THE ROVER 75 AT 25

On the 20^th October, the Rover 75 will celebrate its quarter-century – a fact that seems impossible to many classic enthusiasts of a certain vintage. For many of us, including this writer, it seems to be almost yesterday that Mr. J Clarkson reported on the Rover's launch for Top Gear -

Project R40's role was to replace both the 600 and 800. BMW acquired Rover in 1994, and their financing greatly benefitted the new model. Rover's CEO stated the 75 was their first product developed in recent years without compromise, and the timing of its launch was vital. Car referred to the 75 as "Rover's last chance saloon", and The Telegraph described owners "wandering from one closing franchised dealer to another simply to have their cars serviced". A company employee told The Observer the 75 was the "visible, tangible proof of the future of Rover" – the firm's losses then anointed to £300 - £400 million per year.

However, BMW's financial input had resulted in a £250m virtual rebuild of the Cowley plant. By late 1998, the press reported it was en route to reaching the parent company's quality and production targets. The 75 embodied the new regime at 'Rover Oxford' and sported a deliberately 'retro-look', which appealed to some motorists, while others muttered comments such as "the spirit of the Wolseley 16/60". Jonathan Glancey ranted in The Guardian:

The instruments of the new Rover 75 are hideous and silly. What are they meant to be? Ladies' watches from a second-rate manufacturer bought from a street trader during the Second World War? Only they're not as good as that.

But from a 2023 perspective, the 75's décor seems subtle and appropriate for its intended market. Andrew English wrote in The Telegraph that it was "a very fine-looking car indeed, easily the match of the sleek new Jaguar (S-Type), with just the right amount of retro-feel without being gooey and misty-eyed about the past". Autocar similarly thought the firm could "be proud of the manner in which it managed to create a distinctive and clear cut identity for the 75 without it feeling contrived or overdone". What Car declared it their Car of the Year; the editor described the 75 as "a truly sensational car!".

Sales began in June 1999, and the BBC reported, "The car will be officially launched to the sound of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on London's South Bank on Wednesday. The orchestra will play a 10-minute piece composed by former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart, and will include the sound of 75 Rover 75s honking their horns". The entire scenario sounds as if the late great Vivian Stanshall devised it – indeed, he might have felt quite at home in a Rover 75. Meanwhile, Alexei Sayle mused for Car:

It was the best of Rovers, it was the worst of Rovers. It took us 3000 miles, silently and safely, wrapped inside an interior sumptuous to the point of silliness. However, it is funny looking and a funny size, the Rover 75, seemingly not much bigger than a Mondeo and not entirely suited to the sort of old Rover pumped-up plushness. In a car of such modest proportions, it was as if a team of surreal burglars had entered your house and rammed a three-piece leather suite, a giant-screen TV, a boss stereo, a highly-polished mahogany sideboard and a load of cream-faced clocks into your small back bedroom.

75 enthusiasts may not agree with Mr. Sayle's aesthetic judgements, but he also wrote: ". Rover trumpets the 75 as the best front-drive car ever, and in my fairly limited experience it is right".

In 2000, BMW sold Rover to the Phoenix Consortium and shortly afterwards 75 production moved to Longbridge. The rather elegant Tourer joined the line-up in 2001 as the first factory-built large Rover estate-car - the P6 Estoura was the coach-built product of FLM Panelcraft. The Observer described it as a beautifully conceived and truly handsome beast" and concluded, "what a relief to at last have a great reason to 'Buy British'".

But, as all Rover devotees know, in April 2005, Phoenix called in the administrators. Surviving examples of the 75 deserve to be celebrated as a car of charm, presence and ability – in other words, a vehicle in the true Rover tradition. Even if a dapper young James May disapproved of its retro appearance -