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Old 4th January 2011, 01:34   #7
Robson Rover Repair
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ZT-T 190 / 75 Diesel x3 / 6 door limo / 216 Cabby / Rover 25 van

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Default CHAPTER 07 - Body Variants

206/1/2011 - Section refinished

BODY VARIANTS


At the start in 1998 the cars where produced at the Rover group plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire, UK and remained there until production switched to Longbridge, Birmingham, UK in early 2000.

The easiest way for you to spot if your car was produced in Cowley is along the bottom of the car which will be painted black the whole way round the car.


These early Cowley cars have a tendency to rust slightly more as production methods where improved before assembly was changed to Longbridge.


However this does not make them any less of a car but it is very worth paying extra attention to the cars especially as many of them are becoming rare between scrapping and also rust / cost of ownership.

The 75 and ZT where produced in both Saloon form and Tourer form. Saloon cars where produced from 1998 until 2005, Tourer versions where produced from 2001.


The MG ZT and MG ZT-T where both launched in early 2001 as part of the MG Rover rebranding, but many reports conclude the cars where secretly developed whilst BMW actually owned the company! The tourer was seen enduring winter testing in early 1999.


During the Spring of 2004, the entire MG Rover range received a facelift. This included the 75 and ZT's.




Consisting of new headlights and revised front and rear bumpers, these cars are typically referred to as facelifts or mk2 models.

It should be noted that on the Rover 75 V8 received a unique grill, and was an optional extra often refered to as ''The Premium Grill'' as seen below.


It is very important to note that it is impossible to source the chrome surround on the premium bumper. Complete bumpers go for huge money on ebay and car breakers. This was a factory option on all mk2 none V8 Rover 75's. The limo mk2 version featured the grill as standard.

All "MK2" cars suffered from what looks like front bumper sag, but infact this is how how the car was designed to look with a visable gap between the bonnet and the bumper/lights. Some owners have modified the front brackets to aim the bumper up slightly. There are many threads on this so use the search function at the top of the forum.

Rover 75 long wheel base, limo & hearse variants


A long wheelbase Rover 75 Limousine also called Rover 75 Vanden Plas from late 03 onwards, about 200mm longer than the regular 75 and depending on customisiation the interior could be varied for whatever specification they choose.

Originally made by Mcneillie and sold via MG Rover dealerships, before being brought in house and completed by MG Rover themselves.

The photo below shows the difference in wheel base length.


Often these vehicles where used as Government cars, even the former Prime Minster Tony Blair (please don't let that put you off) used one and its not that uncommon to find they have been particially reinforced for bullet and explosion prevention! Always usedful in the modern day school run.




Below is the "mk2" revision of the limo, aka the Valden Plas which received the "Premium Grill" despite not being a V8.


This photo shows the typical stretched rear interior of the limo cars.


All Long wheel bases are front wheel drive only, a single V8 rear wheel drive limo was made, but only as a prototype.







6 door variants and hearse versions where all exclusively built by McNeillie, but again sold via MG Rover dealerships with work on the prototype starting in 2002 and 2004 being the last registered. There are believed to be only 18 6 doors and 9 confirmed Hearses.


I have a video about my own 6 door in the link below.

6 Door Rover 75 - Robson Rover Repair

THE COUPE PROTOTYPE





The company's design team wanted to mark the first 100 years of the Rover marque with a stylish design that would sit confidently as the latest in the line of renowned Rovers like the P4, the handsome P5 coupe, the innovative P6 2000 model and the bold SD1 hatchback.






Never sold and never to be sold, from the windscreen back it was all custom work made using the old style metal work by hand.

This was realized in the form of the Rover 75 Coupe concept - a beautiful and elegant two-door expression of the stylish 75 Saloon. The concept's interior strongly focuses on Yew wood and Tan leather hide introducing the style of designer furniture into the automotive lounge, extending Rover's trademark for a welcoming interior.








Peter Stevens, Rover's design director says: "I want people to turn away for a moment from post modern brutalism and to enjoy the elegant and timeless lines of the Rover 75 Coupe Concept design. The true character of a Rover comes from its ability to present a cosseting environment with comfort and refinement being the high priorities, elements that should be expressed in the form and detailing of the exterior of the car.

