when I was driving home from work in 2008 I went to pass the garage that's had one of these cars in for sale £700. It was exactly the same car but on a T Reg and it was gunmetal grey metallic or whatever their grey was called? it was a beautiful car in I thought it was a bargain and I bought it there and then. I spent £70 in 2008 to have it valet it properly and it came up beautifully. Massive car inside it felt spacious so you could fit an entire city in it? ok maybe a small village😂.A lot of car for the price., and the seats were excellent. I remember it was quite reasonable on fuel. overall brilliant car fully enjoyed it and I wish I still had it.

Another cracker of a video. 👌

My current everyday car is my 800 vitesse fastback M reg and with 400k on the clock . Its a tired old girl now but still reliable , wonderful to drive and good on fuel It replaced my 7 series BMWs that both of them went to scrap at 150k miles as electronic issues manifested themselves to the point of madness and nobody could guarrantee a fix even BMW themselves . My Rover has been a loyal companion for 4 years of hard motoring ever since . Problems have been mOT time , with steering components obscolete and have to be bespoke made , even now my front engine mounting is shot and cant source anywhere but that aside its been excellent luxury motoring every bit as nice as the 7's ever were .and dare I say totaly superior in every respect to the 75 model that superceded the 800.

Excellent review of the 90s Flagship Rover. The big bumpers were part of the USA inspired facelift Rover release that never eventuated. They are very rare cars now and are a good modern classic if you can find a good example. Plastic fittings if they break are unobtainable and the clear coat is prone to disintegrate.

I want a 620ti, still great looking car, hugely practical

Thank you sir for your rather spectacular! Content

Always really liked these, probably my favourite Rover. A facelift 800 Vitesse, it just looks “right”. And this coming from a Ford guy 😮

I can think of the correct word for it. Splendid.

Excellent review and video Paul 🚗🚙🚘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👏👏👏🍻

Very good review capn. Beautiful looking car in that blue. I was lucky enough to own one for a few years. It was a stonker of a car. I also had the 2.5 V6 sterling manual gearbox. I had the Rover full body kit put on it lol. A body kit on a sterling? You bet 😊. The 2.7 V6 vitesse was my favourite though. The V6 growl and it flew really well fir a big car. Had loads of fun in that one. All 3 of my 800's were reliable and trouble free.

I had one of these did a few upgrade had it worked on by Moto-build racing a proper sleeper. Also had the 2 door and the 827 vitti 👍👌👌

If I owned one I'd have to get a little sticker on the rear window coOk pAss Babtridge 😉 love these!

Word's of wisdom. As usual. 👍👍

An ex-Rover Group management car by the looks of it. As you said, the acceleration is deceptively progressive; when I drove mine I would often think I'd eased up to legal cruising speed only to glance at the speedo to discover I was a good 20-30mph over.

Jeez 🤤🤤🤤 that is probably one of my dream classics. Just everything Rover and 90s. 😊 I would have done exactly the same thing and take it back to my Grandad's in Worsley and just feel the atmosphere and the nostelgia ❤😄

It was most definitely a pretty car, my preference being the hatchback version. Something i wanted, but couldn't afford when they were current in the 90's ❤

I had a pre facelift 95 M saloon back in the mid 2000s. Bumpers were all body colour. Absolutely adored it and I only sold it to buy another Sapphire RS Cosworth, that I shouldn't have bought. The t16 is a good engine, but the pistons I am told like to melt over 12psi, but mine was fine at that. I had a 97 R 620ti a bit later and it was not a patch on the 800. Would definitely love another, preferably a face lift saloon.

It was unfortunate they killed of the T series for emission reasons. I would like to have seen it in the Freelander and the 75. I miss Roger but am glad he went to someone who cares he put thourth another Mot. Roger would waft alone the Road i love the noise from under the bonnet. 😊

IMO, early fastback was the best looking... it was the most SD1-like.

