The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Magazine articles, history etc.

Moderators: guru, SJG

dollysprint
Rover Guru
Posts: 1669
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:01 pm
Location: glos
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by dollysprint » Thu Nov 24, 2016 1:32 pm

Rover did consider a Coupe and convertible for the USA Market with a perceived launch sometime in 1989, a year after Honda had launched their Coupe version. But the hammering Rover got from the american press for unreliability and hence failing sales led to it being scrapped. The Coupe we see today was Rover's attempt to still produce a Coupe but at a lesser cost. With the pull out from the american market in 1991 Roy Axe actually wanted the Coupe scrapped, seeing it as too far diluted from the original concept and without any real market. Thankfully he was outvoted, mainly because the development costs had already been spent so there was nothing to lose. We were lucky to get the Coupe at all.

Dave
1988 Sterling saloon 2.7 Auto Pulsar over gunmetal
1990 Sterling Saloon 2.7 Auto black over storm
1993 Coupe 2.7 auto white gold 1
2005 Ford Transit 2.4 lwb, Club van
2007 Jaguar X Type 2.2 manual Estate

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:28 pm

You're not wrong Dave, it nearly cost us the Mk2 in its entirity, not just the coupé and in a sense it did. The Mk2 was originally going to be the R16/AR18 and changed to 700 series with the LWB version of the Mk1 800 being retained for an "ultimate luxury" version and/or stretched limo as far as i can work out from http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/concept ... ing-rover/

I imagine the tie-up with Honda would have remainedso the C27 engine from the original Legends would have been update to the 3.2 and 3.5 so there would have arguably been a Rover 732 and 735 - definitely one (or two!) in the eye for BMW! :wink: :lol:
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!

User avatar
Alucard7002
Now with more then 1000 posts!
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 8:09 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by Alucard7002 » Fri Nov 25, 2016 11:46 pm

Jaguar XJC (Excuse the IMHO horrific wheels)

Image

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner

Image

R34 Stagea (minus the Barry Boy spoilers and skirts)

Image

That'll be my garage when I win the lottery ;-)

Yes I have a thing for pillarless or frameless windows - No I don't know why either :lol:

Convertible 800 for the American market would certainly make sense for the era. Just seems a shame Rover never got to finalise the design for whatever reason. The Mk1 coupe does looks very VERY nice, especially if it had a pillarlesss design!
Dušan - head lunatic @ Four Paw Racing

'66 Ford Country Sedan
'89 Mazda MX5 1.6
'98 Mitsubishi Evo 4 GSR
'07 Subaru Legacy Spec B

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:51 am

Alucard7002 wrote:Jaguar XJC (Excuse the IMHO horrific wheels)

Image

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner

Image

R34 Stagea (minus the Barry Boy spoilers and skirts)

Image

That'll be my garage when I win the lottery ;-)

Yes I have a thing for pillarless or frameless windows - No I don't know why either :lol:

Convertible 800 for the American market would certainly make sense for the era. Just seems a shame Rover never got to finalise the design for whatever reason. The Mk1 coupe does looks very VERY nice, especially if it had a pillarlesss design!
Nice Series II, those wheels look like "Allycats", a period set of wheels just for the Jag. I also have a thing for frameless windows/pillarless coupés, perhaps explained by what i learned to drive in :

Image

That's not the car i learned to drive in although i have driven it, i learned in the facelifted version with the rectangular headlamps, stiffer rear suspension etc. Pillarless coupé, all 4 windows are electric, 2.4 I6 EFi and a 5 speed box, the grand-daddy of the Stagea surprisingly. It is in fact a C210 Datsun Skyline, the only official UK Skyline coupé model before the racing legend exploded (they raced Skylines in Japan from the late 60s stating with the K10, then the K110 followed by the C110 - we got the saloon C110 240K Skyline in the early 70s) and they were everywhere!
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!

User avatar
mjc9967
Rover Guru
Posts: 1776
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:43 pm
Location: London
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by mjc9967 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 3:27 pm

That is reminiscent of the Mitubishi Colt Sigma c1981. Dad had one when I was a kid. Metallic brown with cream interior. Very posh, we all thought at the time! Anyone remember those?
Last edited by mjc9967 on Thu Dec 01, 2016 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:31 pm

The Sigma and the coupé version known as the Sapporo, later another company mabe them again using Mitsubishi bits and licence and called them the Lonsdale. All nice cars, always wanted one, never quite got there! Had a White Mitsy Galant 2.0 for a while though.

