that much difference between them in the real world.
I used to own a 1997 820 saloon and wished i never sold it. Light steering, comfortable ride and supportive seats. I’d have another one tomorrow if i could.
I only had a 620i on 1st of August 1993, the first brand new car I had and it is still my most fondly remembered company car. Carried on the family line with Honda Accords for several years and although they were great it's the 600 which I remember most!
I live in California and have a 1987 Sterling 825 as a front lawn ornament. I bought it in 2015 and drove it for a few years but got tired of an array of problems. But being English I just can't let go of it. When working well it's lovely to drive and has the Honda V6, but the electrics ultimately let it down.
I really liked the Rover 800 but just wasn't confident enough to get one as I was hearing about reliability issues. I decided to go for the Rover 600. What a car that was. Honda powered. Never a problem. Had 3 in total. Stayed with Rover when the 75 came out and got the BMW powered diesel.
My father had two Sterling's- one of the first gen with the 2.7 litre V6 and the second gen. I too had an 800 - an 820SLi fastback Auto in Nightfire Red and Sandstone Beige interior. At the time it was a bit of a high point for the company, having successfully launched the 200/400 hatch and saloon, with even the revised Metro with the K Series engines fairly well regarded by the motoring journalists. Rover had managed to create a niche as an upmarket alternative to Ford and Vauxhall, with even talk that they could become a British BMW!
I had a 93' Legend for a few years, it was probably one of the best cars on the road at the time, I loved it! The V6 they used was one of the smoothest, most competent V6's ever made. Comfort was as good as any car made, and could hold it's own to today's cars. Just don't break it, because everything was expensive to fix :\
I remember seeing the Sterlings in the US in the later 80’s but not seeing many of them. Acura was new to the market but known to be owned by Honda which had a high reputation in the US.
My dad had a 1991 820i. A prefacelift fastback. It was a great car. Unfortunately the previous owner had ran it without any coolant and overheated it, and there was a visible crack in the cylinder head, which he first noticed immediately after buying it at auction in '95. No matter, it soldiered on for several years. It did well, lasting about 6 or 7 years on a cracked cylinder head. I don't know of any other cars that could do that. It was a shame, nothing ever went wrong with the rest of the car really, no quality problems at all. He came to regret scrapping it when the crack got worse and it lost compression, it was a vastly better car than the omega that replaced it. Should have just bought a new head.
Yeah a big saggy, but the curve to it was practical in that it helped to prevent exhaust gasses from entering the boot. The XJ Jaguar S1-S3 had the same feature, albeit more graceful.
The 827 sli sterling is a beast. My dad still has his. It's from 91. Funny thing about it is it drives very well....but..... British made so it's a lottery every time you push one of the 1200 bottoms. Some times they work, some times they dont. Randomly failing and then working again. But for a 30 year old car it is a nice place to sit and eat up the miles. Lovely motor. Also I have myself a Austin Princess 2200hls manual from 1977, that is a grate car aswell, especially because they forgot to pre rust mine, so no rust at all;)
I am American, and I remember when these cars arrived in the US. Even at the time I wondered how stupid somebody would have to be to choose the one made in Britain over the one made in Japan.
Kevin Barry hello,,the STERLING came to the USA, only because there was a strike in JAPAN, so those fit in for the ACURA LEDGEND,,,the ONLY difference was the suspension was slightly better than the ACURA, I Zonly had a, very early 2 dr COROLLA 4SPD MANUAL, & manual choke,,but those days wasaRECYCLED STEEL FROM OLD AMERICAN SHIPS & there was NO RUST PROOFING, it ROTTED IN 3 YEARS, INCLUDING ITS ROOF. NEVER BOUGHT ANOTHER NIPON CAR AGAIN, BUT I also DO NOT OWN CARS WITH THE FUEL FILLERS ON THE LEFT, Cheers from NJ, USA
Best car ever. I had a 91 827 Vitesse in tuxedo black that I bought for 600 bucks because the computer had died. Cost another grand to get it running, but what luxury, class, speed, handling... Lovely car.
A mate replaced his beloved XJS V12 with a Coupé version of one of these, it was always off the road busted, I suspect that was not a fault of Honda! Most people, with a modicum of knowledge though, were baffled as to why the relationship with Honda was jettisoned in favour of BMW, it seemed obvious that The Germans were after the Land Rover and Mini brands, whereas Honda had more trustworthy motives as the relationship was beneficial in both directions.
As I remember it British aerospace was the larger partner and sold to BMW behind the back of Honda. Honda were pissed and would not partner with BMW as they did not want to share Honda tech with BMW. Honda laid down an ultimatum to Honda to buy them out , sell to Honda or Honda would put their shares on the open market. BMW bought out Honda. Honda leaving was the final nail in the Rover coffin.
Rover/BL started to get things right with a range of cars and parts by this stage . I had a few Rovers in this period and they were all good. Although the 800 stupidly had a problem with the bendy dashboard. The 800 looked good as well, like the company had finally joined the real world (previous cars looked/were either outdated or weirdly futuristic).
I had a run of disastrous cars in the 90's - an SD1 2600 VDP with all of the cylinder gasket issues they were known for, an Escort with a duff gearbox, and a SAAB 900 that had a single carburetor that was horribly underpowered and had a squeak somewhere behind the headlining by my ear - so I needed something reliable and big enough for a new family. I gambled on a metallic green 820 in the local auction, and it turned out to be our family's saviour for the next few years. It was comfortable, capacious, and amazingly economical as well. The dream was always a Vitesse, though, at least until the 75 came along ...
