The Cars that MGRover never made...but should have.

Jamie · 1st October 2007, 09:05

Like other folks I often sit and wonder...'what if they had.....'

There were some real missed oportunities for MGR not just the obvious ones.

I always thought the the absence of a good small van from the line up was a big mistake...the Maestro diesel van was huge hit and left a big hole in the income stakes.

so I recon they should have made a van that relpaced it..maybe based it on the 400, with some stonking good diesel engines...and you know what they should have called it???

The 'Iron Maiden'...rock solid...and the ads would have included Lemmie from Motorhead.

Just imagine how many blokes would have wanted to drive a van called 'Iron Maiden' !!!

anyway...what cars should they have built in your opinion?

Jamie

Pete · 1st October 2007, 11:09

The SV was the ridiculous mistake in my view. They could have introduced a coupe TF which would've been a guaranteed showroom hit and they instead come up with an obsolete, ugly, overweight, over-priced pigs ear of a second-rate two-seater that no-one would want. The resources that should have been invested into real returns which instead went into that piece of rubbish will go down in history as a monumentally bad piece of reasoning by the Board.

EnEnGee · 1st October 2007, 11:20

Going back a bit further into history, the SD1 estate would have been an interesting piece of machinery. The fact that Michael Edwardes drove round in one of the two runners suggested that the concept was pretty much fixed and could have made production if the will had been there.

Instead, it wasn't produced for various reasons and at that time left the field free to the Volvo 245, Peugeot 505 and Ford Granada which all sold in bucket loads in the UK. In fact the Volvo sold better in this country as an estate than as a saloon and outlasted the 4 door in production by several years.

A huge opportunity lost in hindsight and a gap in the range not properly filled in this class until the 75 Tourer appeared over 20 years later, with only the extremely competent but smaller Montego estate (which rightly or wrongly had inherited a reputation for poor build quality from the saloon) to fill the gap.

I've not counted the 416 Tourer (R8) as this was more an Escort/ Astra estate competitor and a class smaller.

Tom Collins · 1st October 2007, 11:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnEnGee

Going back a bit further into history, the SD1 estate would have been an interesting piece of machinery. The fact that Michael Edwardes drove round in one of the two runners suggested that the concept was pretty much fixed and could have made production if the will had been there.

Instead, it wasn't produced for various reasons and at that time left the field free to the Volvo 245, Peugeot 505 and Ford Granada which all sold in bucket loads in the UK. A huge opportunity lost in hindsight and a gap in the range not properly filled until the 75 Tourer appeared over 20 years later. I've not counted the 416 Tourer (R8) as this was more an Escort/ Astra estate competitor and a class smaller.

The SD1 estate could've been great. saw one at the Haynes Museum during the 4th meet. Strange how it could only be seen from the front, an odd way of displaying it.

BMC123 · 1st October 2007, 11:29

well, they did make a Metro van that I drove in the post office for about a week...... and promptly handed it it back. We also tried out a couple of montego vans (estates with the windows and rear seats taken out and A false floor put in)

A Rover SD1 estate and a convertable would also have been nice

I did have a picture of a convertable but I can't find it

The Princess "wedge" I always thought would have looked nice in a soft top as well, and they should have built this.

I spotted an SD1 in the trailer for the new season of top gear

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iAk2XmnVY

I wonder what they are going to do with it...........

EnEnGee · 1st October 2007, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by collit

The SD1 estate could've been great. saw one at the Haynes Museum during the 4th meet. Strange how it could only be seen from the front, an odd way of displaying it.

For one of the more unusual and potentially interesting cars to have looked at Haynes, I thought the SD1 estate was particularly poorly displayed. To be honest, I think that that was a fair reflection of Haynes where there really are too many exhibits for the space available, which is a shame as there are some excellent cars in their collection.

Pete · 1st October 2007, 11:51

I thought I'd stay out of the older models as there's just so many that could've been in the showrooms but never made it. The SD1 estate was an interesting idea as was the TR7 shooting brake. 9x, which was intended to replace the mini (along with the new engine to accompany it) and AR6 (the Metro replacement that never was) were also significant errors imv.

ColinB · 1st October 2007, 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by collit

The SD1 estate could've been great. saw one at the Haynes Museum during the 4th meet. Strange how it could only be seen from the front, an odd way of displaying it.

