MG Rover wanted to form alliances with other industry players, but no one could have predicted a tie-up with failed Italian supercar builder, Qvale. But in 2001, that’s what happened, and work soon started on producing a re-styled version of the Mangusta – and with it, plans were hatched for the revival of MG’s sports [...]

Replacing the Mini was never going to be the work of a moment, and was generally regarded to be one of the toughest gigs in the industry. After years of deliberation, Rover started serious work in 1993, which was soon bolstered by the arrival of BMW the following year. What we ended up with sparked [...]

It started out as an idea to produce a lifestyle vehicle at the end of the 1980s, but by the time of its announcement nearly a decade later, the Land Rover Freelander was meeting a very real challenge issued by the Japanese. Despite a fair bit of parts-bin engineering, the Freelander emerged as truly capable [...]

Rover introduced a hot and more exclusive version of the 200Vi – and took the brave decision to market it under the BRM name. Sales weren’t as strong as they might have been, thanks to an ambitious price tag, but as KEVIN DAVIS explains, the ingredients were all there for it to be one of [...]

Developed as a Metro replacement, on a shoestring and using a whole host of carry-over parts, the re-born Rover 200 should have possessed all the appeal of a damp weekend in the Lake District. However, thanks to clever packaging and classy styling, it was really rather good – shame, though, that it was horrendously overpriced [...]

Intended to be the cornerstone of Rover’s late-1990s growth, the 400 hatchback and saloon were vitally important new cars – not least because they were to replace the best-selling 1989 200/400. However with the final Rover co-developed with Honda, they got the pricing and dynamic mix wrong, and just as quickly as the original 200/400 [...]

The MGF was an appealing mid-engined sports car that showed genuine engineering flair when it was launched – thanks to the use of VVC and Hydragas suspension. Adding icing on the cake, it was developed on a shoestring, used countless carry-over parts from the Metro and 200/400 range, and it proved a commercial success. So [...]

ROVER’S 620ti is currently the best-value used performance saloon you can buy. Thanks to contributions from Matt Hicks of the MG-Rover.org and various members of the AROnline forums, we have been able to piece together the pros and cons of buying one of these Q-Cars. Availability Years produced: 1994-1999 Body style: 4-door saloon Engine options: [...]

Predating the Rover Streetwise. by over a decade, the Metro-based Scout could have given Rover an early foothold in the emerging soft-roader market, but it was not to be. We take a look at this interesting project, and ask whether it was another missed opportunity for the Rover Group. But is it Street wise? IN [...]

Thanks to the success of cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Escort Cabriolet during the 1980s, demand for open-tops based on hatchbacks ballooned during that decade. Things died down as the 1980s turned into the 1990s, but that didn’t stop the ever-resourceful and niche-hungry Rover to introduce a family of rag-tops topped and [...]

So closely did the X350 look like its XJ40-based predecessor, that many buyers would be forgiven for thinking that it wasn’t a new car at all. But as Ian Nicholls explains, the aluminium bodied XJ was really rather revolutionary under the skin… Hiding under a bushell THE Jaguar X350 saloon was probably the most controversial [...]

With Ford’s money behind it, Jaguar was going places during the early-1990s – and the X300 was a clear indication that Uncle Henry wanted the best for the Leaping Cat, sticking rigidly to marque values… perhaps too rigidly. Ian Nicholls charts the history of the impressive X300/308 and wonders what might have been… Back to [...]

Over ten years in the making, the XJ40 was Jaguar’s bold leap into the 1980s… however, the rest of the industry was already looking forward to the 1990s. The XJ40′s development was dogged by external political pressures, and thwarted by policy changes… and yet, the end product lived up to the great marques core values… [...]

The idea to produce an F-Type Jaguar has been on the back-boiler for a long time. The XJ41 and XJ42 came tantalisingly close to production. The first F-type FOLLOWING the inability of the XJ-S to convincingly replace the Jaguar E-type, there was an internal pressure from the the design and engineering teams to produce a [...]

For some, it was a badge too far, but for others, it was a sensible new direction for the Rover marque. Which ever side of the ‘Ro-nda’ fence you sit on, there’s no denying the Rover 213 and 216 were a good move for a struggling BL, and demonstrated that people would pay extra for [...]

It was a brave new world for BL – a Honda built in the UK, but in many ways, the Triumph Acclaim represented so much more. When launched in 1981, the Acclaim was heralded as the first of a long line of Honda/Rovers, but more importantly than that, it proved once and for all that [...]

Keith Adams Great day today. The weather is nice, the summer holidays have started and everyone’s in a great mood. I live and work in Northamptonshire, and as places go, things could be a lot worse. Yes, the roads are crowded – as is the case with everywhere in the south-central corner of the UK [...]

Launched amid a barrage of patriotic fervour, the Metro was for two brief years, Britain’s most fashionable car – it proved a continued success for the company, too, racking up over two million sales during its 17-year production run. Sadly, its success alone was never going to be enough to stop BL falling further behind [...]

Replacing the legendary E-type was never going to be easy for Jaguar – and radical thinking was going to be needed. Ian Nicholls charts the development of the car that was given the uneasy task, the XJ-S. A brave new direction THEY say that history repeats itself, and Jaguar’s latest product launch had something of [...]