I still have my Rover 820si lying tyres deflated waiting for a rebuild once i win the lottery lol Easily the most comfortable car I have ever driven although it handles like a whale on a skateboard and sucks fuel but she is my pride and joy rescued me on many occasions when other cars failed me!
I had gold Sterling 8 series. The interior was one of the most attractive interiors of the day, and was actually ahead of its time. They must have used an entire forest on the wood grain, paired with the leather interior made the interior astonishing.
Back in the 90s I had a couple of Mondeo 2 litre hatches and often drove the V6 version. When my company got in an 800 for trial I had it for the weekend and did quite a few miles. Althought the 800 was a well-appointed, comfortable car, the handling, cross wind stability etc could not rival the Mondeo, which is probably one of the most sure footed cars I have ever driven. My 2 litre Ghia X was a great car in every respect.
Ah yes... I had one of these in the mid 90's, an 87 model 820i after planting my Subaru in a ditch. It was actually comfortable, if a little loud and thirsty. To add insult to injury, it was registered in Belgium, so heavily taxed. Anyway, it trundled around Europe, rarely being washed (silver, great colour) for ooh... about 100 000 km then all the electrics died very, very suddenly. Little anecdote: on a trip home, my late grandmother threw away my keys. This is when I found out how easy it is to break into a Rover 800 and drive off simply with a slotted screwdriver.
I remember my.friend had a sterling way back in 92-93 and swore it was the greatest car to hit the roads since Henry Fords Model-T put Americain wheels. It seemed to be a nice car inside/out but he always had electrical gremlins(living in every British car)living in it. It all boils down to personal taste as beauty is truly in the eye(in this case it was blind) of the beholder.
I had a 1989 Rover 820E auto bought from auction with about 8000 miles on the clock. Previous owner was the Rover group management car plan. I sold it in 95 about 5 years after purchase in Aug 90. I was never more relieved to get shot of any car. A truly bottomless pit over the 50k miles I had it. On the plus side it was comfortable and drove pretty well. However at 13k it had a new alternator and a year into ownership two exhaust valves. They caused a breakdown in France on holiday. It was put down to using unleaded fuel but after adjustments had been made . At the end of 93 it had a new starter motor and early 94 another alternator. In 95 the cam belt went around 5k miles past the renewal mileage. That cost just under £1k to repair including busted valves and pistons. And all the while being properly serviced in accordance with guidelines. I have been driving 55 years and never replaced an alternator,starter or had a cam belt go on any other car. Audi specialist told me that on my v6 2,5 diesel they had never seen a cam belt go! Wild horses would not have made be buy another Rover, although the older ones in the 50’s and 60’s I loved the look of. Had I had the Honda engine I might have been luckier. Previously I had two minis and a maxi and whilst they had good features neither was free from silly flaws caused by rotten engineering . Present days cars built by robots from better material and with fuel injection are so much more reliable in every way. Who for instance buys a battery very often or an exhaust pipe?
VERY FUNNY START, ESPECIALLY THE FLYING H 😂😂😂 BEST CAR HISTORIE CHANNEL AND SO EASY TO UNDERSTAND, HAVE DANISH YEARBOOK FROM 1967-2024 BUT U SHOW MODELS I HAVE NEVER SEEN 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼THANK U. LOVE FROM DENMARK🇩🇰
I had a few of these and I liked them all, 820i, 827SLi manual (brutal) , 825i older but smoother, and then second series 827 written off in a head on but did very well) and 827 sterling
I had a face-lift 820SLi auto in metallic BRG with single colour grey interior, the T series engine and loved it. I took it on a 4000 mile 2 week trek around Italy, Monaco and south of France, including crossing France in a day without touching the autoroute (fabulous journey) and it was perfect. Always arrived feeling fresh and relaxed. I missed out in the dodgy dash fit so count myself lucky but it was reliable, comfortable and refined. The front and rear suspension seemed mismatched though with the front hitting the stops without too much provocation, the back seeming more planted. Well equipped with climate, full electrics, sunroof, abs and real wood. I had it from 40 to 80k and only wish I'd bought a turbo or even the coupe which I always thought was an elegant car. Just so few around now in decent shape especially the dashboards which always seem warped, and always disliked the two tone piping on many interiors.. Changed it for a 2L Carlton CD auto, then a 2.5 Omega CDX, another much missed, under rated and under represented cruiser.
I bought either an 800 or Sterling in 2004, I actually can't remember which one it was. Lol. I hated it's very sloppy cornering but side of that it was fine by me. Great video. Thanks.
I bought a new Sterling in 88. I loved the car. Much preferable to BMW or Mercedes and Volvo quality seemed down at the time. The problem I had with the car was at the dealership. I took it in for its first regular maintenance and they kept it for 2 weeks. The car was only a few months old but they replaced both front seats, the radiator, and the wood inlay paneling among other things. Without asking me first by the way. The dealer was totally ripping off the factory as all of it was factory warranty work. None of the work was necessary. Given the small volume of these cars sold in America no wonder they left.
