Mike Humble is about to part ways with his Boomerang Rover 75. Will he live to regret it?
Do you want to own this well-sorted, highly-fettled example of the breed? It’s up for sale…
Mike’s Rover 75: Parting is such sweet sorrow
I had a to think for a while before writing this blog on the dear old 75 of mine. To be fair, not much has been written about the car of late for one very good reason. You see, after a fair chunk of running repair work and a flying pass through yet another MoT test, the old girl has been completely problem free – and that’s a fact. In truth, since the work has been completed, my fourth incumbency of the 75 Club SE has been painless.
That said, though, I have poured in a good few units of sweat, money and parts since taking it back under my wing. A new door, wing and bumper to put to rest a colour imbalance along with a pair of rear springs and front wishbone bushes have been the tip of the iceberg. It’s all par for the course, so who buys a car like the 75 as a financial investment? Running any semi-modern car these days is indeed an automotive version of an open wound – bleeding you of time and money.
My ever-suffering other half rarely pokes her oar into my motoring affairs – she’s learnt it’s pointless most of the time, but now and again I am rightly put into my place. More recently, she spotted a car for sale that she has ached to own for a long time, indeed a car of which I have owned four of the brand already. Cutting a long story short, I’ve bought another project and, though I’m not going into details right now, it will come as little surprise to some – especially to those who know me very well.
So, the famous Project Rover 75 is on the block once again owing to my self-imposed ‘one in one out‘ policy of old clunkers. With a reasonable 105K on the clock and more improvements/retro-fitted betterment parts than I care to write, she’s yours for an agreeable £825ovno. For your money you get a very long MoT (end of June 2019) one of the sweetest K16 1.8 units you’ll be lucky enough to find not to mention all of the stuff Project Drive ripped out put back in.
It’s not concours but, from five paces, looks every inch a superstar. Mechanically, she’s pretty much bob on and, thanks to the new front bushes and rear springs, drives flat through the bends and arrow straight on the highways. You could, of course, buy a mutton dressed as lamb trade car for twice or even thrice the price and still have to pour most of the purchase price back into it within three months of ownership.
Or… you could buy a known honest weapon for realistic money that’s ready to rock and roll.
Good ones are getting hard to come by these days. However, cheap knackered ones are plentiful and some owners or traders simply want stupid money for their vehicles – search and see. Rover 75 values will start to rise in the near future and this one is a good one to start with and more than reliable or sorted enough to use as a daily driver.
For your delectation, here’s a rundown:
- 2002 75 Club SE 1.8 Manual in Moonstone Green
- Long test (06/19)
- Real wood dash
- Uprated Alpine head unit with changer
- Quality MLS head gasket
- 18″ hairpins with excellent Goodyear treads
- Recent new springs, bushes and back box
- Recent full service including iridium plugs and coolant
- Asking price wins the leather and timber leather tiller otherwise the original will be refitted
- Asking price – £825 ovno
- Car can be viewed in the Sussex (RH12) area
Get in touch with me via the Contact Us page if you are seriously interested and I will try to answer your questions. Be aware though that I have a strict zero-tolerance policy towards messers, picture collectors, text message warriors or time-wasters in general.
Moving on to Rover and then PSV / HGV, he has circumnavigated most departments of dealerships including parts, service and latterly - the showroom. Mike has owned all sorts of rubbish from Lada to Leyland and also holds both Heavy Goods & Public Service Vehicle licences, he buys & sells buses and coaches during the week. Mike runs his own automotive web site and writes for a number of motoring or commercial vehicle themed publications
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Curious to see what you’ve purchased. I’m also curious – are 18″ wheels original on this?
I had a test drive of one of these, wasn’t impressed at the time – and scared that salesman rigid on a roundabout – but might be interested given my cars been in’t garage for 11 months now.
You’ll be pleased to know a Toyota salesman got his own back, putting a Prius into “sport” as I pulled out onto another roundabout and almost launching us into the side of a 5 series BMW.
Good luck with the sale.
The 18″ “Hairpins” alloys were standard on the MG ZT 160 and 180 (auto), but never on the 75 itself. The ZT 190 came with “Straights” alloys instead.
No doubt that this car will be a tremendous purchase for someone, as a sorted 75 is a thing of joy; especially with the proper wood dashboard and all the other bits put back.
No Jemmma the wheels are not original. Those ones are 18″ Hairpins as fitted to the ZT range but sporting Rover centre caps and some runflat Goodyear’s
Really does sharpens up the handling without really spoiling the ride, not to mention giving it a more edgy look… I think
Still looks great for a 16 year old car… immaculate in fact. My old MG ZS had Hairpins alloys too (lovely). For a car in this condition and with those nice extras added by Mike, I think £825 is a reasonable price. If I was wanting an R75 these days I would definitely be interested in this!
If you don’t want it, why do you keep buying it back (and then selling it on again)?
good question MattH of which I’ll answer the best I can… because I can MattH because I can. I bought it early this year for the simple reason that it fell into the hands of a trader of clunkers. Had someone else bought it, it would have been sold, suffered a trauma and probably scrapped – I couldn’t bear the thought of all the good work going to waste so I made the daft option to swoop in and steal it.
Seriously though, opportunities come and go and its been great to see a number of trusted enthusiasts also enjoy the car too. She’s also made me a few sovs over the past years not to mention the only car in recent times to have an emotional tie on me.
However… nowadays… I’ve become a bit bored of it owing to its trojan-esque reliability. If a car doesn’t need tinkering with every now and again, I dont wanna know.
Make me an offer bonny lad… I might just do you a deal 🙂
Great thinking! Just to save it. Bought my 75 with the same in mind “if i dont buy this rare example then some tosser is going to, and then bin it when the head gasket goes or something”.
Needed a ton of work and are the read flags for a v6 auto were there but we saved her and i am all the more happy for it…and quite a bit poorer too 😉
Seeing the lovely pics of Mike’s R75 (in & out) make me agree it would be a dreadful shame if it fell into uncaring ownership and was scrapped. It looks great and I’m sure will deliver lots more enjoyable motoring. Hope a buyer comes forward soon!
Is this still for sale? Surely not! What a beauty