Ive owned a lot of Rovers, 800's included and the Vitesse (sport) seems to bring all that is good, and bad about Rover together. The electrical problems stay, as does endless rattles and squeks. The trim, while pretty simply isnt fitted properly. BUT, mechanically they are sound. Infact underneath the rattles the car is superbly assembled (thanks to a mix of honda and Rover) Its strong, easily repaired from impacts and very reliable. The best bit about the sport tho is the way Rover have done there own thing and dropped the honda engine, steering and suspension setups. The result is a shockingly competent big car. The T16 turbo ...  Read the complete review

Rover 820 Vitesse Sport I've owned 3 of these cars. I'd have another any day; although I've no intention of ever getting rid of my current one-a 1998 saloon model in British Racing Green. The Vitesse has been described as a poor man's Bentley (at least, the very scarce coupe version has) and while it's not quite as prestigous as a Bentley, a well kept Vitesse represents a far sounder investment than, say, a Jaguar XJ of around the same age. All cars depreciate, and big, thirsty cars do it best, so why buy a Jaguar that will cost you increasingly huge sums to run and maintain (and probably repair. A lot.) when less cash gets you something just as ...  Read the complete review

I've owned '95 a Vitesse Sport Lux for two years. This is quite a rare version of the 800 in that it's specced out like a Sterling but has a 210bhp 2 litre turbo engine ( the same one you get in the 620ti ). I bought it from a main rover dealer when it had 30,000 miles and the depreciation had taken it from £25,000 to £9000 so I reckoned I got a bargain. It had everything I wanted at the time - it's very fast, with a top speed of 150mph and tremendous power through the mid range ( grp 17 insurance means it also attracts hefty premiums ) . Its got a full leather interior, electric everything and a 6 disc cd-player. On the ...  Read the complete review

I dont deliberately defy conventional thinking and make left-field choices just to prove people wrong. Rather I am a free thinker and like to experience life's pleasures and challenges for myself. So maybe thats why I bought my first Rover 820 Mk1-against all "advice". The car itself in very placid but smart RAF blue metallic (you know the colour) all safe and unthreatening looking, a bit like an M & S suit. The overall paintwork finish was pretty good for a Rover; deep and sleek like they say in the Berger advert. Panel work was pretty acceptable too and definitely not as bad as legend persists. Interior wise you are presented with ...  Read the complete review

So the time came when I wanted to fulfil another of lifes ambitions and own a Jaguar. After about a year of enjoyable albeit expensive motoring the time came to change. 18 to the gallon just to go to work was a bit expensive on top of Southamptons ridiculous car park charges (£6.00per day) Anyhow getting back to the subject in hand I did a straight swap through Ebay of my 1990 XJ40 for a 1992 Rover 820 4 door automatic. Since that day I haven't looked back having since owned a 1994 5 door hatch 820 (bought on Ebay for £400 and then a 1997 Rover 820 again bought on Ebay for £500. It may seem that I change cars more often than England win at football, but this is purely .  Read the complete review