After leaving British Leyland I moved to the US in the early Eighties. I remember when the "Sterling" was introduced in America. It was an almost immediate flop. One year it was rated number 26 in new car rating order. The only vehicle below was the Yugo at 26 - a fraction of the price of the Sterling. I remember a comment in a review at the time that although this was supposed to be a luxury sedan. The hood (bonnet) release lever was on the extreme right hand side of the dash, well out of reach of LHD operators. I always remember a bumper sticker on a Sterling that read: "All Parts Falling Off This Car are Made From The Finest British Workmanship". How sad and very embarrassing.
I had a rover 825 company car following from having a VOLVO 850. I suffered from driver's bum ache after the first 50 miles. I couldn't wait for the magic 70,000 miles to come round. That was the worst year driving a company car that I had, a string of breakdowns and getting locked out of the car amongst some of the horrors. Once I was back in a Volvo comfort, reliability and contentment returned.
I had an 827 Sterling Coupe. A superb car, had it for 13 years, never let me down. Eventually, the tin worm won. Sad day.
I now have a CDTI 75, again, it's a real lovely car. I guess I'm a Rover nut.
Great video, brings back fond memories, I was one of the fourteen Master Sterling Technicians in the U.S. When they pulled out of the U.S. market the president of Rover Group flew to all the dealerships and thanked us personally. Some of the best people I have ever worked with. A shout out to any of you guys from back in the day!
I had a Sterling in the US. Drove out of the dealership as they closed. Dashboard electrics dead. Died at a petrol station next day. Towed to dealer. They told me they needed a Sterling technician to visit to repair the car. 10 days later I picked it up, drove about 40 miles. Stopped in a car park. Turned the engine off. Realised straight away that the Sterling would not restart again. Towed to another dealer. They told me they needed a Sterling technician to visit to repair the car. They had the car for about 3 weeks. They could not fix it. I was refunded under lemon law. In 6 weeks the Sterling was in my possession for just 3 days. The Sterling was a Cr-P Car.
A terrible advertisement for Great Britain in the USA.
My 827 Vitesse was (and actually stil is) the best car I’ve ever owned. Lovely leather Recaro seats, smooth V6 with masses of power and a ride that was quiet, even on the German autobahn. The Champagne colour and light interior gave it a luxurious feeling, many passengers were impressed. I miss him/her...
Yes, and second-hand they could be bought for next to nothing - nobody wanted them because or Rovers notorious reputation for building lemons... which by this time was completely unjustified!
Honda v6 was great.
@@phuketexplorer as a young boy (1974/1975) I had a BL-garage on my way to school. And always on the way back I used to go there, sit in the new models in the showroom or talked to the mechanics in the garage. And I remember one of them saying that the products were great, but the strikes would finally kill the industry. I didn’t believe him, because I loved all of the cars, so did many other Dutchman, and I believed that this would save them. Unfortunately he was right at the end. Such a damned shame…
@@harm7602vicount-Visconti During the mid 80's to late 90's, I had a good friend who was a manager in the Rover CAD office at Solihull. He was paid an annual salary of around £55K, for basically doing next to nothing! Just one of the reasons they ran out of money. 🙄
@@phuketexplorer goes to show; nothing has really changed in business…
I found a P plate Rover 800 with a 2 Liter engine up for sale at a scrapyardfor £250 in 2006. Car was in mint condition (the owner was to old to drive). I bought the car, drove away and had it for two years with no issues at all. It was gold with grey cloth upholstery and run ASA a clock. Never failed and a great road car. Eventually sold it for £50 and the new owner wrecked it.
Thank you for your great videos. 👍
My parents had the 820Ti, burgundy red with black leather Recaro sits. It was trully a fast and yet comfortable car. We all remember our 800 with nostalgia.🤩
Partnering with Honda was the best part of the car.
800 sadly forgotten but was actually a good car, never had any problems with them back in the day.
i just bought a 1989 sterling 827 sli 5-speed with 249k miles and couldn't be happier.
I had one, really loved it. Just realize he isn't joking about the "quality" issues. The engine/suspension is possibly the only good parts of these cars.
That engine is awesome and bulletproof
As long as you don’t have to rely on it to get you anywhere I guess.
I had a red 2.0 litre Rover 820 Sterling hatch back I never had any problems with it . The car was very stylish and comfortable for the day . I only had a few repairs done to it . The Rover had very good back seat space for me and the Mrs .
Ooohhh.
Worked on many Rover 827's that the Met Police were running as Traffic and Armed Response vehicles, along with heavily armored versions and a few 820i models that were used for driving big nobs around. That 2.7 Honda engine was an absolute gem., it took such a hammering, often from stone cold with the ARV's yet it never failed, the same can't be said for the Auto boxes and the body work, but they were lovely cars to drive and work on, and I've fond memories of them.
Still using my 89 Sterling 827 Sli on a regular basis. The tin worm is starting but not serious for a 32 year old car. It is still fun to drive ( daily driver is a Focus ST) and doesn't worry me when getting dunked in the Hudson River, launching jet skis.
I bet the rover turns more heads than the focus.
I delivered a new one to Brick Lane when they first came out. Two noticeable things were the wipers getting confused when you changed speed on them and not knowing which way to turn and the headlight washer jets stayed on when you put the lights on. Something like 6 miles on the clock when I started the journey. I thought they were awful at the time. A brittle stretched Montego with absolutely no design features at all - I loved the SDI, but they did seem to get better after the facelift - and that coupe 😄
Such a handsome, unassuming yet very capable car.
