My parents had an identical car, but in targa red. Everyone who went in it commented upon its smoothness and quietness. Ultra smooth little EV2 loved to rev and sound great. An equivalent Vauxhall or Ford felt rough and brittle by comparison.
It was lovely to drive, surprisingly punchy and easy to handle, in spite of the lack of power steering. I understand why my grandfather bought one. Much smoother than a Maestro, much as I love them!
Oh Joseph this has made my day. I have been waiting so long for an SD3 review. Before my Grandad had Rover R8's he had both pre and post Facelift SD3's The nostalgia is running wild.
I'm glad to find a fellow relatively going chap so enthused about what could be perceived as ancient, mundane cars. To me, they're just so interesting and I can't explain why.
Those 213 Honda engined cars were a pleasure to drive and very reliable. On the secondhand market sellers would say 'with the Honda engine' to distinguish it from the unreliable oil leaking Leyland 1.6. Unfortunately they did have rust issues.
Yes, pretty bad rust issues! You are right, the R8 was much the same in terms of how the Honda D-Series was perceived in comparison with the K-Series engine.
I love these cars and have done for about 30 years great memories of the car if i had a driveway or a garage i would have one tomorrow and keep it forever . This car is a great example and in good condition too. great review 👏
Liked this even more than I thought I would. Smooth, comfortable quality product. Why buy a base model BMW 316 with no options when you could have a top of the range Rover SD3. The Vitesse and the Vanden Plas very desirable cars. Love it. Richard Bucket was a Car Guy, Who would have thought it?
This brings back memories of my Auntie Heather & Uncle Frank who had both the pre & post facelift models of this, me my brother & older cousin riding in the back. At least unlike Mr Bouque, you don't have Hyacinth being an insufferable Back Seat Driver 😆
I did enjoy this one very much indeed! That is right, I didn't have Patricia Routledge in the car with me, which was a lot better. Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
Hardly ever see these, I inherited my granddad’s cream 213 and ran it for a few years with a green replacement door until the rust killed it and it wasn’t worth the work for the MOT. It was a gutsy little beater perfect to leave on a London street. Thanks. Great trip down memory lane. I quite liked the interior features too.
Funnily enough, my grandfather also had a cream 213, but it was an automatic! The rust on these was absolutely atrocious, wasn't it? Glad that this was also a nostalgic trip for you too!
Hello Joseph , A friend of mine who worked at a Rover garage in the 80s and he said to me that when Honda came along with their design and engines , gearboxes that Rovers stopped breaking down and they never gave any trouble.
I am ever so sorry, but once again the RU-vid algorithm seems to have hidden your comment for almost two years, so please accept my apologies for being slow to respond!
It is unfortunate that I see this as a rebadged Honda, but I am not surprised of the driving experience. I can see the blanking plug under the fan switch where the a/c switch would be (if it could be equipped as such, and definitely equipped on US Honda Civics). Keeping Up Appearances and One Foot In the Grave are excellent British comedies, especially the later, and love the references! Thank you Joseph for this review!
Yes sir, very similar to the Honda Ballade of the time, which was actually used in One Foot In The Grave, although they were very rare in this country. You are right, lots and lots of Honda switchgear indeed! I don't think even the Vanden Plas had standard air conditioning, sadly...
@@lloydvehicleconsulting I would have thought air conditioning would be an option, although I understand at one time it never got as hot as it does today, so most British vehicles were never equipped as such unless it was a Jaguar or Rolls-Royce.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting No, Joseph, I cannot believe that! Most cars here in the US have had air conditioning either optional or standard for quite a number of years, but most have been equipped since the 1980's.
These are really great cars, and my grandfather loved his. It is a shame that they had such a terrible problem with rust... Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting.
You have been enjoying yourself Sir with these British delights. Very Solid looking car, Interesting about the boot update, practical carpeted door bottoms. East Anglia registered car ‘EW’ as was MR Buckets ‘ FL ‘ car.
@UC6o7qEZfdvW0OBB-JRivNlg fingers crossed, there are a lot of smallholder Farms / barns for storing old cars around Lincolnshire, so there maybe a survivor
My mum had a lovely early B reg'd 213S in gold. We used to call her Hyacinth. I remember the R8 coming out to much-deserved hype. Several family members brought them, with an Uncle buying a brand new 3 door 216gti.
The SD3 has a special place in my heart. Back in 1997 I wanted to buy a used 213 back in the day ( or an Astra mark 2) but sadly it never happened and ended up buying a boring Escort instead. Both my mum's friend and my sister owned 216 Vanden Plas (C reg and E reg respectively). Oh yes, a former friend had a red G reg 213 SX like the one you saw at Gaydon. His dad bought it brand new or pre registered.
Oh sir, we are all getting incredibly nostalgic about these old SD3s, aren't we? The SX was a run-out model, so your friend's father probably got it at an amazing price. I have done a Daewoo Nexia on the channel (actually two of them) and a Mark II Astra is very similar to one of those.
