Rover, Leyland and a sense of humour!
July 13th 2008 11:53
Okay, I admit it; AUTOLOUD is unashamedly a nostalgia freak.
New Cars largely do not interest me. I cast my eyes upon the roads of Australia and notice how similar they all look. Have you noticed that the FG Falcon / Mondeo/ Mazda 6 all seem interchangeable?
Variety of design and quirkiness of styling are left to the domain of the European manufacturers. Which is probably a good thing; because the last time Ford got adventurous they gave us the Taurus!
The only reason I mention this, is that I saw the ad for this week’s episode of Top Gear. This week they play havoc with a selection of 1970’s English Cars. Amongst the victims are a Leyland Princess, Triumph Dolomite and the Rover SD1 3500.
AUTOLOUD is not only old enough to remember such cars but I actually sold a couple in my time too! The local Austin Rover dealership in New Zealand was always fair game for a bit of sport by the workers at competing mainstream franchises.
The Austin/ Morris/ Rover dealership across from where I worked, once had a new Leyland Sherpa van crouched in the corner of its display area for nearly four years. On a given day every year we would arrive with a card and cake to celebrate the vehicles birthday! When it was finally sold and delivered to an unsuspecting retail customer, the sales forces of all the other dealerships in town clubbed together to buy it a farewell card!
Eventually I went to work at that same dealership, which by then had also grown a Honda franchise as well. Honda’s were easy, you sold them, you never saw them again and you never received the angry phone calls that you used to get from Rover buyers.
I still love the Rover SD1 3500 hatch, even after all these years I still think it is a good looking car. Sadly though, looks are not everything! The 1985 retail price in New Zealand of one of these was a not inconsiderable $63,950! Without sounding cruel, the Rover was almost a reverse kitset car, in that you longer you had it, the more parts fell off!
Another British Leyland contender was the wedge shaped Austin Princess. Its claim to fame was a boot big enough to fit a forty four gallon drum, but not many people actually carry a forty four gallon drum around with them. It was a roomy comfortable sedan that was actually an Austin 1800 with a new suit of clothes. Unfortunately the suit was a bit droopy, almost like it had melted in the design studio when someone left a heater on overnight.
My favourite though, which we will talk about another day was the Morris Marina 1.8TC!
New Cars largely do not interest me. I cast my eyes upon the roads of Australia and notice how similar they all look. Have you noticed that the FG Falcon / Mondeo/ Mazda 6 all seem interchangeable?
Variety of design and quirkiness of styling are left to the domain of the European manufacturers. Which is probably a good thing; because the last time Ford got adventurous they gave us the Taurus!
The only reason I mention this, is that I saw the ad for this week’s episode of Top Gear. This week they play havoc with a selection of 1970’s English Cars. Amongst the victims are a Leyland Princess, Triumph Dolomite and the Rover SD1 3500.
AUTOLOUD is not only old enough to remember such cars but I actually sold a couple in my time too! The local Austin Rover dealership in New Zealand was always fair game for a bit of sport by the workers at competing mainstream franchises.
The Austin/ Morris/ Rover dealership across from where I worked, once had a new Leyland Sherpa van crouched in the corner of its display area for nearly four years. On a given day every year we would arrive with a card and cake to celebrate the vehicles birthday! When it was finally sold and delivered to an unsuspecting retail customer, the sales forces of all the other dealerships in town clubbed together to buy it a farewell card!
Eventually I went to work at that same dealership, which by then had also grown a Honda franchise as well. Honda’s were easy, you sold them, you never saw them again and you never received the angry phone calls that you used to get from Rover buyers.
I still love the Rover SD1 3500 hatch, even after all these years I still think it is a good looking car. Sadly though, looks are not everything! The 1985 retail price in New Zealand of one of these was a not inconsiderable $63,950! Without sounding cruel, the Rover was almost a reverse kitset car, in that you longer you had it, the more parts fell off!
Another British Leyland contender was the wedge shaped Austin Princess. Its claim to fame was a boot big enough to fit a forty four gallon drum, but not many people actually carry a forty four gallon drum around with them. It was a roomy comfortable sedan that was actually an Austin 1800 with a new suit of clothes. Unfortunately the suit was a bit droopy, almost like it had melted in the design studio when someone left a heater on overnight.
My favourite though, which we will talk about another day was the Morris Marina 1.8TC!
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