Are these omissions part of Project Drive?

[grivas]

Originally Posted by egremont

I note that my 2003 KV6 Connoisseur has a rubber hose connecting the fuel cap to the cars body (near the fuel flap hinge).

This cap with its lead is listed as NLA. The cap is now only available without the linkage. This linkage tethers the cap to the car - preventing it from falling to the ground and possibly collecting fine dirt particles that could get into the fuel system.

I heard that the early 75s had a seal strip attached to the doors, near the doors lower edge. Could this seal have been included to minimise road noise? The earlier 75s had an accoustic cover on the power steering pump to lessen the noise - and was part of Project Drive.

The designers placed so much effort into the finer details to make the 75 the best it could. After all, as the advertisement stated, Richard Woolley was given the open brief to build the world's finest prestige car without constraint, compromise or committee. Seems to be the way of the world that bean counters compromise original concepts.

egremont.

No, original concepts are compromised my companies, who go racing instead of running a business, most deletions in so called Project Drive were put in place because Rover were running out of money, thus killing the golden goose in the process, but finding money to import a rubbish small car from India and putting a Rover badge on it in an attempt to convince the public that they were still in the small car market, utter madness, and total lack of business acumen.
That my friend is what compromises original concepts.

[LeRich]

In fairness, all manufacturers strip out content during the life of a model, notjust Rover. We are simply more aware of the cost cutting on these cars because we're enthusiasts and because MGR went too far with it.

[steve-45]

Originally Posted by LeRich

In fairness, all manufacturers strip out content during the life of a model, notjust Rover. We are simply more aware of the cost cutting on these cars because we're enthusiasts and because MGR went too far with it.

I thought that the opposite was true, manufacturers tend to add to the specification throughout the models life to maintain its desirability.

[LeRich]

Originally Posted by steve-45

I thought that the opposite was true, manufacturers tend to add to the specification throughout the models life to maintain its desirability.

They do come facelift time when they can market the improvements. The sceptic in me often wonders when manufacturers claim '30% thicker glass', 'upgraded door seals' etc. whether they are simply reinstating what was originally fitted to the cars at launch and had been subsequently stripped.