Yes, surprisingly lovely to drive with that lovely gearbox! I love Maestros and Montegos, but this did feel more modern on the road. Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
I do apologise Sir but your recent Roverfest Coverage his fuelled my nostalgia and I had to go back to this 213S. This colour was very popular along with a Lighter Metallic Blue and Silver. I remember when the SD3 was announced in the motoring press and news papers. Everyone knew that it was Honda but it looked very cosy and solid in Rover guise. It was disappointing that the top speed of the 213 was only around 93 or 94 mph. However, in practice the car turned out to be very torque and responsive.
Sir, I hope that you enjoyed this episode of No Budget Reviews when you were watching it for a second time. I am sure that this blue was very popular, as it seems to be quite a popular colour amongst the surviving Maestros and Montegos these days too.
Lovely seeing an SD3. They really were a cut above back in the day. My dad had two 213S , an 85 in beige with a chocolate interior and an 88 in moonraker blue. That one had the wooden door capings retrofitted by the first owner so looked a bit posher inside otherwise it was like the one you drove. Unfortunately they both rusted away far to quickly. After that my dad moved onto Hondas.
Great review Joseph, my first rover was a 1988 same car same colour, got it when it was 2 years old,loved it Great car,brought back a lot of Great memories 👍
Great review Mr Lloyd, great cars the early 200 series, I borrowed one that a mate of mine owned for a couple of days a few years back it was an F reg 213, very comfortable, smooth and quiet and quite nice to drive for an 80’s car, it did remind me of its predecessor the Triumph Acclaim. Does Patrick use it as his daily runner?
I had a 216 as a temporary company car on a D plate for quite some time and just found it a tad small to be fair. Obviously it was pretty new but it did do a good job from what I remember...same colour as well.
A youth leader in a Friday club had a 200 of this shape but I think it was a rust bucket and that was going back 22 years! So showing my age there.... Also this shape rover was in father Ted as a prize to give away as well. Another great car that Patrick has.
That's right, there was an almost identical one of these which also appeared in Father Ted! The rust was awful on them, it is amazing that it has survived, really.
Well sir, if you like old Rovers, we may have a few delights coming up on the channel soon... I do prefer these to an XR3i for some reason, the 216 Vitesses had the same amount of power as the XR3is.
I had a 213 VDP, and my ex wife had a 213SE at the same time. Both really smooth and nice to drive. Sadly they both succumbed to tin worm and were scrapped, so interesting to hear your comments re rust.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting both of ours were nigh on perfect mechanically, electrically, interior and exterior panels, it was the floor pan that rotted away. The VDP went first, I was sad to see it go, B446JRB.
No worries, I'd long forgotten about it 🤣🤣 when I saw the notification re your post I thought "eh?" 🤣🤣 They are decent cars, IF you can find one that isn't desolving.
Are those tweeter speakers in the doors... surely not! You wouldn't even get those in a Scorpio Granada back then The casting of the SD3 was genius for Richard and Hyacinth, was it not, sir! I think they kept the D541EFL number plate when they changed from the 216S to the EFi as well as the badging but the wheel trims kept them apart.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting ooh yes, Mr Meldrew's Crimson Avenger, his mk2 Fiesta with TCP as the number plate, the Escort used for towing the caravan, the Ballade and then the Almera with its slightly-sweary plate, P155OLE!
Sir, sorry, I meant that we already have a video on One Foot In The Grave, it was recorded two years ago, and I visited three locations used in the series too. It is Keeping Up Appearances that I still need to do.
You had to go up a trim to get standard power steering in these, I believe. You are right, it is just like the one from Keeping Up Appearances, but both the ones they used were 216s.
I had my dads old 86 216 vdp from 89 to 97 then it got written off. Been looking for years to get another one to the same spec but got one 11 months ago 216 vdp 90 65k mileage with beige leather in dark red met my old one was burgundy. So it’s the closest I could find got it for £300 without mot it had been off the road for 3 years
Oh wow! I would love to drive a 216 Vanden Plas. I have seen a couple at shows, but that is about it. These SD3s are very rare these days, aren't they? Thank you ever so much indeed for watching, glad you managed to find one of these yourself.
Was this the last time Rover built a car to be in competition with itself? When the R8 came out, it always replaced the Maestro and Montego. I always quite liked the look of these. And even that base model seems to be well specced for the time (again compared to that Maestro you tested recently). Another odd thing. This is the SD3 but known as the 200 series. Whereas the Rover SD1 was always known by its internal name.
Well, the Rover SD1 was never marketed as such, sir. It was referred to by the 2000, 2300, 2600, 2500, Vitesse, V8-S, etc badges. There were also the 2400 forbidden fuel variants, but we can't talk about those... You are right, this was probably the last time that Rover had parallel models, apart from the MG ZR/Rover 25, MG ZS/Rover 45 and MG ZT/Rover 75. I did very much enjoy this 213 S, even though it is just one up from the base specification.
Well they were cheaper than a dozen set of professional golf clubs as the 1987 ad suggested (£7,196)..................I wonder how much a dozen professional set of golf clubs cost now? Btw did you know they made an SD2 first to replace the Acclaim?
@@lloydvehicleconsulting didnt know about the posting of links in the comment section, ive deleted it. About the sd2, ive just researched a little more and it was supposed to be the dolomite replacement.................tbh i think the dolomite looked better at the time (1974)!
