My salute to…

My first 214, circa 2001

The Rover 200.

Yup, the humble Rover 200.

Rover’s Escort rival of the early 1990′s was a cracking car, and leagues ahead of the opposition. I bought my first Wedge (the 200 came in three marks, box, wedge, or bubble) for the princely sum of £375, complete with faded and chipped lacquer on the bonnet.

Still, soon enough I’d sorted that, a trip to the scrappy saw me come home with a new bonnet and a full set of 200 GTi leather. I then added a grille from a facelifted car and a set of later rear lights. It all looked rather smart, even if it still handled like it was crossing the Atlantic. This Rover was built for comfort, not for speed. It was the first truly modern car I owned, and it was fantastic. It never missed a beat, and when it’s clutch went, I stumped up the cash (that I really couldn’t afford) to get it back on the road.  Pity then, that someone decided to key the entire passenger side, doing every panel significant damage.

I never looked at the car the same after that, and a few months later I traded it in for a rotten 1986 Mini with a whole heap of problems. Eventually, when the Mini went, I went back to Rover, and bought another H-reg, this time it was a 1.1, but also in red. It was the first car Sarah and I got while we were together, in fact. A head-gasket eventually did for the car, but it went onto a new home, and if I remember rightly, it kept running for a long while after I’d sold it.

A Honda-powered 216 followed, and that was some car, it felt stupidly quick in comparison to the 1100, but for reasons I can’t recall, I sold it.  The roughest 200 I ever owned followed it, a 3-door 214. I always wanted a 3-door, but this time I bought a pup.

Sarah and I travelled all the way to Leominster to buy it, after I won it (unseen) from an eBay auction. It lasted six months, it was a shoddy starter, leaked oil and water, and had had a very hard life before it came to me.

With no love left for the 3-door, I went back to Minis, with my K-plate Cooper, but I’ll always remember just what a brilliant car the Rover 200 was. Compare it to the equivalent Ford Escort, or Vauxhall Astra, and it’s clear just what a good car Rover were building, add in variants like the Tomcat Coupe, the Tourer and the 220GTi and the Rover speaks for itself.

Of the 200s I owned, I never owned a real, proper stonker. One day I’ll add that 220GTi to the Sloman garage. I mean look at it:

1992 Rover 200 GTi (pic from AROnline.co.uk)