The Rover 800 - Rover's Comeback Story?

It was a time of hope, a time of disaster, a time of Triumph, and a time of… whatever this is! But one team would work with… another team… to build the car of the future. A car they would call… the Rover 800… and the Sterling… and the Honda Legend… and the Acura Legend. This is… the Rover 800 story!

#Rover800 #HondaLegend #AcuraLegend

[heathermcglade]

I had an 827 Sterling Coupe. A superb car, had it for 13 years, never let me down. Eventually, the tin worm won. Sad day.
I now have a CDTI 75, again, it's a real lovely car. I guess I'm a Rover nut.

[harmvicount-Visconti]

My 827 Vitesse was (and actually stil is) the best car I’ve ever owned. Lovely leather Recaro seats, smooth V6 with masses of power and a ride that was quiet, even on the German autobahn. The Champagne colour and light interior gave it a luxurious feeling, many passengers were impressed. I miss him/her...

[oldbones]

Great video, brings back fond memories, I was one of the fourteen Master Sterling Technicians in the U.S. When they pulled out of the U.S. market the president of Rover Group flew to all the dealerships and thanked us personally. Some of the best people I have ever worked with. A shout out to any of you guys from back in the day!

[VinDieselS]

I found a P plate Rover 800 with a 2 Liter engine up for sale at a scrapyardfor £250 in 2006. Car was in mint condition (the owner was to old to drive). I bought the car, drove away and had it for two years with no issues at all. It was gold with grey cloth upholstery and run ASA a clock. Never failed and a great road car. Eventually sold it for £50 and the new owner wrecked it.
Thank you for your great videos. 👍

[brtmn]

My parents had the 820Ti, burgundy red with black leather Recaro sits. It was trully a fast and yet comfortable car. We all remember our 800 with nostalgia.🤩

[jackblakesley]

i just bought a 1989 sterling 827 sli 5-speed with 249k miles and couldn't be happier.

[-DC-]

800 sadly forgotten but was actually a good car, never had any problems with them back in the day.

[simonclark]

I had a red 2.0 litre Rover 820 Sterling hatch back I never had any problems with it . The car was very stylish and comfortable for the day . I only had a few repairs done to it . The Rover had very good back seat space for me and the Mrs .

[davidhammond]

My 1993 Rover 800 was one of the nicest driving executive card I drove. Much nicer than the subsequent 1998 Mercedes E Class that drove like a tank with horrible steering. I took the River to 73, 000 and it was extremely reliable. Only failure was a replacement coil.

[Lolasdad]

At 19 I was serving as a young Royal Marine in Plymouth in 1990 and I had my eye on an E reg Rover 820i saloon. I’m 99% sure it was Vospers at Marsh Mills. Despite my pipe dreams it wasn’t to be. The insurance was double the value of the car ha ha. I was however more than happy with my Austin Montego red with grey bottom trim. D710 MUH. It got me from Plymouth to Northumberland many a weekend without a hick. Unfortunately it was the structure of the car that let it down. I’m sure the engine had plenty of life in it despite it having 130, 000 miles. Great videos, keep them coming 👍😃

[scottgraham]

Worked on many Rover 827's that the Met Police were running as Traffic and Armed Response vehicles, along with heavily armored versions and a few 820i models that were used for driving big nobs around. That 2.7 Honda engine was an absolute gem., it took such a hammering, often from stone cold with the ARV's yet it never failed, the same can't be said for the Auto boxes and the body work, but they were lovely cars to drive and work on, and I've fond memories of them.

[RichieRouge]

Such a handsome, unassuming yet very capable car.

[bensmithkent]

Some old couple still drive an r reg midnight blue sterling fastback. Its 2020 they got it while I was still at secondary school. Its not rusting visibly either. They live in a nice 500k house so are not poor. Makes me feel sort of nostalgic looking at it cos my uncle had a sterling saloon kv6 in the late 90s company car. It felt so normal almost modern to travel in then but now seeing this old thing in motion it looks so regal wafting to crayford sainsburys. The wheels are laughably small.

[kierancurtis]

I've had 7 in total and still own 2 of them. One of them has nearly miles on it and has been completely dependable. The only reason I don't use it every day is I have a Rover 75 tourer (£250 6 years ago and now 223000 miles, with equal dependability) I do still take it on long trips though! All of my Rover 800s have been excellent!.

[johnnolan]

Still using my 89 Sterling 827 Sli on a regular basis. The tin worm is starting but not serious for a 32 year old car. It is still fun to drive ( daily driver is a Focus ST) and doesn't worry me when getting dunked in the Hudson River, launching jet skis.

[palimpalim]

Back in the time I was a big fan of limousines. The Rover 800 was one of my favorites. I thought it was a gorgeous car.

[GrahamDallas]

Great video, thanks. My father had an '88 Sterling with the Honda 2.7 which eventually died at 198k due to rust more than anything else. This probably led me to buy a four year old '96 Sterling with the 2.5 KV6 when I was 26. It behaved itself for about 3 years and then finally cooked it heads, it was well over 100k by then though. I nearly bought a "new" 18 month old unregistered 75 but Rover had gone bust by then and I didn't take the chance.

[mlgboy]

Having worked on these as an engineer, at the Cowley plant, for a supplier of many of the components I do remeber very fondly seeing the very advanced for the time production methods used particulalry of note was the first time laser guided robots where used to apply the screen bonding and then to install both the front and rear screens which was fascinating to watch. The specification of the Honda Legend suspension components was higher than the rover with design tweeks to make it better but they where both great cars for the time.

[barrynewman]

I had a 1988 Sterling 825, a company car. The car rode and handled well. I had a major issue with the brake lights shorting out. It took four service trips to find the problem which was debris in the high brake light causing a short in the electrical system. My other complaints were that the audio system was awful for a luxury car, very poor sound. While the seats were made of beautiful leather, the controls in the center console were installed backwards and upside down for the American market.

[WarriorsPhoto]

Another great grandfather around the fire moment.

All our jokes aside sir. This is a very good story of the NSX. Excited to see more of your videos.