Rover 800 - Rover's Finest? (1999 Mk2 R17 820 Road Test) 

Well done Sam, I’m new to 800 ownership, and I absolutely love it. I own, and have owned many many brands of cars during my driving years. In my honest opinion the car is as well built as any, and the style as you mention surpassed most others. There really is that special feeling when you get behind the wheel. I hoped I’d love the ownership experience once I bought one, and I do! I absolutely love the car, and I hope remains with me for a long long time 👍

When I went out in my nightfire red 820 N reg and everything worked! It was wonderful

Nice review of an underrated car, I prefer the sharper looks of the Mk 1. How sad that Rover has gone

In August 1992 I took delivery of a new Rover 820 Sli Auto Fastback in Nightfire red with Sandstone beige interior. You are absolutely right, they had a specialness that was just not in the competition!

I had the 825 diesel saloon Done 300,000 miles when I sold it, Lovely car.

Fantastic cars, those were the days. Buy a good one with proper service history, unmodified, without big shiny wheels and low profile tyres, without dump valves, etc. Rover designers were the best in their day. The two door coupes were stunningly beautiful, with probably the best quality leather interior of the era. Well done Rover !! Sad we lost the company to the Chinese, but they knew a good deal when they saw one.

I own a 1995 Rover 827 coupe. Prestige rims …. white gold paint It’s done 78000km and it sits in my garage under a couple of blankets. I take her out every now and then. Lovely car to drive…cheers for your video

@sam Im in the USA and fondly remember these when they arrived and went on sale . I was still a teenager but loved them . The way the drove and the interior. There wasnt any thing else quite like them except a jaguar which of course was totally out of reach for most of us. The 5 door hatch was my favorite....plus they had the benefit of honda mechanicals ..so they were pretty reliable...i dont understand why rover suddenly pulled out of our market...it is still a mystery to us...and never made clear...

Absolutely love the Rover 800... Gorgeous cars and so underrated. I have an 825 SI with 56,000 on the clock and it's one of only ten remaining in the UK. Great great cars, I never want to change it.

That two-tone 800 looks lovely. M.

My parents had two mk1 820i luv them them my brother had one as well so it was part of the family luv to have one now or drive one

One should always dress smartly when driving a Rover. You look very sharp, thank you. M.

The car, the chap and the way it's all presented, including your fine attire sir, made this rather enjoyable. I have an 850 T5 Volvo, but I have always loved the last versions of these 800s and want one dearly

My dad had one in the same colour, very nostalgic watching this thank you.

Well done that man. A great show. How sad that in Blighty the numbers have been massacred that badly. Here in Aus, I almost bought an 825 Si (that went to scrap, much to my anger) in 2000 and I almost, out of pity, bought a Mk1 Sterling (that was knackered) just to try to preserve it, back in 2004 (lowly status and lack of funds prevented). But, I've not seen a single Rover 800 on our roads since. That it may be the case in the UK in the near-distant - tragic.

Uncle had an 827 Sterling in 1990 which to 15 year old me (powered seats in the rear) was just epic. 827 Vitesse he also had looked gorgeous. That said, the SD1 Vitesse he also had stayed for years long after the 800s had gone.

Great vid, though I agree about the pricing (the MG ZR(s) sold really well due to being well specced for price) the 75 was a 600 replacement though, the larger P8 was never given the budget to progress from the drawing board and the 800 remains the last great Rover flagship

Had the 820si. Loved the looks, interior and sturdiness. After 20 years nooo rust but under the rubbers of the frontdoor A pillars. Check it. The frontsuspension was way to soft. Mine ate mufflers, motoroil and the windows as well as the sunroof operated at own will. But loved it a lot.

I had a 1997 825D from new and it served me well for 10 years and over 107,000 miles. It was a replacement for an older fastback 825D which I had had for 4 years which also was great and covered 73,0000 miles during that time with no breakdowns or problems. The deal trade-in deal was so good I couldn't resist and am pleased I did. It coped with farm tracks, country roads and motorways with consumate ease and with winter tyres on from November to March showed a clean pair of heels to many more modern cars in the snowy Dales road where it spent much of its working life. I was reluctant to have to sell it and miss the comfort although the practicality and versatility of its replacement is something else.(Vectra 2.0D Estate which is still with me and serving me well at 170,000 miles)

Great video Sam 👍🏻

I had a mid-90s 800 Vitesse Sport. After a while, the plastic above the dash warped and came apart from the dash. The fella at the dealership said.. 'oh.. have you left the car out in the sun ?', 'probably', 'ah.. well you see.. the plastic gets hot and that's why it's warped.. can't be fixed'. So not a bad car.. as long as you only took it out at night.

Hugely underatted car, do like them, they have a presence that modren cars lack 👌

One of a kind the 820 SI. Loved everything about the vehicle.if I could have a chance I'll get this vehicle over some new ones.

I think you should next do a video on the 800 coupe Sam.

My missus had a Mk I Rover 820e fastback (1991, H reg), great to drive, especially on motorways. However, it was plagued with electrical problems, including the wiper motor assembly breaking up and the rear wiper blade coming loose from the mechanism, especially in winter. One of my favourite cars to drive, go for the 820i fastback, especially in the beautiful pearlescent Nightfire Red.

Well done. I always liked the Sterlings that were brought over here to the USA and would have liked to seen the post 1991 models as well. Sadly early models suffered quality issues and very poor dealer support leading to sales dipping to trickle by 1991 after a healthy start. Most buyers would chose its brother the Acura Legend.

