www.mg-rover.org/articles/showart.php?ArtID=524
I reckon this looks pretty good - only thing is it's a bit too "new Audi" with the front grill (looks like No Dosh's goatee*).
Still a nice looking motor though, I'd definitely buy one over a Beemer or Merc. Would probably prefer a Jag to any of them though. If they chuck in some stonking engines for us dervheads as well as petrolheads, I'd say it would be a success. In fact, given the paucity of derv coupes for those like me who wouldn't buy any other kind of engine, that could be a key to success for them.
*Ok, I freely admit I ripped off that joke from the Sniff Petrol website ;)
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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I said there were some announcements due.
Audi have the 'Neuvolari', Rover have the P5B as their inspiration, which with the large grille and coupe shape pre-dated Audi's existance as a marque by a few decades.
So I think Rover have the heritage to the grille and shape.
The concept is based on the RWD 75 platform and also looking at the twin exhausts, V8.
So a Rover V8 Coupe..... hmmm, nice.
There is much more to come in terms of new concepts, this is just the first announcement.
As a concept, this is fully working car. Some pics of the interior are due soon, expect real wood, leather trimmed dash and some Rover opulence.
As for engines there is the 5.0L 385Bhp V8 that is now in production with the SV-R, the 4.6 260Bhp in the ZT260 and Rover V8.
Also there are rumblings of a 2.5 V6 supercharged which should be good for 220Bhp.
However, Rover have always configured their V8s for torque not peak power, definitely more useful.
As for diesels, they lack a punchy engine above 2 litre, the Ford/PSA 2.7L V6 diesel would suit this car perfectly. Fat chance of getting it though.
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why am i seeing visions of the oh so popular rover 800 coupe???
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be still thy cynical tongue, Mr Haddock, for thou hast heard the word of the last of the true believers in the Church of Rover
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Didn't know Rover had used that grille shape before - a bit before my time!
3500S, do I remember you telling us that Rover had its own (2.2 litre?) diesel engine in development to replace the BMW 2.0 unit? Even that should be enough for this car - any modern diesel developing 150+ bhp should be great - I think the Mondeo ST TDCi has something like 154. As for the more upmarket diesel engines, I would only see the likes of the PSA 2.7 V6 as the top of the ladder - there should be something a little further down the scale for us mere mortals! If Audi can supply the A4 coupe with the 1.9 PD engine, I can't see there being too much of a worry if Rover has a diesel between 2.0 - 2.5 litres.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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New diesel engines coming soon - note the plural - and not Rover's own (although I believe these are in development too).
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Now that really is quite unpleasant to look at. And I don't mean the goatee grille.
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What don't you like about it? The goatee is the only thing I'd change, I like the lines.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Front quarter view good. Very Bentley. Like that. Then my eye is drawn to the..... Oh My God, what is going on with those side windows? Totally out of proportion, making the cabin look smaller than I suspect it is. Much smaller. I kept looking for the joins to show it was an Astra coupe midsection photoshopped on to a R75. That huge swathe of rear wing/boot makes the rear wheel appear to be too far forward. It looks unbalanced.
No, not my bag at all.
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Have to admit I did think it was a bit photoshoppy at first - I was thinking Audi TT cabin rather than Astra. Can't see the problem with the rear wheel position though - must be a personal preference thing.
Thinking about it, I might still prefer an MG ZT or R75 with a more powerful diesel - two extra doors are handy!
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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it still looks like an 800 coupe to me - but with a very nasty grill!
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It looks like a more modern Bentleyu Continental to me - the back even more so.
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Adam
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this looks a real quality package.
if it makes production, i hope rover only do so on a small scale to fight of depreciation.
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Both decent enough concepts but at the end of the day basically a bit of a lash up of two ageing cars which, whilst a clever way of squeezing an extra few thousand units out of old designs, not exactly what MGR needs to halt their decline.
The 75 coupe has been mooted before (first in 2000) and whilst it brings back memories of the 800 coupe the 75 is a much better base in the 1st place than the 800 so might hopefully be a bit more competitive.
I can't help but think MGR would better devoting all their efforts & remaining money to the new medium sized platform and new diesel engines rather than 75 coupes, rear drive ZT's, expensive SV's and coupe versions of the MGF/TF which add little to the bottom line in terms of profit or sales and are all pretty much the sort of things Alchemy would have done.
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RD/X60's bases are all covered and the partnerships for the new gearboxes and diesel engines are progressing nicely.
As for the 75 'aging', the platform is only just in its middle age. For another Rover parallel, I don't think anyone was complaining when the SD1 Vitesse came out in '84. As for not halting their decline..... the coupe would be very easy to federalise for a certain overseas market. It is also no coincidence that the 2.5L V6 has been shoehorned into the MG GT.
And the 75 and TF are their most profitable cars as well, so broadening the range makes a lot of sense.
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Wasn't implying these don't make sense - they do and extracting a few thousand extra sales from existing models by clever derivatives is what MGR in its various guises has been consistantly doing for nearly 20 years.
My point is these are pretty much distractions from the wider questions being asked about MGR's future. They need RD/X60 in a showroom if sales are not going to completely collapse in the next 12 months.
These are two fairly old cars, even if the underlying platform might have a lot of life left. The SD1 is from a different era when models weren't replaced every 6-7 years max.
Look at the production length of many current models: The Ford Focus lasted just 6 years (1998-2004), current 3-series 7 years (1998-2005), Toyota Corolla Verso 2 years (!) etc. The thing is, these cars are replaced this often not because they aren't any good but because the car market is as much a fashion contest as anything else and many buyers are unwilling to own an identical car twice. The 45 isn't actually a terrible car but absolutely nobody wants one or even to be seen driving one.
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Now that really is quite unpleasant to look at. And I don't mean the goatee grille.
Yours must be the first comment of disapproval I've read about the way this car looks. Are you absolutely sure you clicked on the right link? ;)
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Positive thanks. Perhaps you're not looking in the right places?
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Audi have the 'Neuvolari', Rover have the P5B as their inspiration, which with the large grille and coupe shape pre-dated Audi's existance as a marque by a few decades. So I think Rover have the heritage to the grille and shape.
Hmmm....I don't think the "goatee" 75 V8/Coupe grille actually resembles the P5B grille much at all. The P5B grille was wider than it was tall, had vertical slats and a prominent central spar up the full height of the grille. The V8 grille (I'm guessing the Coupe is identical) is approximately square, is mesh, and has a number plate in the middle!
Having said that, the new Audi grille doesn't really look much like that of the Auto-Union racers that supposedly inspired it either...
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It's a bit like polishing the lifeboats on the Titanic.
Except that people were fighting one another to get into the lifeboats.
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The titanic had only a few minutes warning before it hit the iceberg.
Rover has had years of warning that it is heading on a clear path towards towards the no-new-models beach
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