Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

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Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Charles827si » Tue Oct 09, 2018 9:14 pm

I had a read of the Autocar verdict on their well titled article; - The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/feat ... r-75-coupe
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Oct 10, 2018 9:28 am

There was a similar write-up in Practical Classics a few months ago Charles. I found it a bit more interesting as it had build pictures and more technical stuff than the Autocar blurb. Both magazines are aimed at different markets though.

It amuses me they describe the use of the BMW 3-series coupé roof as "ironic". The 75 V8/ZT-260 was built on a 5-series floorpan, can't really get more ironic than that, especially with a Ford engine! :shock: :lol: :wink: :D
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by guru » Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:51 pm

Really like that, if only.............
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Oct 10, 2018 3:04 pm

guru wrote:
Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:51 pm
Really like that, if only.............
Image

https://www.aronline.co.uk/concepts/con ... rover-700/

If only.................. indeed! :wink: :D
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Charles827si » Wed Oct 10, 2018 4:46 pm

I'll look at the Practical Classics article on this car. Apparently the owner and the car got the design blessings of Peter Stevens, who designed the 2004 75 coupe concept displayed in red. Stevens was particularly impressed, so must be very reassuring for the owner/builder.
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Oct 10, 2018 6:11 pm

If memory serves correctly Peter Stevens actually signed a part of this car for the owner/builder - it's a while since i read the article so might be a different car i'm thinking of. :wink: :D
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Charles827si » Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:42 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Wed Oct 10, 2018 6:11 pm
If memory serves correctly Peter Stevens actually signed a part of this car for the owner/builder - it's a while since i read the article so might be a different car i'm thinking of. :wink: :D
I think some of his designs were really good, like for instance the restyled Lotus Esprit. Think it was the Mk3 of 1987.
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:22 pm

To be honest, i'm not really aware of what he's designed. The Lotus esprit Mk3, wasn't that the one that could be mistake for a Celica from a distance? From the front of course.
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Charles827si » Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:25 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:22 pm
To be honest, i'm not really aware of what he's designed. The Lotus esprit Mk3, wasn't that the one that could be mistake for a Celica from a distance? From the front of course.
Yeah it was that point in the mid/late 80's where car design started to get slightly smoother and rounded when it came to bumper design particularly, which on the Esprit you might say is more obvious in difference over earlier models.
Likewise, the 800 Mk1a had smooth small bumpers that blended neatly with the rest of the car, if you compare to say the Rover SD1.
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:05 pm

When you compare the Mk2 bumpers to the SD1s, the bumpers are a lot larger. Half the reason the MK1a had such "small" bumpers is that because it was joined so tightly with the Legend, it had to meet certain width and length maximums for the Japanese market. When the Legend did well in the USA, they seemed to let go and go for the bigger USA bumpers, hence the later Mk1s and Mk2s having larger bumpers.

Just my theory of course, based on a few facts and a bit of guesstimation.

Certainly by the mid 90s, the Legend had grown more bulbous, as had a lot of other cars on the market, witness the 2/400 from the late 90s that morphed into the 25/45 - market forces dictating bumper/body shapes perhaps?

Then there was the AR18 or the Rover 700 that was destined to be the Mk2 800, which despite being bulbous, was a terrific looking car IMHO :

Image

If only Rover hadn't been under BAe's control at the time, the budget might have been there to develop it further. It would no doubt have gained the Honda C32 & C35 engines from the later Legends so we would have had a 732 and a 735 - definitely two fingers to BMW methinks! :wink: :D
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Richard Moss » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:12 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:22 pm
To be honest, i'm not really aware of what he's designed. The Lotus esprit Mk3, wasn't that the one that could be mistake for a Celica from a distance? From the front of course.
The Excel is probably the car you're thinking of - not a big surprise given that Lotus were working closely with Toyota, using many Toyota mechanical and electrical parts on the car that it, quite probably, the most reliable Lotus ever made.

Lotus were charged with making the Supra handle properly and the relationship worked well for both companies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Excel
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:24 pm

No, definitely the Esprit S3 Richard :

Image

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Esprit

Let me clarify that - it was definitely that one i was thinking of when Charles mentioned the Mk3 Esprit.

DIdn't realise Lotus had given the Supra the "Hethel Treatment" in the handling department. I knew they had tweaked the Isuzu Piazza and the Daewoo Leganza and i believe the Calibra Turbo as well but all of those were linked to GM who of course owned Lotus at one point.

As a total aside, spotted a pic of a Volvo P1800 in Dubai submitted either by you or someone using your name and location in Practical Classics! :wink: :D
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Charles827si » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:37 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:24 pm
No, definitely the Esprit S3 Richard :

Image

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Esprit

Let me clarify that - it was definitely that one i was thinking of when Charles mentioned the Mk3 Esprit.

DIdn't realise Lotus had given the Supra the "Hethel Treatment" in the handling department. I knew they had tweaked the Isuzu Piazza and the Daewoo Leganza and i believe the Calibra Turbo as well but all of those were linked to GM who of course owned Lotus at one point.

As a total aside, spotted a pic of a Volvo P1800 in Dubai submitted either by you or someone using your name and location in Practical Classics! :wink: :D
This looks to be one of the last Esprit's. I'm not sure if there was any specific nameplate after the Mk3, but Lotus changed the bumper design again during the 1990's, particularly for the V8 Esprit.
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by Richard Moss » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:47 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:24 pm
As a total aside, spotted a pic of a Volvo P1800 in Dubai submitted either by you or someone using your name and location in Practical Classics! :wink: :D
Yep, I sent that. They published my photo of an XK120 a few months ago, too - also in Dubai
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Re: Autocar; The man who built a Rover 75 Coupe

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:02 pm

Richard Moss wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:47 pm
scoobyh123 wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:24 pm
As a total aside, spotted a pic of a Volvo P1800 in Dubai submitted either by you or someone using your name and location in Practical Classics! :wink: :D
Yep, I sent that. They published my photo of an XK120 a few months ago, too - also in Dubai
I saw the XK120 as well, was intending to mention it and forgot! :roll:

Are there any more to come? Next issue is due in a couple of weeks time, if so i'll have a look.
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