For those that didn't see it

baxlin · 1st October 2007, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinB

For those that didn't see it

Well, isn't parking it like that silly.

BMC123 · 1st October 2007, 16:29

unless maybe the tailgate is damaged or something

And I don't think much of the location of those indicator repeaters.... Mind you i would still have one... *dreams of his SD1 driving days*

1st October 2007, 09:05	#1
Jamie Posted a thing or two In Limbo Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cheshire Posts: 1,685 Thanks: 4 Thanked 12 Times in 6 Posts	The Cars that MGRover never made...but should have. Like other folks I often sit and wonder...'what if they had.....' There were some real missed oportunities for MGR not just the obvious ones. I always thought the the absence of a good small van from the line up was a big mistake...the Maestro diesel van was huge hit and left a big hole in the income stakes. so I recon they should have made a van that relpaced it..maybe based it on the 400, with some stonking good diesel engines...and you know what they should have called it??? The 'Iron Maiden'...rock solid...and the ads would have included Lemmie from Motorhead. Just imagine how many blokes would have wanted to drive a van called 'Iron Maiden' !!! anyway...what cars should they have built in your opinion? Jamie __________________ Finally given up trying to buy the last new rover V8 from Bristol, 2 years of haggling got me nowhere!

1st October 2007, 11:09	#2
Pete Owners Club Director Rover 75 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sherfield-on-Loddon Posts: 4,872 Thanks: 137 Thanked 996 Times in 444 Posts	The SV was the ridiculous mistake in my view. They could have introduced a coupe TF which would've been a guaranteed showroom hit and they instead come up with an obsolete, ugly, overweight, over-priced pigs ear of a second-rate two-seater that no-one would want. The resources that should have been invested into real returns which instead went into that piece of rubbish will go down in history as a monumentally bad piece of reasoning by the Board. __________________ Follow The Club On Twitter

1st October 2007, 11:20	#3
EnEnGee Posted a thing or two CDT Tourer (SORN) & 2.0 V6 Saloon Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sittingbourne Posts: 1,058 Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts	Going back a bit further into history, the SD1 estate would have been an interesting piece of machinery. The fact that Michael Edwardes drove round in one of the two runners suggested that the concept was pretty much fixed and could have made production if the will had been there. Instead, it wasn't produced for various reasons and at that time left the field free to the Volvo 245, Peugeot 505 and Ford Granada which all sold in bucket loads in the UK. In fact the Volvo sold better in this country as an estate than as a saloon and outlasted the 4 door in production by several years. A huge opportunity lost in hindsight and a gap in the range not properly filled in this class until the 75 Tourer appeared over 20 years later, with only the extremely competent but smaller Montego estate (which rightly or wrongly had inherited a reputation for poor build quality from the saloon) to fill the gap. I've not counted the 416 Tourer (R8) as this was more an Escort/ Astra estate competitor and a class smaller. Last edited by EnEnGee; 1st October 2007 at 11:26..

1st October 2007, 11:29	#5
BMC123 Posted a thing or two 2004 1.8 Connoisseur SE, 1999 XJ8 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,163 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	well, they did make a Metro van that I drove in the post office for about a week...... and promptly handed it it back. We also tried out a couple of montego vans (estates with the windows and rear seats taken out and A false floor put in) A Rover SD1 estate and a convertable would also have been nice I did have a picture of a convertable but I can't find it The Princess "wedge" I always thought would have looked nice in a soft top as well, and they should have built this. I spotted an SD1 in the trailer for the new season of top gear http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iAk2XmnVY I wonder what they are going to do with it........... __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

1st October 2007, 11:51	#7
Pete Owners Club Director Rover 75 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sherfield-on-Loddon Posts: 4,872 Thanks: 137 Thanked 996 Times in 444 Posts	I thought I'd stay out of the older models as there's just so many that could've been in the showrooms but never made it. The SD1 estate was an interesting idea as was the TR7 shooting brake. 9x, which was intended to replace the mini (along with the new engine to accompany it) and AR6 (the Metro replacement that never was) were also significant errors imv. __________________ Follow The Club On Twitter

1st October 2007, 16:29	#10
BMC123 Posted a thing or two 2004 1.8 Connoisseur SE, 1999 XJ8 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,163 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	unless maybe the tailgate is damaged or something And I don't think much of the location of those indicator repeaters.... Mind you i would still have one... dreams of his SD1 driving days __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]