What brought you to your 75.... and what next?

[black olive]

Mk 2 escort 1300- fitted with 1600 engine and taken upside down ploughing in a field

pea green mk2 escort 1300, with an extremely asthmatic engine

Mk 1 mexico- roller skate onwheels- loved this car but it needed full body restoration and I had neither the skills or the money to buy another car and mothball it at the time. according to the DVLA still onthe road. ( I wish it was still mine)

Mk 2 mexico- minilites, cibies, and full group 1 suspension set up - stolen and never recovered

Mk 2 mexico- I was looking for a group 1 RS 2000 with my insurance money, and got waylaid into this- If Id got the Group 1 I would still have it today.

mk 5 cortina- runabout whilst I had the mexico for summer use . flying machine- but suspension like a trawler. paid £500 for it, 4 yars later after 1 alternator and 4 tyres got written off and paid out £550 for it !!!!


now we are into rover territory.

214 SLI 3 door. nice car but needed " more power scotty "

220 GTI- put 40000 superb miles on this , traded it in and the garage owners son wrote it off a week later

ZR 160. drover like a massey ferguson from new- wouldnt hold its tune for more than 2 weeks at a time- a proper lemon ( should have gone for the ZS180)

218 VVC coupe. Anthracite with full cream leather - went to a good home, but still cried when I sold it- should have been another "keeper " !!!

ZS180 in typhoon, GGGRROOOWWL. a proper howler of a car, stainless induction kit and custom twin exhausts. went like stink, but a bit basic inside.

MOODYBLUE ZT CDTi monogram moodyblue. very nice car with all the toys. rover ronned and webasto'ed, but never really took to it- this was the car that played second fiddle to a facelift 260 in black.

BLACK OLIVE. 4.6 litres of throbbing pleasure. £70 a week in fuel gave me a good excuse to buy the missus a Mini Cooper diesel, so I have now also have the clio as a runabout.


Im now in the priviledged position where I can use the 260 purely for pleasure, and go with the flow travelling to work 3 days a week in the clio. ( Thursday isshopping day, so the clio collects the trolley dings, and I get a mini adventure, and friday is V8 day)

I promised myself years ago that one day I would own a Rover V8, and the 260 has fulfilled that promise. with the help of this forum and the 260's it has come to light that my car is the last untouched mark 1 260 off the line, and whilst I realise the car is never going to be an investment, it is a rare piece of british motoring history, and not one which I intend to lose.

looking to the future, when the weather gets a bit better, Im going to fit my towing bracket to black olive, a caravan may or may not materialise- in theory it is a good idea, but to be honest the girls are getting a bit older, and noses are now buried in nintendo's and the Wii, whereas when they were nippers we walked for miles at weekend, now its just me and the Border terrier. The cooper diesel will be a long term car, as will the 260, Ive no intention to replace either .

Mechanically I have an interest in old stationary engines and vintage bikes, Ive a half completed model petrol engine in the garage that may get finished this year, and I would dearly love an old british bike in the garage, but made the mistake of not taking my bike test when I was younger, and cant be messed going through the motions now, so wouldnt be able to use a bike.

The next stage in cars will probably be getting the girls through their tests, and making sure they choose a suitably interesting car, and dont get in bother with them.

and now my fingers are tired

[biggles]

Rather short list on my side:

1985 BMW 318i
2000 Rover 75 2.5 V6 conn
1991 BMW 325i convertible (current)
1999 Rover 75 2.5 V6 conn (current)

All of which were green metallic: The first one light green, the other ones dark green (British Racing, Malachit and Arden).

[Simondi]

Vauxhall Astra 1300s Y plate
Reanult 5 Campus H Plate (terrrible)
Fiesta 1.1 Quartz M Plate
Orion 1.4 LX F plate
Escort 1.4 Osprey V plate
Rover 400 1.6 V plate
75 03 plate as is

Yes I saved the best till last, and the next one , all being well another 75!!

[BigRuss]

Originally Posted by GERFIX

Russ, my uncle had a Princess 2 litre IIRC when I was driving my first Capri (2.0GL Auto) and I got to drive it home for him one day and remember thinking it was absolute luxury. Mind you, he was a heavy smoker and the car did smell quite badly.
Smooth, well sprung and a nice manual gearbox! Also, a pal at college in the late eighties brought his mum's Maxi in one day and I remember commenting on how he looked like he was stirring the soup when attempting to select a gear.

They were a very comforable car not too bad on fuel either.
I'd have to agree with you about the geachange on the Maxi (Awful, awful,car).
The thing was, with my experiences with the "M" cars that I owned I can honestly say they were absolute garbage (and mine were mainly nearly new) I lost faith in anything made by BL/Austin Rover and the thing is, so did a lot of other people. Thats why I moved on to SAAB and AUDI.

This IMHO is a good part of why MGR went under because the damage had been done in the past, and people just couldn't be persuaded to buy from them again, no matter what. Didn't matter that the company or the cars had changed, people just saw it as the same thing with a slightly different name.

