Stretched Rover 800

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Stretched1
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Stretched Rover 800

Post by Stretched1 » Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:51 am

I buy and sell old (1990s) stretched European Limos (not the silly Amercian ones) to Germans! Usually ex funeral Vauxhall Omegas, Ford Granada/Scorpios plus the odd Volvo and Merc. I have until now, avoided stretched Rovers mainly because my target audience (i.e. the Germans) don't really go for Rovers in a big way, preferring German built things like the Ford Granadas, Opel Omegas and Messerschmit Me109's.

A couple of weeks ago I had to make an unplanned trip to GB and as I always drive a car back with me I asked my most regular supplier what he had available. On such short notice all he had was a 1997 R-Reg Rover Regency, which is another name for a 6 door Rover 800, stretched by about 3ft by a company called MacNeillie of Walsall, with an extra row of foldable seats and an electric divider behind the driver. So I nabbed it. It has the KV6 2.5l engine despite the fact that it says 827 on the log book.

I drove it back to Germany a couple of weeks ago and will probably use it as my main car for a while. So far so good, although it does sometimes like to cut out and nearly cut out (lose revs and want to cut out until you give it some welly) when the fuel level is low. It also sometimes takes a while to start up, especially from cold. Perhaps these are common 800 things?

I could do the simple thing and simply sell it as it is and let the registration in Germany be someone else's problem, as registering these odd cars here is incredibly difficult to do as they like to know the metal tolerances/thickness of the stretched bit and would prefer to do a crash test first, which isn't really an option when you only have one! But, instead I've gone a bit mental and have decided to get it registered here myself. To cut a long story short, I couldn't find both LHD headlights so have now bought a complete car (LHD Rover 827 Coupe) to use for parts etc. I'm off to collect the coupe from near Dortmund on Friday. I'm probably mad enough to actually consider converting the RHD limo to LHD which would probably make in the only LHD Rover 800 limo in the world.

Even with a German MOT and German papers, no one is going to bloody want the thing and I'll probably end up driving it back to GB anyway!

I'll add some pictures soon.
My name is Chris.
Rovers: 97 Rover 825 stretched Limo by MacNeillie and a 95 LHD Rover 827 Couple. That's the long and short of it.
Others: LHD 82 Jaguar Sovereign, LHD 90 Range Rover, RHD 94 Ford Dorchester (long Granada), LHD 94 German Police Granada.

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by rickt500 » Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:34 am

All I'll say is, watch that KV6..... you might want to hang onto the 827 engine from the coupe.
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by threelitre » Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:47 am

Hi Chris and welcome!

Quite an odd hobby - but what can I say as a German not going anywhere near German car makes ;)

Am I right to think that a LHD conversion would mean to weld in the bulkhead from the Coupe? I know that the Rover 200s from this era have asymetric bulkhead panels, so a conversion as in the old days is nearly impossible. It looks as if the white front indicators of my Innocenti are a really minor problem when it comes to registering it compared to your task...

Regards,

Alexander
More cars then sense.... :)

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Stretched1
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Stretched1 » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:04 pm

threelitre wrote:Hi Chris and welcome!
Am I right to think that a LHD conversion would mean to weld in the bulkhead from the Coupe?
I have no idea! Is that right? Perhaps someone could confirm? I didn't realise it potentially wasn't just a case of 'making some holes'.

You want a RHD stretched 800 Alexander....if I can get a German TUEV (that's an MOT equivalent to others) on it? ;)
My name is Chris.
Rovers: 97 Rover 825 stretched Limo by MacNeillie and a 95 LHD Rover 827 Couple. That's the long and short of it.
Others: LHD 82 Jaguar Sovereign, LHD 90 Range Rover, RHD 94 Ford Dorchester (long Granada), LHD 94 German Police Granada.

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Richard C » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:43 pm

Welcome to the site sorry \ bit belated
Richard

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by threelitre » Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:44 pm

LOL! The kids would love it I'm sure - and all their little friends too. But waaaaay to impractical for daily use - living in town I prefer my own cars not be larger than a Rover 416 Tourer.

Image

A picture from the other Chris' trailer conversion - it should give you an impression about the possibility of a LHD conversion.

Regards,

Alexander
More cars then sense.... :)

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Richard Moss » Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:39 pm

Welcome to the forum - let's see the pictures, then.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by CHR15E » Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:12 pm

Welcome to the site.

How ironic that my photo of destruction would be useful in this way.
Chris
19 Vauxhall Astra 1.6T SRi Nav Estate
08 Vauxhall Astra 2.0T Design Twintop
02 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4.7 V8 HO

Previously owned 57 800s 2000-2012
Relapse of 1 in 2021 Now Sold

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Stretched1
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Stretched1 » Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:54 pm

It looks perfectly symetrical to me, apart from the hole and the pokey out steering wheel bit :S. I'm just waiting for it to stop snowing/raining for long enough to wash it and do pictures.