They were "of their time" though and many Japanese cars had a similarity of sorts. Something i didn't mention is park the 240K Skyline next to an XJC and they're both about the same size. However one is 1200kg and 142bhp, the other is 1800kg and 205bhp - the aths is quite fun and surprising! :wink: :D
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!

User avatar
mjc9967
Rover Guru
Posts: 1776
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:43 pm
Location: London
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by mjc9967 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:28 pm

Ah yes the Sapporo too - an uncle also had one of those!
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:22 pm

mjc9967 wrote:Ah yes the Sapporo too - an uncle also had one of those!
Image

A rare sight - Sapporo on banded steelies instead of the factory alloys. Another 80s coupé "of its time" - pillarless/frameless with all 4 windows able to go down, high spec (for the time) including electric windows and PAS, factory fit stereo radio-cassette etc.
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!

User avatar
Manalishi
Rover Guru
Posts: 2458
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:38 pm
Location: Stockholm/Sweden
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by Manalishi » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:15 am

Those old jap coupes are lovely. Sad we never see them on the road.

My friend had a Celica from the 70s, and at the time (in the late 80s) we harassed him badly over this. :) Today it would be very nice to have one in the collection!
Henrik
Rover 820 Vitesse Coupe 180bhp -93 (Italy)
Rover 827 Vitesse manual (non cat) -89 (Spain)
Lexus GS450h -13
Austin Seven Special -36
Gone:
Rover 820 ti -95
Rover 216 DOHC coupe -93
Rover 620 ti -98

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:59 am

I can't remember the last time i saw a 70's Jap coupé on the road, similar goes for an 80s Jap coupé except of course the red Skyline above and that was in 2005 - i was led to believe sometime later the owner had to reluctantly scrap it due to terminal tinworm in the sills and A-posts.
There are a lot of older cars that just aren't seen anymore, mainly because so many people view them as "just another car". That means when they've got to the end of their perceived life they've been scrapped - many people view the first MoT test as the end of the life of their car which is quite worrying really! :shock: :wink: :D
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!

User avatar
tonewheeldude
Regular Visitor
Posts: 385
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:57 pm
Location: Northampton
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by tonewheeldude » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:16 pm

Alucard7002 wrote:Jaguar XJC (Excuse the IMHO horrific wheels)

Image
Love those wheels...one day a set (not black) ones will adorn my Coupe as per the prototype :)
Rover 825 Sterling Diesel Coupe (1999)

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Nov 28, 2016 10:29 am

tonewheeldude wrote:
Alucard7002 wrote:Jaguar XJC (Excuse the IMHO horrific wheels)

Image
Love those wheels...one day a set (not black) ones will adorn my Coupe as per the prototype :)
Sounds good! Leaves more Volvo wheels for mine! :wink: :lol: :D
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!

User avatar
tonewheeldude
Regular Visitor
Posts: 385
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:57 pm
Location: Northampton
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by tonewheeldude » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:49 am

I did consider the Volvo option when ditching the evil Prestige rims (which I hate cleaning)....The volvo's look very OEM which is important, but I have a thing for five spokes after fitting a set of Roversports to my old BRG fastback. However I would take them off for a good set of BBS rims.
Rover 825 Sterling Diesel Coupe (1999)

User avatar
scoobyh123
Rover Guru
Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Next door to Top Gun, Suffolk
Contact:

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by scoobyh123 » Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:26 pm

tonewheeldude wrote:I did consider the Volvo option when ditching the evil Prestige rims (which I hate cleaning)....The volvo's look very OEM which is important, but I have a thing for five spokes after fitting a set of Roversports to my old BRG fastback. However I would take them off for a good set of BBS rims.
Like these BBS rims do you mean?

Image

Those tend to confuse people a lot and look very OE as MG-Rover used the same style (with a smaller PCD) on 25/45/ZR/ZS models but on the 75/ZT it was a 5 stud fitting with 7 "Hairpins" instead of 8 as those are.

Alternatively there are these :

Image

Either way you'll have to make your own centre caps using universal blanks designed to fit the Volvo rims, paint them and then use a sticker of some description for the Rover badge.
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!

User avatar
tonewheeldude
Regular Visitor
Posts: 385
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:57 pm
Location: Northampton
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: The coupe. Did Rover have future plans?

Post by tonewheeldude » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:36 pm

They look ok, but not for me. This is the prototype:

Image

Image


picture uploader
Rover 825 Sterling Diesel Coupe (1999)

Post Reply
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests