Don’t apologise for showing rovers, I love seeing these 80/90s cars that you don’t see on the roads anymore. Takes me back to my child hood when these cars were on the road👍🏻

Had an 820 e, 827si, 827 Vitesse and a Sterling, never had a single problem and did many miles . Happy days

Back in 88/89, I owned an 820i saloon. Must say, I think the styling of the MK1 version of the 820's has held up far better than the Mk2restyle.

Nice car and good to hear the Hub Nut reference 👍🏻

I had a 1989 827si, I loved the power, and just how comfortable it was. But cannot forget spending the first few months of ownership tracking down all the rattles from various bits of interior trim. It was awful in that respect, go over a bump and the whole inside of the car rattled. But after fitting lots of foam and mastic behind countless bits of trim, the car was transformed, it really was a pleasure to be in after that, a much more refined experience.

That is lovely. My mother used to work in a Rover garage and was there when these were new on the forecourt. I thought they were fab as a teen. I'd love one now :)

Spent much of my teenage years obsessively studying Tony Pond’s 100mph-average lap of the Isle of Man TT course in a 827 Vitesse. Still in love with that red car he did the 102 mph lap in in 1991

Don't apologise for showing more Rovers. They are far more interesting than many of the bland European White goods going around.

The first car I remember. My dad had an 820i Fastback when I was a kid. Super rare these days, I can't remember the last time I saw one which wasn't the smoothed off facelift, and even those are themselves rare now. Nice to see some up close footage of one again. Reminds me of all the little details I'd almost forgotten about, but everything in the interior is just how I remember it. My love of big fastback type cars hasn't diminished. I still think they look a lot better than saloons. As for what happened to my dad's one, after he bought it he noticed the cylinder head was cracked. Previous owner probably ran it without any coolant. Despite that it soldiered on with basically no major problems for about 7 more years. How it managed that I've no idea, but eventually the crack got too severe and Rover wanted too much for a new head, so that was that. In hindsight he should have got it fixed. It was way better than what came afterwards.

The trouble with the M series in the larger cars was its maximum torque didn't appear until around 4500 rpm, so it felt a bit gutless. One of the major improvements with the T series was to flatten the torque curve, meaning max torque was available at - IIRC - 2500rpm. The M series made more sense in the 220GTi.

Pretty certain it was the multipoint that had 136bhp, the single point was 122 and Hubnut has 100bhp to play with in his M8 (O series carb!)

Many years ago as a young man the company I worked for back then very often sent me out on errands around the country in an 827Si I absolutely loved it great car

Aye mention of hub nut!

I don't think that I would mind this channel having even more Rover content, but then again I have owned about five Rovers from the 1990s and early 2000s, so I could be slightly biased... Fantastic car, though, love the purity of the original XX 800 design!

Even today , I still drive my 1994 800 Vitesse with 400k miles . It still goes like a scalded cat with its turbo charged 2.0 litre engine and it takes all my clobber for my boat including gas bottles , fuel tanks and tools on a round trip of 300 miles each weekend returning 35 mpg . I also drive a late series 3 Daimler v12 but that car is in a different league and only gets used sparingly , the Rover is British , is seen to be British( not forgetting we are out of Europe now and on our own) and its absolutely reliable even with its stratospheric mileage . Both my BMW 7 series fell apart at 150k and a fortune spent on them . The Rover is ten times, nay 100 times the car that BMW ever is .

Not sure if it was ever sold in Australia, but I'd be happy to drive a car with this external style today. Agree with other comments here, it holds up very well today. It has a great feature which cars today seem to be abandoning; a rear window wiper, so in my opinion this puts it ahead of many new cars today.

Lovely, remember coveting a saloon version in the same colour, I had a Montego GTI at the time and it was the logical replacement, got a 2 litre facelift a few years later. With regards to aircon, in 1990 it was still very rare on even quite posh cars, it was mid nineties before it became prevalent. I did have a 1990 Audi 100 2.0 E SE that had it, with a button between the seats and the power to turn the interior into a fridge, when it worked.

