A brace of Mk1c's

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mjc9967
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A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:11 pm

Repeating post from my "Your Cars" thread here in case anyone misses it there, and because it also contains my recently acquired Nordic Blue car*:

Just had the bucket and sponges out (and a bit of interior cleaner for the red car), here are some results showing both my Mk1 H reg 820i's together - I know, what are the chances of having 2 identical ones?

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Hope they display OK enough to enjoy :D

(In case you're wondering about the gaps, the bonnets are latched open from the cleaning)

* The Nordic Blue car is the one that I was enquiring about here: http://www.rover800.info/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=14388, after a very improbable journey with the help of some very kind folk, including our own Richard Moss, I managed to buy it a few months ago - long story!
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 8:42 pm

Looking good there Mark! You repeated your post, i thought i'd do the same ! :lol:

Joking aside, it's a very rare sight to see two identical models except for colour. As Nordic Blue was so rare on the Mk1, is it possible your car started life as part of a fleet order and the customer got a discount on the basis of "they got what they were given"?
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:45 am

Interestingly Dave my much lamented previous Nordic Blue Mk1 owned 1993-96 (identical to the one here except manual) was a fleet car for its first 3yrs before I got it, so you never know...

You thinking how would anyone making a personal brand new purchase have enough info to order it themselves?
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:46 am

That's part of the theory Mark - if the colour looked bad in the brochure then private buyers may well have avoided it.

Fleet buyers ordering say 1000 units at a time (for example a car hire company) might say to Rover "We'll have 1000 cars, 100 of each colour and we want 20% discount" assuming 10 colours of course. Rover might then say they could have 20% discount if they took whatever colours they were given and used up the Nordic Blue paint on them.

A friend on the Volvo forum who runs his own business recently bought 3 Isuzu pick-ups to replace dead Vivaro vans. He went to his local dealer and found 2 in the right spec in dark blue - potentially an unpopular colour for a pick-up. They were the last two in that dark blue in the country so had to settle for a dark grey one in the right spec.

Fleet orders seem to have historically attracted the "unpopular" colours, presumably so manufacturers have a reason to use the paint up - they give the buyer a discount and offload the dodgy colours on them.

It's also a good loss-leader - give a big discount for fleet buyers and give them all the unpopular colours in the hope private buyers will see the colour in the flesh and find they like it.

Those are my theories anyway Mark, whether right or wrong they're plausible enough to be possible. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:00 am

That all sound eminently reasonable Dave.

The shame in this case is it is actually a cracking colour in the flesh - this car turns way more heads than my others, have had people stop in their tracks, change direction, stand in the middle of the road looking as I drive away around a curve in the road.

Oh well, I was lucky to come across the first one, now I have really been smiled upon to do it twice! :D
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:13 am

Not wishing to put a downer on the colour Mark but have you also considered the fact it's in great condition for a Mk1 and when did you last see a Mk1 on the road? Excluding yours obviously!

They're pretty thin on the ground now and people are beginning to remember them with the fond, misty-eyed nostalgia that puts them well and truly in classic territory. As such any old 800 will get similar looks, even if in slightly rougher condition. Maybe not so long and lingering as yours gets because of the condition but you get the idea. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:19 pm

Well, yes, but my nightfire car is prob in better condition having been fully restored a few years back and I can't remember the last time anyone seemed to visibly notice it when I was out and about in it. Same for my green Mk2, which is probably in the best condition of the 3 cars.

It's not an amazing colour of its own accord, persay, and it sure did not look all that in the fold out chart in the brochure, although there was a picture of it at speed in the last Mk1 brochure that I thought looked quite nice. But something about it on a Mk1 fastback in coordination with the interior grey visible through the windows and tail lights, especially in fading daylight conditions really sets it off in a way my other colours don't. In contrast to thisI usually feel the red in the rear light cluster and no plate surround rather clashes with nightfire, much as I love that colour in other ways.

It's hard to explain, when I bought the first one back then I was far from convinced I liked the colour at all. I bought it because it was the better car in other ways. It didn't take me long to notice it in changing light conditions (dusk, with tailights on is lovely to look at), it is a deceptively dynamic colour.

Have seen it on a couple of Mk2's, for some reason didn't think it came across so well on those. Maybe the sharper corners and angularity of the Mk1 body shape provide greater light and shade contrast where the Mk2 is that bit more rounded off in general.

99% of people still see it as grey where I see blue! Maybe that has something to do with my lust for it... :D


Anyway, no matter, makes me feel a million dollars when its clean and shiny and driving it, and for that I am really grateful :D
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:39 pm

Can't argue with any of that Mark and i know what you mean about the Nightfire clashing with the red of the number plate surround etc. Maybe the Nordic Blue gets noticed more because it is an unusual colour in the great scheme of things, there are loads of red cars around of varying shades/names so maybe that's why your red one isn't noticed so much.

Also agree with what you're saying about different colours suiting different cars better. For example, gold and silver are two of my favourite colours on the 800 but on a Mk1 i'd pick silver over gold and on a Mk2 it would have to be gold with (i think it's Caribbean) blue as the second choice and silver third.

On the subject of colours and making things look different, have you ever noticed on the Mk2 that the Prestige wheels actually look quite good on darker cars (Oxford and Midnight Blues for example) yet look utter cack on light cars? :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:19 pm

Ah yes, Caribbean Blue - like a blue version of nightfire. Never owned that colour but did see one Mk1 f/back (820Si or SLi I think it was) at auction back in the day and boy it looked good! I always thought Quicksilver on a Mk1 was pretty good, until I briefly owned one, then did not like it so much as I thought. Just goes to show (in my case at least) that we may not like what we think we do in advance of actually having it...

