My SD1 Vitesse On Australian TV !

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Merc220cls

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I’ve been confined to Barack’s with a chest infection so I’ve been watching YouTube on TV quite a lot.

Last night I came across a programme from Australian TV featuring the Rover SD1 which I have, a lovely Vitesse model fully restored.
I was gobsmacked when a photo of my car appeared in shot then again at the closing credits on the programme. It is of course the Moonraker Blue one and the photo was taken down at Troon shore in Ayrshire.
The exact location apparently was a concrete roadway built during the war for landing craft, or so I’m told.
On the day I arrived very early to catch the low tide and had to place blocks of wood to get over a huge gap on the massive concrete plinths to get the car in the optimum position.
I have one of the shots printed in canvas sitting on my desk at home.
The TV programme have obviously aquired the photo from one of my forum posts somewhere.

Here’s a link which I copied from another forum which a kind member had posted

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Very nice , and somewhat rare cars nowadays .

It may be of interest that Shewalton Carbreakers on the outskirts of Irvine have had a SD1 in their yard for years , along with a few other interesting cars they hang onto .

The SD1 , last time I saw it , was substantially complete - and had a towbar fitted - just in case of interest to you :)
 
I used to have a moonraker blue Vitesse, a D-plate Twin Plenum model which was later exported to Australia I believe. The new owner who bought it from the person I sold it to found it mentioned on the ‘net somewhere and posted up on here a while back. Small world hey :)
 
They were dreadful build quality until the later ones with the enamel badge on the bonnet (as opposed to the stick on ‘arty’ Viking ship.
Still good looking and actually a very comfortable drive iirc
 
That one at Shewalton Car Spares, if it’s the same one a black one was owned by a club member and he “sold” it along with a truck load of spares. It’s a long story but I didn’t know about it until it was in there so I purchased the grey leather seating along with a few other parts from the collection.
I gave the leather seats a thorough clean up and re painted them with stuff I purchased from Gliptone.
They came up like new but I still have the original Velour seating that the Vitesse had as standard.
 
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Yeah the build quality was poor (electronics, trim, fit and finish and rust etc) but what an engine and great to drive :cool:

Sounded great and pulled like a train! :thumb:
 
They certainly did pull well. I once pulled my caravan in 5th gear all the way round on a roundabout south of Girvan heading for Stranraer just to demonstrate how much torque it had.
On another occasion I pulled away (solo car) from my house in 2nd gear then straight to 5th. I then travelled approx 60 miles all the way to Castle Douglas before selecting 2nd gear at a junction before arriving at my destination point, so my entire trip had three gear selections.
 
That one at Shewalton Car Spares, if it’s the same one a black one was owned by a club member and he “sold” it along with a truck load of spares. It’s a long story but I didn’t know about it until it was in there so I purchased the grey leather seating along with a few other parts from the collection.
I gave the leather seats a thorough clean up and re painted them with stuff I purchased from Gliptone.
They came up like new but I still have the original Velour seating that the Vitesse had as standard.
I couldn’t recall the colour but I’m sure it’s the same car . I used to go in there a lot since they used to have plenty of W201/124/126 and sometimes other interesting things , and the guy was always very reasonable with his pricing .

There was another member on here , one of the numerous Dereks ( like myself ) called Silversaloon and he also has a SD1 . He was over by Dalgetty Bay or thereabouts...

He’s still a member here but not on often now .
 
Only one I drove had over sensitive power steering. I zigzagged down the road, only thing that kept the car on the road were the kerbs :D
 
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That’s the one.
Looks nothing like a bloody Viking ship!
 
There was another member on here , one of the numerous Dereks ( like myself ) called Silversaloon and he also has a SD1 . He was over by Dalgetty Bay or thereabouts...

He’s still a member here but not on often now .

From a GTG at Ratho 2011;

155 Ratho 030411.jpg 157 Ratho 030411 (Medium).JPG 160 Ratho 030411 (Medium).JPG

A C124 is hardly the highest of cars - compared to a Golf or Astra etc, but look at just how low the SD1 is! Still a lovely looking car by any measure.
 
Moonraker was a nice colour ... I had a Maestro :oops: VDP in it.
 
For me, the SD1 was iconic because it was so different.

One of their greatest although I think the P6 is up there too.
 
I had a P6 2000 TC when I was 21. It was a beauty in City Grey with a cream coloured interior.
I later re sprayed it into Mexico Brown but sold it to my brother who scrapped it after a few years because it needed a lot of work.
I wasn’t best pleased with him as I would have bought it back.
The Vitesse was a brilliant car to drive and for a 3.5 V8 it was easy on fuel compared to the opposition.
I used to work in an Austin Rover & Jaguar Land Rover Main Dealer and yes some of the early ones were not that good but in answer to the critics do you see many Granada’s or Senators going around these days.
 
Posted before but I do enjoy this clip...

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