Mid-ish 2000's my Grandad had 2 800s....1st a 825D then a 820 SLI auto, which I drove...lovely cars. I'm more of a luxury end of the 800 person rather than the Vitesses

lovely

I do like the 800,s as well .

Takes me back to 2003 when I had mine . Exactly the same Oxford blue 99 vreg saloon vitesse best car I ever had miss it dearly.

Lovely car 😎👍

it's so weird seeing my local area on youtube.

The extreme narrowness was actually a Japanese DOT requirement, I remember reading somewhere Ford had to squeeze Cortina MK4 and MK5 bodyshells in a huge press in order to sell them in Japan 😂

I think its a very underrated car and somewhat overlooked by many it is a excellent all round family cruiser

@13:03 V434XOG with V453XOG in the background, both in Oxford Blue. I always liked the 800s. I remember the first three years of the 800 (1986 to 1989) had shorter length plastic bumpers that cracked in the corners when the weather got too cold.

I had the opp to buy the Vitesse coupe back in the day but decided to keep my MR2 mk1 instead. Lovely car though and the prettiest of the lot imho...

Rover had. astrong range of cars in the early/mid '90s IMO. 16v engines; the 2.0 multi-point injection had 140bhp.

Morning having watched this video I'm glad I got the 750i rather than holding out for the blue 800 in your yard

Nice test drive and video. It’s a rather cool car.

Thanks

Progressive electronic boost controller made it a comfortable turbo, but if you liked getting hit over the head with boost change to a manual for all the boost all the time. Andy Nichols had an 800bhp 25 drag car with a t series engine.

I had an 800 Vitesse fastback when i was about 20 - what a car. The gearbox failed sadly.

Panels always seemed a little thin for a car that was suppose to be top of the range .

My favourite is the Vitesse Coupe.

Lovely cars, I always preferred the saloon to the fastback as well. I believe Andy Nichols had around 700+bhp in his Maestro (now retired I think?) And at one point over 900bhp in his ZR. Admittedly not factory in any respect but still based on the same block, crank and head! Bonkers.

I really like a rover 800. As a kid when the fastback came out it was like nothing I had seen before , a car I admired. I could see my self in that one that's for sale. Imagine if they had made a rover 800 estate , the size the thing would be . My dad got close ish lol, in 1986 he bought a montego estate in targa red. He knew an employee and wangled their discount . Anyway very nice review thanks capitano. 🙂 I was a windscrotter fitter back in the day and if an 800 had had a windscreen before they were a right pain to get out. Mustard have you ever considered trying to redo a headlining ?.

I often miss my 800s, often wonder what the 75 would have been like with the T-series instead of the K-series.

Someone dropped £24k on that brand spanking new from 1996-2000

I had a 1994 Vitesse Sport. Unfortunatley I had lots of issues with it such as gearbox bearings, dodgy electrics (Windows and sensors) and poor build on the inside (dash lift, rattles). Shame as it looked and drove well.

I had an ex girlfriend who told me about her dad's 'Ver-tessy' that he owned. I thought it must be some rare Italian 60s sports car... 🤔

You want one now, don't you?

I'd say that's the one. That's the family wagon. Sell a kidney and buy it. Aaaahhhhaaaa!

The design of the steering wheel is awful as hell!!! I used to have a 414 gsi for 10 years

My cats breath smells like cat food.

This looks a very nice example of the 800, I am sure it will be sought after at a reasonable price. In a way it is a handsome car but I was never quite convinced by the looks which I think, due to the length, seems a bit ungainly and out of proportion. Of course it is based on a Honda and I think it appears more Hondary than Rovery! Also I am not sure about a big Rover with a turbo. Roveryness is refinement and cruising along. There's a quote from somewhere where the question is posed, 'Just how much power is the Rolls Royce?' The brilliant answer was 'adequate' and that is my feeling about Rover. To me, turbo implies loud lairyness; a big old Rover saloon needs a large but slightly lazy engine, like the Rover V8, and balls to the fuel consumption! 😁 Having said all the above, I do quite like the car!😀