Yes if it's Mk2 prestiges they look OK when sparkly and new on a darker car, but they always got crudded up too much too quickly for me. I've also always found they remind me bit of a dustbin lid on the wheel, not sure quite why, that's just the image that comes to mind for me with those.

Mk1 prestiges go beautifully on a Mk2 saloon (as in my case), not sure they work quite so well on a Mk1 fastback, where I think late Mk1 lattice wheels are the bees knees (as on my nightfire car). The sliver car I mention above had Mk1 prestiges, nice wheels but somehow didn't look great on it. Could have been because it was a silver car and the wheels just did not stand out properly.

This brings me to a bit of a dilemma. The nordic car has 14" steel wheels with the correct trims, as Cowley intended, and I don't think they look half bad - all original and correct etc. BUT, I have a very rare full set of 16" Mk1 prestiges which I could refurb and use on it, but a) lattice wheels go better on a Mk1 f/back and b) the Nordic car is utterly original in every way. Or should I try and find a 2nd set of lattices for this car...?

Hmmmm, decisions decisions.....
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:40 pm

My first 800 was an 820 Si (Sli?) saloon in Moonraker and my second, an 827 Sterling (obviously a saloon as back then Sterlings were saloons, Vitesses were fastbacks) was in Quicksilver and both cars looked fantastic to me. Used to get a lot of admiring glances in the Sterling, not so much the 820.

I get the grass is greener idea about thinking a colour would look good until you own one. Got countless examples of that over the cars i've owned! :lol:

As for the wheels on your Nordic Blue one, take them , the nuts and the trims off, store them very carefully and keep them for show use only.
Then invest in a set of aluminium spigot rings, 67.1-64.1mm and buy yourself a set of Volvo S/V40, 98-02 four-stud fitment alloys, fit the right size tyres (195/65/15 or 205/55/16) and use those.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Wheels-with- ... ition=3000

Some examples there, you can often pick up a set of 4 or 5 for £50-70 in need of minor refurb, rub them down and paint them basically! Use and abuse them as they are easily enough found/replaced, unlike the RS 7-spokes that a "while-u-w8" type tyre place killed with a windy gun on my Rovers! :evil:

You'll obviously need some wheel nuts, if you can get the nuts off the Volvo donor as part of the deal, all sorted. If not :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M12-x-1-5-19m ... 1438.l2649

It just so happens they fit Rover 800s and Volvos so n need for a separate set on the Volvo rims. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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mjc9967
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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:04 pm

What - non Rover wheels on an 800?? Go and wash your mouth out immediately!

Interestingly, (to me only, prob!) my first ever R800 was an 89F reg 820Se manual saloon in Moonraker Blue as well. Had a couple of scuffs and scrapes, mainly on front bumper as I recall. Didn't hate it but didn't love it either.

I hadn't yet realised that what I really wanted was Mk1c fastback, bigger bumpers, classier badges and model scripts, nicer bluey grey interior fascias. All in all, a perfect package. Then again, this was early 1992 so they would have been 1.5yrs old max (late 1990 was the start of 91MY), and being only 19 going on 20 those newest ones were out of my price range.

I have to admit my nightfire car never really got a proper interior clean (owned it about 10yrs now - doesn't time fly!) The dash and door trims, whilst light grey, had a very very slight brown tinge under certain light conditions, something I always put down to the interaction of the colour with the brighter red showing through from the bonnet outside.

Until, yesterday that is, I wielded a can of matt finish foam cleaner yesterday. Wish I'd done it years ago! Bluey grey interior utopia restored! There are still some small spots of more stubborn markings, the foam spray is good for general dirt layer in the grain texture but think I need to find something stronger (solvent based perhaps?) for the spot markings.

Trouble is, the nordic car interior is almost perfect so now drawing my attention to these things on the nightfire one.
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:58 pm

mjc9967 wrote:
Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:04 pm
What - non Rover wheels on an 800?? Go and wash your mouth out immediately!
NO!!!!!! :lol:

Image

Those are "Craters" made for Volvo by BBS - as i'm sure you'll agree they don't look out of place. In fact Rover themselves used a similar design (but with 7 "hairpins" instead of 8 ) on later MG models. I've got a set of what's known as "Teleston" alloys on my Sterling which at the moment still have Volvo centre caps - with Rover centre caps they wouldn't look out of place either. Can't find the photo though, i think it's been "photobucketed".
I did hunt high and low for a set of RS 7-spokes to replace the damaged sets but the nearest i found was one wheel and that was £80 plus carriage or collection.

It's amazing how much of an improvement cleaning or fitting newer/cleaner trim makes. Again the photos are hiding somewhere but i have some of when i fitted later/better seats, carpet etc to my Coupé, totally transformed it. My Sterling is due another major deep clean internally, like you i've had that just over 10 years (bought it 29/2/2008) so some things haven't been cleaned as well as they should have been.

However i've got some new door cards and a replacement carpet (from a Mk1 in fact, Atlantic Blue carpet) to fit and i've done a few little "tweaks" to improve the aesthetics. Full pics will follow in my own thread when it's done.
Like you, i found when i improved one, the lack of improvement on the other niggled.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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mjc9967
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Re: A brace of Mk1c's

Post by mjc9967 » Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:40 pm

Had a go at a little night photography just now:

Image

It could be my screen but I'd say the nightfire is a little more deep and rich in real life...
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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