"Heritage is a great strength for a marque as it gives you the terms of reference and something to build on for the future. That is exactly how we saw the challenge of presenting a Rover concept in its Centenary year."

The car went through an identity change being "MG" badged up with the upcoming sale of MG Rover to the various chinese companies at the time, they wished to show how flexible the design team could be so several photos show the car with MG badges and a MG ZT small boo spoiler.





BOOT SPACE


An important issue to raise is the boot space in the saloon and tourers.

Early saloon cars where reported NOT to have folding rear seats, and several owners have confirmed there are no obvious switches to fold the seats down however this is not common as 99% of the saloon cars have folding seats, this is something to check if you are buying an older car.

Its worth digging around for these "pull tugs" here around the seat area in general which may allow you to fold the seatdown.


The below photo shows a typical boot of the saloon, which is actually quite practical as you can fit two baby prams in it side by side and still have plenty of room for shopping etc.

A short coming in the saloons is the actually boot height is quite shallow which doesnt effect you on a daily basis, but something you should be aware of if you wish to carry a lot of suitcases. Infact with an optional H and K sound system, the rear boot height space in the saloon is reduced again.

Of these critisms, the 75/ZT actually has a MASSIVE boot for the car of its class, its hugely impressive. I myself personally have taken three Ikea full size bookshelves along with the weeks shop from Asda in the boot in a single go.



And now for the tourer's boot space. Well to some it up rather quickly, look at the photo below, that includes the rear seats folded down. You can fit a small house inside it.

If you need more space than the 75-T or ZT-T offers you will be VERY hard pushed to find a vehicle this side of a new 2010 shape Skoda Octavia Estate, never mind in the same price range.



[LEFT]One rather nice feature of the Tourers is the ability to open the rear window without opening the boot itself. Handy should you wish to really fill the boot up with shopping and very popular with dog lovers! An optional Rover / MG Rover dog guard is available and is of extremely high quality.



Make sure when viewing a tourer to bring a bottle of still water with you and pour it around the window to ensure the rubber seals etc are correct as they can be difficult to correct if the car has been damaged. You may even find the current owner doesnt know the window opens!!!


COLOUR RANGE


Rover and later MG Rover offered a range of colour schemes on the car that at the time was hardly of equal for cars in the exective price range.


Some colours where more subtle than the above yellow ZT however!


A truely beautiful range of colours!!! A complete list has been complied by "Reebs" one of the forum moderators, and you can find the complete list of every known example along with photographs in this thread. Please click below to explore the thread!

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...ad.php?t=20831

Its definatly worth reading through as there are some colours that stand head and shoulders above the rest and suit the cars even more!

BODYKIT AND SPOILER OPTIONS
Rover and MG Rover offered single range of spoiler and bodykit options for the 75 and ZT's. These where often optional extras and are not common on the majority of cars. I have included a photo of my own car here, the kit which I fitted seperate (note the MG7 tail lights where purchased through a trader "Radioguy" on this very forum, yet again another club member benefit!).

Note it has the large spoiler which was standard on all ZT+ models until the cars where changed to mk2's.








The single bodykit options for the cars where a set of side skirts/sill covers and rear "spats" which wraped around the rear bumper, you can clearly see them along the bottom areas of the car.

The skirts fitted all varients including all mk1 or mk2 and saloon/tourer (but not limo cars) but the rear spats where available in two types. One type was for use on the 75/ZT mk1 saloon (as seen on my car above), the other type could be used on mk2 cars and also mk1 tourers owning to them not reaching around the rear bumper as seen below.


Also on this silver car is the smaller spoiler fitted to the mk2 ZT's as standard. Some late mk1's also had this fitted.

No spoilers are available for the tourer owing to the rear window opening up, however some members have created subtle modified lip spoilers around the edge of the metal work.

One thing about the bodykits is that there are fibreglass replicas out there which are of varying quality so take that into consideration should you wish to buy one.

Last edited by Robson Rover Repair; 16th July 2022 at 13:13..
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