My 1993 Rover 800 was one of the nicest driving executive card I drove. Much nicer than the subsequent 1998 Mercedes E Class that drove like a tank with horrible steering. I took the River to 73,000 and it was extremely reliable. Only failure was a replacement coil.
Some old couple still drive an r reg midnight blue sterling fastback. Its 2020 they got it while I was still at secondary school. Its not rusting visibly either. They live in a nice 500k house so are not poor. Makes me feel sort of nostalgic looking at it cos my uncle had a sterling saloon kv6 in the late 90s company car. It felt so normal almost modern to travel in then but now seeing this old thing in motion it looks so regal wafting to crayford sainsburys. The wheels are laughably small.
CO2 is
Having worked on these as an engineer, at the Cowley plant, for a supplier of many of the components I do remeber very fondly seeing the very advanced for the time production methods used particulalry of note was the first time laser guided robots where used to apply the screen bonding and then to install both the front and rear screens which was fascinating to watch. The specification of the Honda Legend suspension components was higher than the rover with design tweeks to make it better but they where both great cars for the time.
I think rover was very advanced for their time, the K series engine was well head of the time.
@@procta2343 The K series was a heap of crap.
Cylinder heads leaking in the showroom. Ones that did not leak in the showroom came with a warranty. Guaranteed for the head to definitely leak. They leaked in an unusual fashion. Most engines if the head gasket blows water leaks into the oil. In the K series it was common for oil to leak into the water.and destroy heater cores and pipes.
The K series destroyed Rover as mechanics told customers not to touch them with a barge pole.
I've had 7 in total and still own 2 of them. One of them has nearly 200000 miles on it and has been completely dependable. The only reason I don't use it every day is I have a Rover 75 tourer (£250 6 years ago and now 223000 miles, with equal dependability) I do still take it on long trips though! All of my Rover 800s have been excellent!.
I remember a Rover 75 tourer going through an auction, no one bided on it, the auctioneer said any offers then? and some one shouted £100 quid, car sold for £150 quid in the end, Me and my mate said that's a lot of car for little money there, so some one got a bargain there.
Back in the time I was a big fan of limousines. The Rover 800 was one of my favorites. I thought it was a gorgeous car.
Had a Sterling in the US. The car had terrible electrics but was built like a tank. My son was Tboned at 60 mph and only got a broken finger. The other guy didn’t fair so well. Thanks for the post.
This was lucky, since I saw a picture of the Honda LEGEND version, where the roof was buckled, in just a 30mph crash! I expect it all depended what the angle of the crash was!
*fare
I had two 800 SLi's here in the UK, but didn't realise they were available in the UK
At 19 I was serving as a young Royal Marine in Plymouth in 1990 and I had my eye on an E reg Rover 820i saloon. I’m 99% sure it was Vospers at Marsh Mills. Despite my pipe dreams it wasn’t to be. The insurance was double the value of the car ha ha. I was however more than happy with my Austin Montego red with grey bottom trim. D710 MUH. It got me from Plymouth to Northumberland many a weekend without a hick. Unfortunately it was the structure of the car that let it down. I’m sure the engine had plenty of life in it despite it having 130, 000 miles. Great videos, keep them coming 👍😃
Another great grandfather around the fire moment.
All our jokes aside sir. This is a very good story of the NSX. Excited to see more of your videos.
As an American, I’ve always had a weird fascination with this era of British cars. They’ve never had a great reputation here in NA, but the first time I got to sit in a Sterling Fastback when I was a young man working at a service garage in the 90s, I was blown away at how beautiful the interior was, and how stylish and futuristic the car looked.
I may gird my wallet’s loins and buy a nice example of one someday 😂
I own a Rover P5B. Rover have certainly always been a good company by my words!
Real enjoyed this. My father had a Sterling 2.5 then a lovely black 800 2.7 saloon. Then an 800 coupe in a beautiful dark red metallic.. He did high mileages in all of them with his job, and they served him well. Still have lovely memories as a child in these cars.
Great video, thanks. My father had an '88 Sterling with the Honda 2.7 which eventually died at 198k due to rust more than anything else. This probably led me to buy a four year old '96 Sterling with the 2.5 KV6 when I was 26. It behaved itself for about 3 years and then finally cooked it heads, it was well over 100k by then though. I nearly bought a "new" 18 month old unregistered 75 but Rover had gone bust by then and I didn't take the chance.
If you really have the bug, late model (2016!) Roewer 75's can be exported from China 😉
@@mor4y "Roewer" -are you Chinese?
@@kenlee-97 that's what the Chinese version is called if you're googling them....
@@mor4y It’s Roewe or 荣威 in Chinese.
I owned a 827 Stirling, which had been extended by a Birmingham Coach Builder by approximately half a metre and rebadged Vanden Plas. It’s first owner after conversion was Rover Group themselves. I was lucky enough to acquire photos and copy of various drawings, invoices etc. I bought the car for £3,000 and sold it 5 years later for £7,500. I had no mechanical issues, except a new exhaust, which had to be modified. The only bodywork problems where the roof having to be refilled and painted due to it flexing because of the extra length.