Rover Sterlings has a light in the door, the Vitesse oddly did not, but the wiring was there for it, as I fitted them to mine. At that time nothing other than the top end models in any range had aircon, although I have seen an 820 with it, but only one and I’ve seen many!

Good cars, big comfy and lovely to drive. I bought 2 after having the trill of driving an 827sli police car... when i was 21. I bought a k plate vitesse from a salvage auction for 150... with a scratched bumper and v plate sterling auto for 200... the previous owner couldn't mot it as the electric headlamp adjusters had broken... replaced with manual ones for 50! Both needed rear calipers that had seized. The vitesse had electric gremlins that turned off the interior lighting as and when it wanted... but it did behave the day I sold it. The sterling was so smooth and fast and was fully loaded.... electric leather heated seats.. cruise and a.c. They both had window issues and needed to be reset often bit the lazy.lock was so handy... even closed the sunroof from the key fob! After the rivers I went mad and bought an XJR6... that was a monster and money pit but was so much fun espicially when the traction was turned off!!! While the jag needed chains I had a brief affair with a 75 v6 connoisseur.... that had a telly in the dash!! That needed lower arms and the scuttle was full of rain water. Lovely looking car. There is one here on okahandja Namibia where i now live.... that driver is bloody brave.. lol. I'll stick my marina tc coupe tucked away in the garage.... that's another story. All the best from Africa.

My Dad worked for BMG Rover in Kingston (MK) so i used to go to work with him on a Saturday. I remember falling in love with a Red facelift 820. Absolutely loved that car. Funny enough my dad thought I’d fall in love with the Tomcat racing car they had there.

My great uncle had a Rover 827 supercharged , as a little girl in the back of it he took me and my parents to dover from London and at one point on the Motorway was cruising at 110mph it was crazy fast for such a huge car , the supercharger scared me to death when it kicked in too lol

Personally I like this earlier model over the facelifted one which followed.

Big comfy motorway mile eater, with the good old sunroof, sunroof provides air without so much draught and noise than the windows down and much more difficult for prying hands to access the car.

Just watched this, it takes me back. I used to own a 820SE mid 1990s in white .. if you were in hurry you just had put the headlights on and people seemed to move out of the way.🤭 The downside to them was the auto gearbox.. in the winter it just sat spinning its wheels trying to set off up hill in snow.. and a common failure of the auto gearbox itself resulting in having to have the auto box replaced.

Not a bad car at all. The auto was a bit thirsty, nice and spacious with a decent engine. My favourite was the 827i

Absolutely delightful to watch. My father worked for BAe and had Rover 800s as company cars. All his Mark 1 827s were fastbacks, while all his Mark 1.5 were saloons.

What a stunner! Wrap that beast in cotton wool and plonk it in a garage for a few years, then watch the £££££'s roll in! People like you need more than a blue Peter badge, I really take my hat off to you for keeping these legendary cars going. Big pat on the back to ya!

The naming conventions for the Mk1 Rover 800s were: Engine size 820, 825, then 827, then 825 plus 825D for the diesels The base carburettor (8V if memory serves) 820 had 100 bhp (badged 820), the single point injection 16V engine as in this one gave 120 bhp, denoted by the 'e' badging (820e and 820Se). The multipoint injection 820s gave 140 bhp, and were badged 'i' (820i and 820Si). These were all M-Series engines. These engines were replaced when the facelifted model came out in 1991 with a 136 bhp multipoint injection T series engine, which was a development of the M-Series. All models were then badged 'i', with the 'e' being dropped, along with the base carburettor model.

bring backs memories. we had a 1989 G reg in black off the father in law which then led us to buy a 1995 N reg in nightfire red. I remember i became an expert on plastic bumper repairs as my wife used to regular scrape the near side bumper corner on the wall!!

