Mike Humble goes On The Buses, dons his drivers cap and brushes up on his Phwoars and Cor Blimey’s whilst getting behind the wheel of the latest bus built in the plant which was at one time part of the British Leyland empire – the Optare Solo Eco Drive, and finds it rather good fun! Over the years, many once [...]

The NEC Motorshow in 1998 was a vitally important event for Rover and Jaguar. Both companies launched brand new cars – and in both cases, they were devised the way they were to re-establish traditional marque values. Both cars were styled to evoke memories of 1950s and ’60s products, but the question remains: which did [...]

Streetwise was conceived to entice younger buyers back behind the wheel of Rover products, and cash in on the boom in leisure-orientated vehicles. Over the last couple of decades, customers had been increasingly looking for cars that not only looked good, but also proved practical and tough in the city. This new breed of car, [...]

Rover 200 was launched in 1995 to great acclaim; in 1999 it received a comprehensive makeover to become the 25. How did it stand up in 2004′s competitive market? Roger Blaxall finds out… Remember the Fiat 128? A former Car of the Year, the European motoring icon was a fabulous small saloon, typifying Fiat’s approach [...]

Rover goes niche finding again. My on-off love affair with the Rover 25 is on again. And surprisingly, my admiration for the model’s been re kindled after driving the ‘Uriah Heep’ of the current range, the Commerce van. Once, Austin and Morris car derived vans were the bread and butter of many a fleet – [...]

The idea of a “boy racer” van has been down before, but not by MG Rover or any of its antecedents. The result is the MG Express, and for the moment, it is touted as being the fastest delivery van in the country – and with 160bhp, one can see why! Roger Blaxall tests the [...]

Taken from the first-ever issue of What Car? magazine This 1973 test makes fascinating reading, and is a great insight into how road tests used to be. The repmobiles compared Comparison between the Maxi, Marina and rivals Ten years ago the average man in the street would have been happy with a Mini, Imp or [...]

THE Rover 800 Coupé proved once and for all that the talented styling team at Gaydon really could turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse – compare the gawky R17 saloon to any Coupé and you’ll see what we mean. JONATHAN SELLARS tests the rarest 800 Coupé of them all, the two-litre Sterling. Does [...]

Two family cars which changed the face of motoring… forever. First published in Classic Car Weekly in September 2005, KEITH ADAMS pitted the Austin Maxi against the car that arguably sparked off the family hatchback revolution, the Renault 16… Family feud… Introduction WHAT decade gave us the best cars? It’s a long-running debate in the [...]

There’s a lot of talk about premium small cars these days – here are two that were playing the game 35 years ago… First published in Classic Car Weekly in November 2005, RICHARD GUNN pitted the Austin 1300GT against its upmarket in-house rival, the Triumph 1300TC… Brotherly rivals Introduction Ah, ‘GT’ and ‘TC’, two magical [...]

IF you were asked to describe the archetypal classic British car, it would have to be a convertible, have two seats and a lumping great engine upfront. First published in Classic Car Weekly in March 2006, RICHARD GUNN pitted two of the UK’s most famous sporting convertibles to fit straight into that mould, and came [...]

Tough, small multi-activity hatchbacks such as the Skoda Roomster Scout are all the rage now, but Rover could have got in on the act 15 years ago… and been at the head of the queue… Keith Adams compares and contrasts two remarkably similar packages, separated by a mere 15-years… Scout trip WITH its uber-trendy multi-function [...]

Do the MINI Clubman’s extra rear seat leg- and headroom and those natty back doors justify the premium over the standard Cooper D? Like Marmite, you decide… THEY say that familiarity breeds contempt and that should play into the MINI Clubman’s hands. The low rate of sales to date has meant that the quirky addition [...]

The Rover V8 engine is a magnificent creation – and one that’s found its way under all manner of sports cars. Here, we’re pitting two similarly powered sporting roadsters, the new-boy from Blackpool with sexy curves to die for, and the Abingdon bruiser that puts tradition above progression… Words: Keith Adams Pictures: Alisdair Cusick Same [...]

In Australia, the P76 was billed as ‘Anything but average.’ Unfortunately (and unjustifiably so) it also turned out to be anything but successful. Classic Car Weekly’s Richard Gunn samples Leyland’s legendary leviathan from down under… Words and pictures: Richard Gunn P76 delivered a premature P45 TYPICAL. You wait for a Leyland P76 for decades, and [...]

An iconic name from the 1960s has made a return: Radford MINI. KEITH ADAMS takes the top of the range version for a quick spin and comes away impressed, but wonders whether £34,000 is a little too much to spend on a MINI… Back to the future… JUST about everyone loves the MINI – and [...]

The next generation MINI might be with us now, but that didn’t stop them launching the ultimate version, and selling out before it even hits the streets. Download the wallpaper | 1024×768 | 1280×960 Work it, baby! REMEMBER the old cliché about saving the best ‘til last – well, we reckon MINI may well have [...]

THE MINI Cooper is coming to the end of its life, and yet remains as popular as ever. KEITH ADAMS takes a long, lingering look at the car that redefined the Mini for the 21st Century, and investigates whether it’s the driving machine its makers claim it to be by running it round the Nürburgring… [...]

LAMBASTED as an irrelevant folly, the MG XPower SV has always divided opinions – why? Because MG Rover should have spent its finite financial resources elsewhere… Others would say that if the company was going down, why not do it in style? We take a drive in one for ourselves – and decide that the [...]

The CityRover Mk2 is probably the world’s only new car have never been launched, nor have any new dealers sell it. The original might have had its detractors, and for some typified all that was wrong with the Phoenix Four era of management, but it was a damned fine car, badly priced. The CityRover Mk2 [...]