red 1 still going (just)

[red1]

Hello,

Some of you may remember my first lengthy post back in 2014 and thought you might like an update.
I've had the car for nearly 19 years of its 21 year life.

In the past three years I have (or Rover Centre St Albans have!)

-replaced....
timing belts
brake pipes
distributor cap
engine gaskets
air condensor
bonnet release lever
fuel filler pipe
brake hoses
chrome trim on rear bumper
front grille
battery
key fob buttons

and.....
-painted rear door
-painted A pillars
-recored the radiator
-fitted new number plates
-treated it to full servicing

These photos are for getting the valuation agreed on my classic car insurance, last year it was guaranteed at £2,900. Does that sound in the right ball park?

I am too embarrassed to say how much I have spent in these three years and there are lots of things still to do but it's a fun challenge to keep sourcing parts.

hope you liked the post and thanks for helping keep the red one going strong

[Charles827si]

That valuation price of £2,900 sounds fair enough, after all in the event of a write off (heaven forbid) you want as much back as you can get. I tried to get my insurer to raise the price last year with no joy, so another year on and I might try again and try better by letting them know how rare these are getting and the issue of finding other 20year+ examples in a similar high quality condition.

[scoobyh123]

I think £2900 is a bit low Eric, we're down to very few 2.7 Sterlings now and not many 827 coupés either.

According to howmanyleft.co.uk last time i checked there were something like 81 827 coupés (quite a jump from 30 when i first got mine 3 years ago) and they stopped listing the 827 Sterlings as a separate model about 2 or 3 years ago, lumping them together with the 827SLi models.
Not many of them around either so there are very few of anything 2.7 powered these days, especially in nice condition as yours is and mine (mine should be, needs a bit of TLC at present though) and let's face it, where are you going to find another that's had everything done to make it reliable as you have?
Mine has also had everything done but it's not for sale so that's one less in the event of anything happening. I also happen to know one member on here recently got an agreed valuation of £10k on his Mk1 820Si, also certain insurers (Adrian Flux being one i think) value any 800 as being worth at least £2000 as long as it's roadworthy. Anything nice, rare or has a uniqueness about it for whatever reason (obviously not a uniquely shaped rust hole in the sills! ) has to be worth something more.

Besides, 827s are now rarer than Bugatti Veyrons and look how much they cost! Just to put that in perspective, there were 175 Bugattis on the road when i checked recently against only 81 827 coupés - i didn't check the total of 827s regardless of trim level so perhaps that statement isn't wholly accurate but can't be far out.

If it helps with your agreed valuation quest, i was recently offered £5k for my coupé by someone in the street and when i wouldn't sell and he learned i also had a Sterling, he offered the same for that, sight unseen.

If i were you i'd be pushing for at least £5k Agreed Valuation, sure you can pick them up on ebay for a few hundred quid but by the time you'd had everything done to get it up to the same standard you'd easily spend that £5k just getting it right.

[Charles827si]

I think I'll do the same Dave and push toward 5k on my insurance evaluation when I come round to that. Obviously the statistics of howmanyleft.co.uk, show the rarity of the 800 range. I was also offered between 3-5k by a main Jaguar dealer salesman for my Coupe but I turned down the offer like you did for yours. It's a nice feeling that we are driving cars that are very rare and much more exclusive then Bugatti Veyron hyper cars! I intend to keep my cars well into the future and who knows one day when I'm developing white hairs on my head somebody will offer me a price for the car that's equivalent to todays Bugatti new price.

[mjc9967]

Very nice looking. We have our cars looked after at the same place

[scoobyh123]

I think I'll do the same Dave and push toward 5k on my insurance evaluation when I come round to that. Obviously the statistics of howmanyleft.co.uk, show the rarity of the 800 range. I was also offered between 3-5k by a main Jaguar dealer salesman for my Coupe but I turned down the offer like you did for yours. It's a nice feeling that we are driving cars that are very rare and much more exclusive then Bugatti Veyron hyper cars! I intend to keep my cars well into the future and who knows one day when I'm developing white hairs on my head somebody will offer me a price for the car that's equivalent to todays Bugatti new price.

If we all push for higher agreed values at renewal times then the insurers will eventually take notice. The dwindling numbers will also help push values up as well, just look at the way SD1, P6, P5 etc values have all risen.
What doesn't (and never will) help is peoples attitudes that "it's just another old Rover". Those are the people that haunt fleabay in search of a "bargain banger" and don't care what it is as long as it's legal and moves under its own power.

There's an old adage of "you never miss the water until the well runs dry" and many people forget this these days, perhaps because they are constantly beleagured to update their mobile phones, games consoles, PC, laptops, tablets, TVs and so on for the very latest models that sometimes don't do anything better than what they replaced but have a strange new feature that makes them "different".
This mentality has spilled over into the automotive world and people tend to view cars as being disposable in the way phones, games consoles etc have now become. This hasn't been helped by the adoption of "sealed for life" engines, gearboxes etc and the deletion of sump plugs which in the long term is actually good news for us as we can still service and maintain our cars so that when all the modern stuff has fallen by the wayside (sometimes literally with a seized engine, gearbox or whatever), we can cruise by in our "oldies but goodies".