My Dad had a vitesse turbo in green. From memory on an L or M reg. Leather interior, electric everything and was fast! Got written off by a LHD Lorry driver on a roundabout. Even the AC worked which was rare as always bough cars under £600.

Rover given a bad name wrongly, it was the earlier BL specials that was iffy, I’ve had many cars French , German American, last two cars been Rovers and still own one that’s coming up 20 years old , it was 8 years old when I bought it, and still tow with it and still drives sweet and reliable no issues at all 2.0i 16v petrol, know many that’s had new Euro cars and they fall in bits within 5 years! BMW cherry picked mini and what they wanted and shed and stripped Rover of tangible sales of new vehicles.

Absolutely excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I have a 1987 D-reg Rover 820e which is just one above the base model 820 carb-fed model. Mine is an automatic saloon in Silver. I also own a couple of top-spec Mk1 Sterlings. A couple of pointers; in the door is a blanking plate for the lights in the door which higher-spec models had like the Sterling/827Si etc.... The wheels, although Rover 800 wheels are from the Mk2 820 models. The big space below the radio was for the VCM (Vehicle Computer Map) which was basically a large flat-faced computer with a single digital screen for the vehicle map on the left which lit up a silhouette of the car from above and lot up things like if doors/boot were open or lights on, if a bulb didn't work. On the left of that was a load of buttons. It told you MPGs, trip computer, timer etc... all the usual 1980s digital stuff which looked exciting but wasn't really. Alan Partridge did indeed have a couple of 800s. The first one was less famous was supposedly a mk2 820 Vitesse (realistically it was an 820i) The next one he had featured more was an 825 Sterling. In an early episode he referred to owning a Bronze (F-reg ?) Rover Sterling. I'm sure you know this but the Chainsmokers' reference to "Rover" was meant for the Range-Rover. In America the 800 was never referred to as a Rover. It was called the "Sterling" 825 or 827 (Sterling being the "make" and 8xx being the model) as by that time the Rover brand in America had been tarnished by Rovers' badly made products and poor after-care service. Anyway great car. Given the money and a bit more space I'd happily buy that Rover 820Se.

Se single point injunction made around 118hp. I had a G-plate fastback bought when it was 2 years old for about half the new price. The injection was a nightmare to set up to get through the Mot when it went out of adjustment. It was a good motorway cruiser but drank fuel around town. It was mostly reliable but when bits broke, they were expensive to fix... And as you pointed out, no air con but at least you got a sunroof and electric windows all round. The blanking plate in the door was for a light when the door was open, maybe a USA requirement?

Once AGAIN 20 yrs AHEAD of the GERMANS !! BMW 4 Series is Very RETRO ROVER 800 Fastback. Rover 800 is very RETRO 1970's Triumph 2000 / 2500 . putting BMW 4 series in line with it's name 4 Decades Behind in design. Rover 800 / Triumph 2500 ? Slim sleek Comfortable saloons, Fantastic Seats & Loads of WOOD everywhere. Good Power,Perfect Ride. I would have sold it as a Triumph. It's NOTHING LIKE ANY ROVER. ROVERS were always OLD FOLKS CARS. Triumph's were Fresh Good looking 4 door cars that Looked Just like the Famous STAG . Everyone Still LOVES A STAG !! they still look ACE !! & drive very nicely. Would always look better without Window Frames & the " T Bar " . they could have hidden the " T bar " under the car, with stronger sills, & better window frame design. Triumph 2000 Parked Next to a 4 dr Rover 800 ? Same car but with a minor facelift to the 1st glance. BMW 4 series = a chunkier facelifted Rover 800 Fastback. Aimed at the SAME Market sector. Middle Management. 4 / 5 dr Executive cars at an affordable price . 40 yrs on & still not very different.

Parents family car was an 820sli so slightly higher spec with multi point injection. Am sure that blanking plate was indeed filled with an interior light on ours.

Adore these rovers thanks so much for this video! I think aircon would be a stretch, even on a jag in 1990 you didn’t get air con!