Bloody good looking motor this, mk1 and 2. Great video.

Great video mate. My mum had a mark 1 820 SE in red. E77 VMB. Lovely car. All the best.

Had the Stirling and vitesse sports. Great cars and never let me down.

The Mk 1 was the prettiest and very much a cutting edge car back in its day, I remember when they came out and they were genuinely an impressive extremely modern car when compared to the sierra or cavalier. The Mk 2 was a facelift just for the sake of it and it seemed to me to be a bit behind the times during its life span.

Stunning beautiful classic car

In my country the Rovers were sold as a luxury brand and we called it the "Jaguar for the masses"; We knew that all their platforms were based on Honda models from the 90s. The customer who bought a 620 to give an example, was looking for more luxury than an Accord with an English touch.

I've now got the downsized version of the Rover 800, a Rover 75 2 litre diesel estate, 54 reg, in silver. Another great car, one of the best and last Rover ever made, a really nice looking estate. It does 45 mpg and drives like a dream, the only fault is it only has 5 gears, but even in 5th, the rev counter only shows 2200 rpm, compared to 2100 rpm for my 1.6 litre diesel C Max Grand.

A really nice car!! Regards from Greece!

Love the 800 fastback Vitesse.

An excellent informative video and a very nice car . I should know as I have one myself with 300k miles . It replaced my clapped out 7 series 200k Beamer , festooned with electronic bugs and unfixeable My beautiful Rover goes like the wind, not a knock , whine or rattle anywhere , good on fuel and makes me feel good whereas the Beamer was not as good as the hype .

I'm utterly smitten with my 825SD, such a lovely car to drive. Superb comfort, reasonable economy and a gorgeous subtle rumble from that big lazy diesel

A really good video on a really interesting car. Thanks!

Fine car still find them distinctive and classy. The coupe is really an underated car very rare. It's easy to understand why they took them so long to replace them.

I’d really love to have this car one day. I think what would’ve been great is if Rover put their special V8 engine into this car, like the ones put in models like the Land Rovers and in the SD1. That would’ve been exciting

I always loved the 800. Always thought I'd own one, but I may have left it too late.

want one

If only I could get a 827 coupe...

Great cars 😊

Smoked salmon? What the hell were Rover thinking? I have an 800 brochure from around the late 90’s. Honestly, the language used is so pompous and trying way too hard to sound prestigious without actually succeeding. Such a shame they never got it together after the 70’s.

I'm from Syria and this is going to be my car 😀

Sadly, despite being a really nice car, the 800 suffered from very steep depreciation, which meant they were bough by people who couldn't really afford to maintain them properly, and this saddled the svelte Rover with a reputation for unreliability that it didn't really deserve. Then along came the infernal scrappage scheme which destroyed thousands of perfectly serviceable cars with years of useful life left in them, in exchange for a few quid off a new Kia Rio. Pity, because the Rover 800 deserved much better. I for one remember it fondly.

Great car it was

I grew up in the 90's and saw rover going bust on the tv, but never quite understood why they did go bust. when I asked I was told by my parents and grandparents, it was the fat cats and unions that killed rover/ and BL before it. but I was never told WHY. why didn't the tie up with honda last? why exactly did the workers go on strike, why didn't every other european car company have the same issues then and now? i dont see vw workers on strike. the few things I have gathered over my own thinking and reading from recent times is renault/psa group would have went bust many times if not for *cough* illegal *cough* government support, something the british wanted to do but was blocked by europe, and by the time rover was run by the phoenix group, the mini and land rover marques had been cut away, leaving outdated tech and design. but now, I can go out 20 years later and see rovers still running and for sale, clearly they were never as bad as what I was told. the logic in me says people who I ever asked didn't really know why rover went bust, and got on a union/government/crap car bandwagon. I think quite simply.. if saab was killed off because saab cared too much, rover went bust because someone, if not, all of them, cared too little

As a 75 owner, I'd have an R17 in a minute, both super cars.

I've got a coupe turbo.low milage, Irish plates .sitting in a barn in france🤣

My dad owns a 1971 P5B. I’d love a Rover to be my first car. Unfortunately I doubt that’ll happen, I just dislike most modern cars!

I want one, Mr Skelton! Where can I buy one?

Always liked the 827 loved ragging the shit out them 130 mph

Rebadged honda legend. Need I say more ?

Well argued by Sam, as ever, but I have to say I disagree with every non-factual statement of his in this piece. My father had two Rover 800 Sterlings and they did perfectly good service as family cars for many years, so I should be primed with nostalgia to like the 800...and yet I find them utterly unlikeable and without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Bland looks, uninspiring cabin, indifferent build quality, and engines either too rough or too gutless to suit the wafty character that Rover were trying to squeeze out of what was always far more Honda than Rover. Same goes for the ride quality - the Mk1 has the short-travel feel that distinguishes Hondas, but with softer springing and looser damping which just make it crashy rather than taut, and the Mk2 is a soggy mess with horrible steering. I will defend a lot of 80s and 90s Rovers to the hilt - the R8 is a superb little car, the R3 is excellent, the HHR is bland but does a much better job of being an (excellent) Honda Civic with a more British tailored suit on top. The 75 is a good car but not to my tastes. The MG Z-cars are huge fun to drive. But the 800 - I know it has its fans but they can clearly see something that I just can't. Can anyone really say, hand on heart, that if it didn't have a longship badge on the front the 800 would be held in any esteem today?