Final farewell to Rover

[Madferrit]

Saw this on another forum. Pics of the remains of the Longbridge plant.

Rover Longbridge Plant

 

[pammy]

How spooky did some of those look. How weird all those partly built cars just left

 

[wallingd]

Omg tht's scary. Another good find P .

 

[PJH]

.... How weird all those partly built cars just left

It's a loooong tea break.

 

[Madferrit]

It's a loooong tea break.

It looks very surreal.. and spooky, and kinda something out of Terminator

 

[blicky_1]

The rest of that site is pretty awesome aswell!!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Those pictures must be nearly 10 years old judging by those car designs...

Oh wait, its Rover isnt it

 

[Ian B Walker]

Like the Mari Celest. Everything there but no one to do anything.

 

[andy_k]

Like the Mari Celest. Everything there but no one to do anything.

so nothing has really changed then

 

[portzy]

Still, all rather sad dont you think?. No matter what anyone thinks of, or thought of, Rover I, like millions of others, had quite a few.

In my case a Midget, a Sprite, a Mini and an Allegro were all my teeth cutting cars and it hurts me a bit to think that my motoring best friends at the time all probably started life on those lines and in that factory .

Portzy

 

[PJH]

Still, all rather sad dont you think?. No matter what anyone thinks of, or thought of, Rover I, like millions of others, had quite a few.

Portzy

Don't recall Brits burning them on the streets either, unlike the French and their cars.

 

[blassberg]

was this new model ever released?

actually I'm saddenened by "Rover"'s demise with fond memories of previous minis, maestro, montego.

 

[glojo]

I am being cruel here, but when will we learn? Surely any fool could have learnt lessons from the demise of our World leading motor cycle industry? Great Britain led the way with cutting edge designs of motor bikes, but we put our head in the sand and these pictures were a regular event. BSA, Vincent, Matchless, Greeves etc etc.

Rover were once an excellent motor manufacturer that could compete with Mercedes-Benz? Armstrond Siddeley, Daimler, Wolseley, Riley, Jowett, Standard.... When will we learn?

Here in South Devon there is no large industrial employer rant, rant moan, moan.

Sorry folks I just get annoyed at what is happening to our once great country.

John

 

[Shude]

Don't recall Brits burning them on the streets either, unlike the French and their cars.

If you've seen watchdog you'll understand it's likely the peugeots spontaneously combusted . I think Clarky said the same thing on TG

 

[GregE240]

John,

Wake up and smell the coffee mate. Rover could NEVER compete with MB. My old man had a string of them, P4s, a P5 and an SD1. My uncle was a staunch Mercedes man. I recall going for rides in Uncle Petes many Mercedes and thought that in terms of quality, Mercedes were streets ahead of Rover.

Without exception, all of the Rovers Dad had suffered from two main issues, tin worm and shoddy Lucas electronics. I have fond memories of taking the dissy cap off many a time and grinding down the points, just so the damn things would start.

Sadly, back in the Seventies, when hoardes of disgruntled Brummies stood around braziers, blinkered by seeming all powerful union reps (Red Robbo anyone?), the Japanese quietly offloaded their wares from the ships that brought them over. They had better standard equipment (like heaters and radios), and they were better built.

Its Darwinian, I'm afraid John. Survival of the fittest. Rover could not hack it in todays competitive market. RIP.

Greg

 

[PJH]

actually I'm saddenened by "Rover"'s demise with fond memories of previous minis, maestro, montego.

It is a shame that companies like Peugeot, Honda etc can build cars in the UK, but a British company can't.

 

[996jimbo]

was this new model ever released?

Apparently yes and was quite successful, though Rover never quite got round to bolting on an unfeasibly large turbo to it. Maybe if they had they would still be in business today. Or maybe I should stop messing around on the internet and get on with some work.

 

[glojo]

John,

Wake up and smell the coffee mate. Rover could NEVER compete with MB. My old man had a string of them, P4s, a P5 and an SD1. My uncle was a staunch Mercedes man. I recall going for rides in Uncle Petes many Mercedes and thought that in terms of quality, Mercedes were streets ahead of Rover.

Its Darwinian, I'm afraid John. Survival of the fittest. Rover could not hack it in todays competitive market. RIP.

Greg

Hi Greg,
The 'Darwinian effect" Is a favourite saying of mine and unfortunately the SD1 was the end of Rover and you have very kindly highlighted my point. The motor industry failed (In spades) to keep abreast of a very rapidly developing motor industry.

I believe that either of your other two Rovers examples are now worth more than what the original cost. I am biased however as the P5 was an excellent staff car.

John

 

[GregE240]

The P5 was great, had an annoying habit of overheating though. In most classic car mags these days they go to great lengths to explain why: 2 main reasons - first, the V8 was all alloy, so you HAD to put anti freeze in with some sort of corrosion inhibitor, second, the rad was basically too small.....

Agree though, it was a lovely looking car (this was the P5B actually, not the 3 litre...)

 

[mark.t]

see there bodyshop is as good as Mercedes ....class repairs...sorry sad to see it go ....i know the feeling the firm i work for leave ghost sites like this for fun its sad when you have to go back for something