The SD1's younger brother! I wish I had one of those. I saw a guy in my local area driving a gold coloured car like this. My friend knows who owns it , as I commented on it when it went past. I have a Rover 75 2.5 V6 . That's my car I chose as I used to have the 2.0 diesel engine version , I sold it to buy a van. Now I'm back in the Roverr club!

when i was at Rover i had to choose a new one of these every three months! they were company cars supplying nearly new at dealers!! Rover at the time were even registering cars so they were delivery mileage cars!! thousands under retail costs!!

Blanking plate in the door cards is for pavement illumination on higher spec models. Trip down memory lane as my dad had 3 of these - plus a Rover 820 Turbo (one of the Tickford turbos) on loan from Rover after a problem - that thing was outrageous!

I like these...they have a very nice look to them!

Loved the vid. My dad had one at the time. I used to drive it. A good car.

Love it. So nearly bought a V6 series 1 on numerous occasions and ended up with an XJ40 or 7 Series. They have long hit rock bottom as you couldn't give them away 5 years ago and now 900 for and average condition a late car and and 1500 to 4k for any early car with an MOT. Keep up the good work and if your at Gaydon in a few weeks pop in and see us on the P38 stand.

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday that worked at the cowley plant , he said the cars were well engineered, in the 80s and 90s but the workers weren’t and just chucked them together if they weren’t moaning about everything and everyone they worked for and going out on strike, they fucked it up for themselves in the end

Had 8 of these from coupe to vitesse sport which to me is the ultimate but unfortunately this model is getting forgotten and also they are all suffering from sill corrosion and nobody seems to be doing a good job of reaparing them

I always wanted a late 800 coupe. Can’t remember the last time I saw one for sale!!!

British Architect. I had one D225MOF, which was a fairly early car, I have seen a few D***MOF registered SD1s, it was the best car I ever owned and a joy in every respect; 2.0 DOHC and pretty good on fuel, never any trouble but why did I sell it? The blanking plate is most likely an interior light, I seem to remember mine having about 15 interior lights.

The thing I liked about these generation of rovers (going back to the early noughties) was that aslong as they weren't rotting for about 400 quid you could get yourself a lot of car. Always loved the seats were so comfy.

Unfortunately none of these Rovers can be trusted apart from the 827 but I did love my 820se at one point in time.

Seem to recall the V6 2.7, which replaced the 2.5, was variously reported as having 167-173hp. I also seem to recall that the higher nos were for the pre-facelift cars.

I had the basic 820i automatic. Always did 30mpg and was a very comfortable and easy driver. Never had anything go wrong with it.

In 1990 exotics from Porsche and GM’s Corvette could be had with a 6 speed manual so hardly a surprise the Rover was 5 speed. By the mid 90s you could get six on the BMW M3/5 and top spec Audi diesels but it wasn’t a mainstream offering till the turn of the century.

See a bit of an MOT repair under the rear offside door.

Interestingly, most UK-built Legends went to the European markets in left-had drive form. So few Legends were sold in the UK during the '80s that it made more financial sense for Honda to build the right-hand drive, UK-market cars on the Japanese production lines alongside Japanese-market cars, also right-hand drive, rather than increase the production facilities to include tooling for right-hand drive cars. So it is quite probably that any right-hand drive UK-built Legends from the '80s that are around may well have originally been sold in the European market to the likes of British military personnel serving with NATO or in overseas postings, though I can't say that I've ever seen a UK-built right-hand drive Legend which would suggest that, like the Rover 800s, not many survive now...

I seem to recall the UK Sterling trim had a down lookin door light

Am I the only one who wants to now buy a rover like this I’m 26 and I’m sure my Mrs would kill me lol oh well eBay here I come

I don’t think the chainsmokers were referring to a Rover of this sort, it’s quite common for range rovers to be referred to as just “rovers” in pop culture now. Would make sense too as the following lyric is “that i know you can’t afford” and range rovers are expensive to buy, run and maintain. Just a thought

Had a late model 820i on hire a long time ago (1998). The engine didn't seem very smooth at start up, not really up to snuff for an exec motor. But once on the move it wasn't bad at all.