I wished I kept it as it was a one off and would be worth a lot more now.
My dad liked the Sterling so much he had four of them, one after the other. One of them was the hatchback version and I remember him being so impressed that if you had the wipers on and put the car into reverse, the rear wiper came on automatically. I was always more impressed by the individual electrically adjustable rear seats on the first two he owned.
My father had about 8 rovers, and liked everyone. His two 800 coupe were fantastic cars. Strong, reliable, smooth and quick. The leather interiors were absolutely beautiful.
My first car when I turned 18 in 2014 was a Rover 820Si probably one of the very few remaining in Denmark at that time. It had a lovely motor, a super pleasant ride and overall just a cool and unusual car. It had tonnes of electrical issues and tonnes of rust, 3/4 fenders were rusty enough to fail MOT and it was literally rusty all over.. And it did 6-7 km/l in city driving depending on the climate, so the 68 litres petrol tank emptied quickly for a 2.0 :) But I still miss driving it :(
'Literally rusting'? Not metaphorically rusting?
In 1988 I got the chance to sit in a Sterling 825 at an auto show in Worcester MA USA and I loved that interior, the Connelly hides smell great. Just like other wishes, reality steps in and destroyes my dreams. I became the most unsuccessful person because of the way I was born and my dream of owning one became just a memory of the good days when I was early 20s and thought that maybe I would get lucky, I am 54 now and luck, what's that. Even if my ship comes in , you need to be lucky trying to find one in the states
The Fastback is one sexy and practical luxury car. It's such a shame Rover wasn't a more successful marque here in the US, because some of their designs are truly timeless and elegant. The Rover 800 and DS1 are particularly elegant and I would love to have a right-hand drive 800 myself!
I remember these as a child and the adverts promoting the Fastback version were particularly memorable. My father owned one as a secondhand purchase, and it really felt like a premium car. It was exceptionally spacious and a very refined drive. The coupe version is gorgeous, and a car I’d love to have on my driver now. What’s surprising is that you just don’t see any in the road anymore, given so many were built and right up to the late 90’s. The demise of Rover is a real tragedy. As this video shows the rot really set in during the 70s. While workers at Rover/BL were striking their counterparts in Germany were turning the likes of VW, Audi and BMW into the powerhouses that they are now. Such a sad tale. Nevertheless, a very informative film, and thank you very much!
The Rover 800 was a good car. I think the reason there aren't many about now is because they did used to rust once out of the six years corrosion warranty period. I remember going to a service managers seminar at Rover back in the day and the BL manager heading the course openly admitted that serious corrosion under certain conditions could set in at just over seven years. By contrast my 1998 Volvo V70 which I sold to a friend two years ago and now with 215,000 miles still looks as good as new no corrosion or blisters anywhere. To truly understand the Rover BL demise you have to go back to the sixties and BMH, the underfunding and mismanagement started there, I remember Lord Stokes saying of the first Japanese cars, rather arrogantly in my opinion ' they may be more reliable than our cars but the spares for ours are more readily available' as if it's ok to produce a less reliable car so long as there are loads of spares available to repair it. That attitude coupled with the industrial relations problems all through the seventies set the company on a downward spiral from which it would never recover which is a great shame because even the seventies cars were not bad cars it was largely poor quality control that gave them their bad reputation and the later cars from the Triumph acclaim on were really quite good but they were a little boring.
I had a 1988 Sterling 825, a company car. The car rode and handled well. I had a major issue with the brake lights shorting out. It took four service trips to find the problem which was debris in the high brake light causing a short in the electrical system. My other complaints were that the audio system was awful for a luxury car, very poor sound. While the seats were made of beautiful leather, the controls in the center console were installed backwards and upside down for the American market.
My dad had a Rover 800 Diesel Fastback, swift economical practical and comfortable with an electronic heating and ventilation system using pushbutton throughflow modes (face level ventilation / heating / bi-level heating and ventilation i.e warm feet and cool face / demisting and heating / pure demisting i.e screen and side vents with warm air to screen and side vents) and push button air conditioning with temperature / airflow / direction / fan speed display, great stereo, power steering, electric windows and heated front seats.
God I love this channel so much. Just came back to rewatch this one as I'd forgotten about it, and I've taken an unhealthy interest in executive Rovers. But it's no 850. Happy new year x
as an American i loved my sterling 825sl and my sterling 827sl i only wish i could have gotten my hands on the newer coupe
Had a 820, huge car inside even compared to modern s class or 7 series, these where big inside.
So I'm guessing not a single body panel inside or outside was shared with the Honda?- the Honda was so small inside.
I had an old 820 Sterling, and loved it. Good memories. :-)
My first car was a Rover 820 Si 98' probably one of the last around in Denmark at the time, loved that car for what it was
I had a 1988 Sterling 825SL, lovely car. Beautiful interior and it was actually pretty reliable.
I had an 827si. Best car I ever owned and previously I'd had a Scirocco.
This is such a great channel!
Had a Sterling as a company car in New York. My wife still talks about it. My father had the Rover P5 and the Sterling was jut as good.
..Rover P5 , probably the best looking Rover ever
I had a fastback as a company car. I can honestly say it was the best car I had driven. It was only surpassed later on by the Volvo V70.