It's actually easy to drive. Goes well and you forget about the extra metre. I suspect though, one would notice it when agressively throwing it around corners.
My name is Chris.
Rovers: 97 Rover 825 stretched Limo by MacNeillie and a 95 LHD Rover 827 Couple. That's the long and short of it.
Others: LHD 82 Jaguar Sovereign, LHD 90 Range Rover, RHD 94 Ford Dorchester (long Granada), LHD 94 German Police Granada.

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by CHR15E » Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:18 pm

I had a MK1 limo a couple of years back and it handled better than almost any 800 I've ever driven.

And I've had a few. :lol:
Chris
19 Vauxhall Astra 1.6T SRi Nav Estate
08 Vauxhall Astra 2.0T Design Twintop
02 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4.7 V8 HO

Previously owned 57 800s 2000-2012
Relapse of 1 in 2021 Now Sold

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by scoobyh123 » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:37 pm

Welcome aboard Chris! Think i saw that car on ebay a month or three ago or perhaps just a similar one. Perhaps you should just fit the LHD headlamps for your time in Germany and use it as an advertising vehicle? Then you could just fit the RHD headlamps for your trips back to the UK.

Would love to see some pics and see if it is the same one!
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
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Stretched1
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Stretched1 » Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:30 pm

Nooooooo, it's not an ebay car! I try to avoid those wherever possible. Only about 1 in 10 seem to be ok. That's probably an exaggeration, but there are so many dodgy car dealers on ebay trying to pretend they are private and clueless. This stretch belonged to a Chauffeur company in Scotland somewhere, and before that it would have been funeral fleet.

I live in Germany and I try to sell them here (the stretched Granadas and Omegas go well) so i'd rather not have the fuss of driving it back. I'm in East Germany and it's at least 10 hours to Calais from here - without traffic or other issues. Once it took 23 hours without an overnight stay! i will do pictures though and if no one in Germany wants it later in the year, then I'll ask on here. It has GB MOT until Feb 2013.

Perhaps I'll see if I can sell it here with the LHD lights and with a whole donor Coupe just in case someone is feeling adventurous.

Noticed the other day that the expansion bottle has cracks in it near the top where the cap is. Pressure is lower, but it doesn't overheat and both water and oil look good. Does anyone know if the expansion bottle on a 2.7 '95 (Honda engine) is the same as on a KV6 2.5 '97?
My name is Chris.
Rovers: 97 Rover 825 stretched Limo by MacNeillie and a 95 LHD Rover 827 Couple. That's the long and short of it.
Others: LHD 82 Jaguar Sovereign, LHD 90 Range Rover, RHD 94 Ford Dorchester (long Granada), LHD 94 German Police Granada.

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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by scoobyh123 » Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:36 pm

I tried finding the "Completed Listing" for the limo i was thinking of, just to see but it was obviously longer ago than i thought, sorry! :oops:

I've bought several cars in my time from fleabay, most have been ok although some were sold with faults (eg 218 turbodiesel with a dead clutch) and the price paid reflected this. Only had one lemon off the bay and that was a Daihatsu Hi-Jet "Noddy Van" about 7 years ago.

If i thought i could get a stretched 800 in/out of my driveway, i'd start saving but it would almost certainly bottom out so i'll pass in advance unless by some miracle i happen to move to somewhere with a flat driveway!

It's a shame we don't have the same nationwide patriotism as the Germans do or we might still have a car industry in this country!

Some time ago i replaced the standard expansion bottle with one from a Volvo 740, works well! Other than that i understand the tanks are the same across the range. Might be subtle differences for things like level sensors but other than that i'm pretty sure they're the same. If you want to keep an original looking one then Rimmers might be the way to go, alternatively there is a company (if i can find the link later) that do a universal one that would do the job for about £55 if i remember rightly.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Daim
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Daim » Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:56 pm

So it was you who bought the Coupé!?

I wanted that! Though that seller wouldn't get back to me nor answer any questions! :roll:

Congrats though!
Rover, a class of it's own!

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Stretched1
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Re: Stretched Rover 800

Post by Stretched1 » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:47 am

Ja. And it got me back to Sachsen without setting itself on fire (dodgy exhaust). It won't get through another TÜV without throwing at least a tausende at it, so I'm breaking it for spares, if you need any teile!

I found the seller was ok, but I didn't ask any questions and was expecting a scrapper from the start. What did you ask? .... I could at least try to answer it for you!
My name is Chris.
Rovers: 97 Rover 825 stretched Limo by MacNeillie and a 95 LHD Rover 827 Couple. That's the long and short of it.
Others: LHD 82 Jaguar Sovereign, LHD 90 Range Rover, RHD 94 Ford Dorchester (long Granada), LHD 94 German Police Granada.

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