I saw these being made at the factory. My father was a copper and the Met Police had a invite to go watch the new 800 series being made to replace the SD1's.

820e best car I ever had I just loved it. I took it to Ireland, France and Italy sorry I ever parted with it!!

Dad used to drive a Montego with a sunroof, that hazard light on the steering column is near identical. No montego's for sale (less than 100 on the road now) but this looks very similar.

Having driven Montegos from 1986 to 1992, I remember taking a 820si fastback out for a test drive. I was surprised as to how little space there was inside - especially how narrow the cabin was; a carry over from the needs of the Japanese. Such a shame, as I’d have bought one otherwise.

6 speed gearboxes didn't come until the 2000s lol. And air conditioning didn't come as standard until the same time either. Hell, I didn't get air conditioning in a company car until 1999 lol.

The door blanking plate had a light, which rarely worked in my SLI I owned back in 1999. Rust was a killer, I managed to break the gear on mine at about 125k. I got it for free, just needed a new battery. Dodgy electrics, doors were fully of rust. The sunroof leaked in a car wash. It has a nice meaty engine note. I think mine was a Twin cam engine. No air conditioning maybe that was only on the 2.7 Vitesse model.

Dated but a handsome car. Looked really old fashioned 20 years ago but has improved with age. On the subject of air conditioning, how many cars do you think had it in 1990? Hardly any. I'm surprised you don't remember tbh. My Dad's 1993 XJ6 3.2 didn't have air conditioning. His 1996 XJ Sport 3.2 didn't have air con as standard and he had to specify it as an option. This optional extra cost £1,900. It was only until the mid to late 1990's that there was widespread adoption of air conditioning in UK cars.

Never apologize for featuring 'too many' Rovers. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. Always loved the Rover 800, and even after all these years, it's still a very handsome car. Would love to run one as a fun car, but struggling to find a decent Automatic. The ones I'm finding are either worn out money pits or quite nice but stupidly over priced. One chap wanted £12k for a Nightfire Red Sterling with 120k on the clock and 3 previous owners! Advertised it as a "certified classic car" whatever the heck that means. Dream on baby, dream on.

And they said we couldn’t build great cars !!!!!!!

6 gears and air con... no chance. Times were hard. Alan also had a Sterling...

I had 3 a 820se like this a 827 sterling and a very quick 820 turbo vitesse lovely cars the roof wobbled when you shut the door though

The blanking plate was for a courtesy light to shine on the floor so you could avoid puddles or see the kerb. My first Rover was the 820SE which also was a 1990 and I loved it. I'm sure it was much faster than 0 to 60 in 12 second though, it was a 16v injected. It also had the party trick if you kept the key turned in the door lock or continued to press the lock button on the fob it would put up all the windows and shut the sunroof. And as you proved the turning circle for the size of the car was really good.

I had a 820si first generation then i bought a 827 last generation, both were good cars. Loved the power of the 2.7 in sports mode!

Didn't get to see in the boot and rear of the car though, should explain details while driving, love all the outside intermittent camera views especially from the roof. 👍👍

I always liked these but prefer the look of the 4 door saloon over the hatchback.

The blanking plate in the door card is for a light My boss in 1989 had a new 827 vitesse did over 200k with it in ten years treated like a tool but it never let him down and I no someone who had a 820 saloon and covered 300k miles and never missed a beat

when i was 17 living in the channel islands the first car i ever bought was a rover 820i in british racing green it was 10 years old and my first car love affair and drove as tight as a drum and the power steering made it feel as light as a mini infact the only issue i had with it was there was a foot rest right next to the clutch so you think your pushing the clutch down and the car stalled because my foot was on the foot rest but other than that it was a brilliant car id be another one today if i needed a car

Styling of these Mk1 820's has dated far, far better than the facelifted version. I bought a 1 year old 820i saloon in 1988. Owned it for 18 months. Encountered not a single problem during that time.

i had a 820 Vitesse cracking car ....