The problem with the North American launch was that it was simultaneous with the UK launch. To launch a new car straight into the North American market was asking for trouble. They needed to wait for six months to iron out the teething problems.
had one ('93 820 si) as my first car, loved it no matter all the problems.
This video deserves more views. Very underappreciated.
Rover couldn't go wrong with Honda. Best cars on the road.
shame Rover was bought out by bmw, as i do suspect things went from bad to worse, and bmw just wanted land rovers tec.
@@procta2343yep, that and the mini. ..and to kill a competitor..
had a rover sterling 2.7 leather seats automactic really nice car very comfortable .british raceing green .honda engine v6 .it had to go when damp got in the car still miss it
Great videos - love 'em! I used to have a Rover 827Si Fastback... the engine and gearbox were superb, but the bodywork - jeeez! I remember getting it flat out going up the M6 over Shap summit and speedo reading about 145mph - the engine didn't even sound strained.
145 on the M6, couldn't imagine that these days with all the inattentive drivers that would pull out...but sounds like it was a great car I wonder how many are left today.
@@leylandlynxvlog Amazing what you can find on the internet Mike. This is a list that shows how many remaining on the road - don't know how accurate it is. - www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=rover+827
The M6 over Shap is still pretty quiet, but wouldn't even chance doing that now - we live in different times.
Mike Mayaka one near me with the kv6 rover engine fastback sterling not a cat in hells chance that can do 145 or ever did. My uncle had a sterling kv6 r reg as his company car, he constantly moaned about how he missed his non bug eye scorpio 2.9 24v the cosworth fettled one. As a young boy early teen the scorpio def felt more urgent from the rear seats if he floored it up a slip road. But maybe there wasnt that much difference between them in the real world.
I used to own a 1997 820 saloon and wished i never sold it. Light steering, comfortable ride and supportive seats. I’d have another one tomorrow if i could.
It was nice to hear that British carmakers' management and assembly-line workers attained a functional level of harmony, eventually. I'm glad. :-)
Would love to see you do a story on rover 600.we used to have a rover 600 ti. Loved that car
Lovely car. Always wanted one.
Quick car the ti remember them nice lookin car to boot
@Gary Simpson - that doesn't make sense.
I only had a 620i on 1st of August 1993, the first brand new car I had and it is still my most fondly remembered company car. Carried on the family line with Honda Accords for several years and although they were great it's the 600 which I remember most!
I live in California and have a 1987 Sterling 825 as a front lawn ornament. I bought it in 2015 and drove it for a few years but got tired of an array of problems.
But being English I just can't let go of it.
When working well it's lovely to drive and has the Honda V6, but the electrics ultimately let it down.
..rare beast now
i loved my sterling 825 sl. i wished the updated version and the coupe would of made it to the u.s.
I really liked the Rover 800 but just wasn't confident enough to get one as I was hearing about reliability issues. I decided to go for the Rover 600. What a car that was. Honda powered. Never a problem. Had 3 in total. Stayed with Rover when the 75 came out and got the BMW powered diesel.
I currently own a Rover 820 Vitesse Turbo fantastic car and turns heads everywhere I drive it!
My father had two Sterling's- one of the first gen with the 2.7 litre V6 and the second gen. I too had an 800 - an 820SLi fastback Auto in Nightfire Red and Sandstone Beige interior. At the time it was a bit of a high point for the company, having successfully launched the 200/400 hatch and saloon, with even the revised Metro with the K Series engines fairly well regarded by the motoring journalists. Rover had managed to create a niche as an upmarket alternative to Ford and Vauxhall, with even talk that they could become a British BMW!
I had a 93' Legend for a few years, it was probably one of the best cars on the road at the time, I loved it! The V6 they used was one of the smoothest, most competent V6's ever made. Comfort was as good as any car made, and could hold it's own to today's cars. Just don't break it, because everything was expensive to fix :\
I remember seeing the Sterlings in the US in the later 80’s but not seeing many of them. Acura was new to the market but known to be owned by Honda which had a high reputation in the US.
My dad had a 1991 820i. A prefacelift fastback. It was a great car. Unfortunately the previous owner had ran it without any coolant and overheated it, and there was a visible crack in the cylinder head, which he first noticed immediately after buying it at auction in '95. No matter, it soldiered on for several years. It did well, lasting about 6 or 7 years on a cracked cylinder head. I don't know of any other cars that could do that.
It was a shame, nothing ever went wrong with the rest of the car really, no quality problems at all. He came to regret scrapping it when the crack got worse and it lost compression, it was a vastly better car than the omega that replaced it. Should have just bought a new head.
That exhaust on the blue SD1 is ridiculous!!
Yeah a big saggy, but the curve to it was practical in that it helped to prevent exhaust gasses from entering the boot. The XJ Jaguar S1-S3 had the same feature, albeit more graceful.
The 827 sli sterling is a beast. My dad still has his. It's from 91. Funny thing about it is it drives very well....but..... British made so it's a lottery every time you push one of the 1200 bottoms. Some times they work, some times they dont. Randomly failing and then working again. But for a 30 year old car it is a nice place to sit and eat up the miles. Lovely motor.
Also I have myself a Austin Princess 2200hls manual from 1977, that is a grate car aswell, especially because they forgot to pre rust mine, so no rust at all;)
I am American, and I remember when these cars arrived in the US. Even at the time I wondered how stupid somebody would have to be to choose the one made in Britain over the one made in Japan.