As for getting grey/white hairs, my bodys 21st birthday present to itself was my first white hair! It's gone from bad to worse ever since and i'm still not that much nearer being offered the value of a new Bugatti Veyron - perhaps the insurance premium for one though!

[Marc-827-Vitesse]

Great that you keep this lovely motor on the road. Nice to read that you maintain her wel and have a attention to detail.
I would say it should be a bit higher in value for the insurance. You will not find another one fast. My 827 Vitesse was valued by a classic car person for 8.500 euro's (insurance value).

[zcar12]

Red1, your car looks really superb. I think the valuation is about right at the moment but try and raise it a bit next year. You would struggle to find another car that age and in that condition. Really love red cars, I own a Flame Red 820si which I love. Is the color Nightfire Red? Have you had any problems with the paint fading at different rates?

[red1]

Thanks for your replies, I've gone for a £3,750 valuation as the car is far from showroom condition, notably the paintwork on close inspection. I'll let you know how i get on.

Regarding howmanyleft, my V5 classifies my car as a rover sterling so that is what I check as it correlates with the peak year of 1996 when registration stopped of the 2.7 version. There are 112 left of this version and I counted a total of 1,150 Sterlings/800's of all types. It is good being part of a select few.



I agree with Dave about the pressure of upgrading all the time, very frustrating when progress seems to go backwards with regard to things like ride quality. A lot of cars now seem to come with large wheels that compromise ride quality for looks. A good example would be the new VW tiguan where a petrol , auto only comes in 19" or 20". My head was briefly turned but I stayed on the rover path!

Zcar, yes the colour is nightfire red. Generally the paintwork has held up well especially as it has never been garaged. The roof and front wings have experienced the effects of pollution and so are looking a bit flat and rough compared to the rest of the bodywork but I'm hoping to get that resolved next spring when I tackle the blistering on the front wheel arches. Aside from that the lacquer on the rear door came off so I had that resprayed and there are the odd blemishes from supermarket wars!

Yes, the Rover centre have done a good job and Mark I remember the photos you kindly sent me of your restoration with Harris Coachworks. That is where I hope to go next year for the wings. Then tackle the drivers seat, expansion tank, Exhaust Gas Valve, fuel gauge............

my hair is already half white - probably caused by the stress of keeping the Rover on the road - it owes me

cheers all

[scoobyh123]

I think £3750 is probably a bit under-valued but should be a safe value to get without having too many arguments to get it.

I'm amazed you managed to find the Sterling listed, last time i checked a couple of years back it wasn't listing them - presumably as "barn finds" have come to light and/or cars have finally crept into Continuous Registration the numbers have risen considerably so they now list them again.
There's a bit of an anomaly in how they list them though, there are 185 including yours and mine. The 112 in theory refers to the manual version but i wonder how many of those were lazy salesmen not bothering to add "Auto" on the registration documents? The opposite is true with the "Sterling i" designation, they were all injection so the "i" isn't necessary and as such the Sterling i Auto is the same car as the Sterling Auto.
Another example of this is the 820Si and 820Si 16v - one and the same model but salesmen adding the 16v because Rover put the 16v badge on some of them created a separate model listing with the DVLA which is the source for howmanyleft.

The reason the 2.7 wasn't registered (apart from the odd one or two stuck in showrooms for a year or two) after 1996 is because Honda stopped supplying the C27 engine due to BMWs purchase of Rover from BAe including Hondas 22% share. Basically BAe dumped on Rover and to a certain extent Honda as well by doing a behind the scenes deal with BMW and more or less signed Rover Groups death warrant. That's why the KV6 had its final development at the hands of unsuspecting victims - errr, customers even! It had to be made ready in a hurry and as such still had bugs to iron out.
With that in mind, many KV6 powered cars have long since gone to the scrapyard because of blown engines so the Honda 2.7 is the more desirable unit - this is another good point to argue with insurers who think the V6 engines are all the same! The amount of people that have come out with stupid comments about head gasket failure being common on Rovers is amazing, especially when they think the 2.7s are prone to it!

[red1]

Just got my confirmed valuation back ...........drum roll............... £3,250

Am pleased it has gone up even if only a small amount.

[scoobyh123]

Just got my confirmed valuation back ...........drum roll............... £3,250

Am pleased it has gone up even if only a small amount.

Good news Eric!

[Manalishi]

This was the reason I started the other thread regarding rising values of our cars. It looks great this one and it surely must be very unusual for such a long ownership? And also, Imust add, I'd rather have a nice R827 Sterling than a Bugatti Veyron.

[scoobyh123]

That is indeed a very long ownership, i thought i was doing well at 9 years (in february) for my Sterling which is a record for me - before i got this Sterling my record was 18 months for owning a car! Shortest time was 20 minutes!

Personally i think i'd get bored with a Bugatti Veyron anyway.

[tonewheeldude]

The car looks amazing - and its good to see the insurance companies respecting the 800s value. I still cant get my Coupe on a classic policy as its too new (17 years) and it bothers me...these cars are not replaceable and I would like to know if I had a minor prang its not going to get written off for a £1500 bill.