Not sure what has happened in the last two years but this video is a huge contrast to what you currently produce.You seem much more sprightly, happier and slightly frivolous about what you’re doing in this. You have become quite serious of late.

Wonderfully uncomplicated and comfy - an antidote to today’s confusing boxes 😳 good to hear the HubNut reference, watched the 820 vids bur that was really rusty 😔

remembering my one sterling and one 827sli the door blanking plate you mention was a red light, i guess to show show traffic behind you that the door was open.

I had an N reg 820SLI in nightfire Red with air conditioning that worked with a T series engine. Great engine, the electric windows sunroof were a bit dodgy.

One of my favourite reviews by Matt. Third time watching, sad git that I am.

Nicer than Ian's 800. No disrespect hubnut 😁

More Rovers please!

Lovely car love the rover content

I must admit that I do like velour seats and would like them to come back, i personally hate leather and artificial leather upholstery. Mind you, every time I heard velour seats on this and the Vauxhall Omega video, I kept on thinking about captain Zap Branigan from Futurama

Always liked these. Some very tasteful crisp lines which are extinct in contemporary car design.

I had an 820Si, in 1990. Yes it was a nice car to look at and be inside, and drove well if not inspiringly. But the build quality! Oh dear. Here's a list of what failed: Exhaust valves prone to burn out. Had to change the lot in the end. Gearbox went loose and sloppy, tons of backlash. Rear disc brakes cable failure. Rear screen heater fail. Chronic misfiring, never really sorted. Wiper mechanism fell apart. Rust! No wonder Austin Rover disappeared.

hey hey. I had a facelift 827sli 93 - It had those wheels and red lights in the doors. I think Hubnut's one does too. They must of been an optional extra...The 827 was creamy to drive. Very fast with the sports button. But it leaked towards the end. the dashboard came unstuck, wood veneer didn't match..?? Dodgy electrics. The speedo worked when it wanted, but it was a comfy cruiser...

I ask for a Rover 800 video yesterday and as if by magic here it is! Great video - thanks for doing this!

Lovely car indeed. I wish Honda had used that sweet sounding Rover 4 cylinder. Interesting that you mentioned the Acura (Honda) Legend and the Sterling. On the first generation Legend here in North America the Coupé and sedan used engines in different states of tune. The Sterling used the coupé engine. It had more power and torque than the Legend saloon. The downside was that the more powerful engine was not nearly as durable.

The space under the radio was fitted with a computer on the high end models

The music video for the Chainsmokers song shows a Range Rover Evoque, so I assume "Range" wouldn't fit into the song . Sorry to burst your bubble, I thought the same thing also!

This car is currently for sale on eBay. £3999. No mention of the tea-shelf, though.

Always thought these fastback 800's looked great!

Of course, it should be remembered that the coupes were hand-finished. They were almost a Bentley-esque compact coupe. If only they'd had a bit more power on offer. RWD is probably too much to have hoped for.

you mention the need to code the radio, if you can't find the code then that particular stereo can be "decoded" in seconds by tickling the data connector on the back with a wet finger for a few seconds... I'm not joking.

That a mk1.5 as it's got the extended bumpers for the USA I had 3 825 SLi 827 SLi and a Sterling v6 they where beautiful You had a multifunction car computer with display it was amazing no you had 820 820s 820si 820 SLi 827si 827SLi sterling vitesse and 820 turbo The bland on the door was a light you got it in the UK on the Si and above. It drive very nice

Would have been good to see the Montego with this rear hatch treatment; I wonder how many sales it lost to the Sierra & Cavalier hatch.

I love the look of this car. The angular back end and tail lights look similar to a Mercedes 190e. I love the old square angular cars of the 80s and 90s

I just like the way it’s put together. I see what you mean. As they go out of the ausfahrt.