Kevin Barry hello,,the STERLING came to the USA, only because there was a strike in JAPAN, so those fit in for the ACURA LEDGEND,,,the ONLY difference was the suspension was slightly better than the ACURA, I Zonly had a, very early 2 dr COROLLA 4SPD MANUAL, & manual choke,,but those days wasaRECYCLED STEEL FROM OLD AMERICAN SHIPS & there was NO RUST PROOFING, it ROTTED IN 3 YEARS, INCLUDING ITS ROOF. NEVER BOUGHT ANOTHER NIPON CAR AGAIN, BUT I also DO NOT OWN CARS WITH THE FUEL FILLERS ON THE LEFT, Cheers from NJ, USA
@@flybyairplane3528
Built from ship wrecks, love it , lol 🤣
Thanks for your great videos
and good luck with the new channel
Best car ever. I had a 91 827 Vitesse in tuxedo black that I bought for 600 bucks because the computer had died. Cost another grand to get it running, but what luxury, class, speed, handling... Lovely car.
Rover 825 was my 1st car.... And I love it. I did over 3000miles in euro trip in just 2 weeks.
The SD-1 will always be my favorite!
A mate replaced his beloved XJS V12 with a Coupé version of one of these, it was always off the road busted, I suspect that was not a fault of Honda!
Most people, with a modicum of knowledge though, were baffled as to why the relationship with Honda was jettisoned in favour of BMW, it seemed obvious that The Germans were after the Land Rover and Mini brands, whereas Honda had more trustworthy motives as the relationship was beneficial in both directions.
As I remember it British aerospace was the larger partner and sold to BMW behind the back of Honda. Honda were pissed and would not partner with BMW as they did not want to share Honda tech with BMW.
Honda laid down an ultimatum to Honda to buy them out , sell to Honda or Honda would put their shares on the open market.
BMW bought out Honda. Honda leaving was the final nail in the Rover coffin.
Rover/BL started to get things right with a range of cars and parts by this stage . I had a few Rovers in this period and they were all good. Although the 800 stupidly had a problem with the bendy dashboard. The 800 looked good as well, like the company had finally joined the real world (previous cars looked/were either outdated or weirdly futuristic).
Dash lift is easily rectified, at least it doesn’t crack like some dash coverings.
I had a run of disastrous cars in the 90's - an SD1 2600 VDP with all of the cylinder gasket issues they were known for, an Escort with a duff gearbox, and a SAAB 900 that had a single carburetor that was horribly underpowered and had a squeak somewhere behind the headlining by my ear - so I needed something reliable and big enough for a new family. I gambled on a metallic green 820 in the local auction, and it turned out to be our family's saviour for the next few years. It was comfortable, capacious, and amazingly economical as well. The dream was always a Vitesse, though, at least until the 75 came along ...
I have driven rover 800s lovely cars I especially liked the facelift chrome grill
I still have my Rover 820si lying tyres deflated waiting for a rebuild once i win the lottery lol
Easily the most comfortable car I have ever driven although it handles like a whale on a skateboard and sucks fuel but she is my pride and joy rescued me on many occasions when other cars failed me!
Garry Gemmell Lucky you! Can’t be many of these left. I certainly haven’t seen one on the road for years.
I had gold Sterling 8 series. The interior was one of the most attractive interiors of the day, and was actually ahead of its time. They must have used an entire forest on the wood grain, paired with the leather interior made the interior astonishing.
A green hatchback rover is usually parked near my house I always stop and look to it
BUY IT!
@@nygelmiller5293 I did this because the brand fascinated me
The video with Harrison Ford is actually the next model Honda legend.
best car I owned the 820si was superb, but the Sterling sounded like pure pleasure
Back in the 90s I had a couple of Mondeo 2 litre hatches and often drove the V6 version. When my company got in an 800 for trial I had it for the weekend and did quite a few miles. Althought the 800 was a well-appointed, comfortable car, the handling, cross wind stability etc could not rival the Mondeo, which is probably one of the most sure footed cars I have ever driven. My 2 litre Ghia X was a great car in every respect.
My dad had a top spec Rover Sterling with full body kit. It was a nightmare at a McDonalds drive thru😀but damn it was quick
Nothing kills a creative mind faster than an accountant.
Or indeed anything. Bean counters kill everything.
had the 820si loved it
I had one too but handling a bit iffy at high speed a bit too long
Ah yes... I had one of these in the mid 90's, an 87 model 820i after planting my Subaru in a ditch.
It was actually comfortable, if a little loud and thirsty. To add insult to injury, it was registered in Belgium, so heavily taxed.
Anyway, it trundled around Europe, rarely being washed (silver, great colour) for ooh... about 100 000 km then all the electrics died very, very suddenly.
Little anecdote: on a trip home, my late grandmother threw away my keys. This is when I found out how easy it is to break into a Rover 800 and drive off simply with a slotted screwdriver.
Had a Sterling an outstanding car!!
I remember my.friend had a sterling way back in 92-93 and swore it was the greatest car to hit the roads since Henry Fords Model-T put Americain wheels. It seemed to be a nice car inside/out but he always had electrical gremlins(living in every British car)living in it. It all boils down to personal taste as beauty is truly in the eye(in this case it was blind) of the beholder.