Russ

[GERFIX]

Originally Posted by Fille

1978 Austin Allegro (How could I ever sell that one?)

Originally Posted by allegroman

Now that's a quality car!

Square steering wheel anyone?

[GERFIX]

Originally Posted by bigruss42

They were a very comforable car not too bad on fuel either.
I'd have to agree with you about the geachange on the Maxi (Awful, awful,car).
The thing was, with my experiences with the "M" cars that I owned I can honestly say they were absolute garbage (and mine were mainly nearly new) I lost faith in anything made by BL/Austin Rover and the thing is, so did a lot of other people. Thats why I moved on to SAAB and AUDI.

This IMHO is a good part of why MGR went under because the damage had been done in the past, and people just couldn't be persuaded to buy from them again, no matter what. Didn't matter that the company or the cars had changed, people just saw it as the same thing with a slightly different name.

Russ

I tend to agree with that. Nuff said.

[moonstoneboy]

So why the 75 for me? Perhaps the Viking ship (see below) but also because of the wood and leather plus the styling and, whilst I run a Tourer because of the dog, unlike some of you, I think the saloon has better lines.

My little tally – do not think I have missed any but some of the dates might be questionable.

1969 – 1958 Ford MkII Consul
1970 – 1959 Ford MkII Consul
1972 – 1960 Ford MkII Consul
1974 – 1967 HA Viva (ugh ex wifes idea)
1976 – 1967 Wolsely 18/85 (lovely car used to commute 100 miles a day)*
1981 – 1973 Rover 2000TC ^
1984 – 1974 Rover 3500 ^
1985 – 1966 Rover Development Car ex MDs – Rover V8 in 2000 shell ^
1985 – Rover 3500S RHD Export ^
1986 – 1968 Rover Development Car – 3500S Auto for Board approval ^
1987 – 1962 Ford MkII Zephyr
1988 – 1978 Austin Maxi 1750HL (used when renovating a house – amazing)
1989 – 1971 Rover 2000TC
1990 – 1988 Rover 800
1996 – Royale Sabre Kit car built by me from 1994 to 1996
1997 – 2 x 19?? Austin Ambassadors
1998 – 1996 Rover 800
2001 – 1996 Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
2007 – 2001 Rover 75 Conni SE

* memories of driving home one night and having problems, spent all night working on the engine to fix it, quick shower and then drive back to work the next morning.

^ owned at the same time

The Ford MkII still have a special place in my heart, dearly love a Zodiac rag top.

The Wolseley was quite a special car, very comfortable with the unique ride.

The P6 Rovers played quite a big part in my life.

So to the 75, which I thought looked very nice from their release – in fact far nicer looking than the Jag.

As for the future, if Moggie Minors can still be kept going then so can the 75 – if enough of us want to.

As for parts, you can get hand-made wings for Austin A60s so why not 75s.

[tapped]

My list

(I think)

Mini 1000
Mini 1100 Special
1973 MG Midget RWA (1380cc St3)
1979 Mini 1275 GT
1990 MG Maestro 2.0 EFI
1994 Rover Metro 1.4 Si
1989 VW Golf GTi 8V
1991 Golf GTi 8V (stolen)
1991 Golf GTi 16v BRMotorsport 1.9
1994 VW Corrado VR6
2001 VW Lupo GTI 6 Speed
1994 Rover 214si
1991 Golf GTi 8V
2003 Rover 75 1.8 T Club SE (got written off)
2004 MG ZT 190+
2004 Rover 75 2.5 V6 Connoisseur SE Auto
1994 Nissan Primera GT
2004 MG ZT 260 V8 (present)
2002 Rover 75 Connoisseur CDT (present)

More than 1 car a year since I started driving and I've probably forgotten some.

What's next? Really don't know.......They'll probably bury me in an R40 based car. evne if i got a company car sometime soon I'd still keep one of them

[eddybrown]

I'm only 21 so I haven't got such a varied history as most of you guys on here, anyway here's mine:

2003 - 1973 MG Midget (first car & I learned to drive in it, great car still got it infact only took it off the road because I was at uni and it wasn't the most reliable car! My dad and I have got a 1.8 k-series VVC engine swap lined up for it )

2006 - 1999 Rover 200 Di (reliable car, superb engine but the rest of the car let it down)

2007 - 2003 Rover 75 Club CDT (brilliant car, such a step up from the 200!)

I intend to keep the 75 for a few years yet, and who knows maybe a ZT some time down the line

[GERFIX]

Originally Posted by eddybrown

I'm only 21 so I haven't got such a varied history as most of you guys on here, anyway here's mine:

2003 - 1973 MG Midget (My dad and I have got a 1.8 k-series VVC engine swap lined up for it )

Nice.
Did you read the article in MG Enthusiast, December I think, where the guy had done the same with BGT? I can't think any better old car/modern engine conversions than these.