I had a 1989 Rover 820E auto bought from auction with about 8000 miles on the clock. Previous owner was the Rover group management car plan. I sold it in 95 about 5 years after purchase in Aug 90. I was never more relieved to get shot of any car. A truly bottomless pit over the 50k miles I had it. On the plus side it was comfortable and drove pretty well. However at 13k it had a new alternator and a year into ownership two exhaust valves. They caused a breakdown in France on holiday. It was put down to using unleaded fuel but after adjustments had been made . At the end of 93 it had a new starter motor and early 94 another alternator. In 95 the cam belt went around 5k miles past the renewal mileage. That cost just under £1k to repair including busted valves and pistons. And all the while being properly serviced in accordance with guidelines. I have been driving 55 years and never replaced an alternator,starter or had a cam belt go on any other car. Audi specialist told me that on my v6 2,5 diesel they had never seen a cam belt go! Wild horses would not have made be buy another Rover, although the older ones in the 50’s and 60’s I loved the look of. Had I had the Honda engine I might have been luckier. Previously I had two minis and a maxi and whilst they had good features neither was free from silly flaws caused by rotten engineering . Present days cars built by robots from better material and with fuel injection are so much more reliable in every way. Who for instance buys a battery very often or an exhaust pipe?
VERY FUNNY START, ESPECIALLY THE FLYING H 😂😂😂 BEST CAR HISTORIE CHANNEL AND SO EASY TO UNDERSTAND, HAVE DANISH YEARBOOK FROM 1967-2024 BUT U SHOW MODELS I HAVE NEVER SEEN 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼THANK U. LOVE FROM DENMARK🇩🇰
I really wish Honda rover made more cars together I actually really liked there designs
Me too
I had a few of these and I liked them all, 820i, 827SLi manual (brutal) , 825i older but smoother, and then second series 827 written off in a head on but did very well) and 827 sterling
Worked on the 800 line Cowley Oxford late 80’’s happy days
I had a face-lift 820SLi auto in metallic BRG with single colour grey interior, the T series engine and loved it. I took it on a 4000 mile 2 week trek around Italy, Monaco and south of France, including crossing France in a day without touching the autoroute (fabulous journey) and it was perfect. Always arrived feeling fresh and relaxed. I missed out in the dodgy dash fit so count myself lucky but it was reliable, comfortable and refined. The front and rear suspension seemed mismatched though with the front hitting the stops without too much provocation, the back seeming more planted. Well equipped with climate, full electrics, sunroof, abs and real wood. I had it from 40 to 80k and only wish I'd bought a turbo or even the coupe which I always thought was an elegant car. Just so few around now in decent shape especially the dashboards which always seem warped, and always disliked the two tone piping on many interiors.. Changed it for a 2L Carlton CD auto, then a 2.5 Omega CDX, another much missed, under rated and under represented cruiser.
In the 90s I had a legend coupe everyone thought it looked fantastic two tone red over gray very few sold in the UK loved it
That model Legend Coupe is one of the best-looking Hondas ever, really squat.
had a rover sd1 from 78 to 92
I've long thought owning a Sterling would be cool. I might have a bias though.
I bought either an 800 or Sterling in 2004, I actually can't remember which one it was. Lol. I hated it's very sloppy cornering but side of that it was fine by me. Great video. Thanks.
Α lady in my neighbourhood drives one of these,it was the first rover i've ever seen and thus how i learned the brand
Thanks good channel Richard
It looks amazing in the thumbnail. Low, somewhat muscly and modern
I bought a new Sterling in 88. I loved the car. Much preferable to BMW or Mercedes and Volvo quality seemed down at the time. The problem I had with the car was at the dealership. I took it in for its first regular maintenance and they kept it for 2 weeks. The car was only a few months old but they replaced both front seats, the radiator, and the wood inlay paneling among other things. Without asking me first by the way. The dealer was totally ripping off the factory as all of it was factory warranty work. None of the work was necessary. Given the small volume of these cars sold in America no wonder they left.
my dad had a used Rover/Sterling 825SL for a while in the early 90s but it had issues with the electronics etc.
We had a ‘90 Legend in the mid-nineties. We still talk about how good that car drove..too bad it was stolen, we may still have it to this day.
Yet another good story, please keep up the work!
After leaving British Leyland I moved to the US in the early Eighties. I remember when the "Sterling" was introduced in America. It was an almost immediate flop. One year it was rated number 26 in new car rating order. The only vehicle below was the Yugo at 26 - a fraction of the price of the Sterling. I remember a comment in a review at the time that although this was supposed to be a luxury sedan. The hood (bonnet) release lever was on the extreme right hand side of the dash, well out of reach of LHD operators.
I always remember a bumper sticker on a Sterling that read: "All Parts Falling Off This Car are Made From The Finest British Workmanship". How sad and very embarrassing.
My Jags have their bonnet release on the left - bloody irritating in a UK car.
at least the yugo had the politeness of getting you to your location and then fall apart.
I had a rover 825 company car following from having a VOLVO 850. I suffered from driver's bum ache after the first 50 miles. I couldn't wait for the magic 70,000 miles to come round. That was the worst year driving a company car that I had, a string of breakdowns and getting locked out of the car amongst some of the horrors. Once I was back in a Volvo comfort, reliability and contentment returned.