‘Holy Grail’ 800 sells for £10k
Collector pays new top money for one-owner 1989 Rover 827Si Fastback
A Rover 800 described as ‘the Holy Grail’ for Austin-Rover aficionados has been sold for a record price after being advertised online.
The unrestored 1989 827Si Fastback, which has had one owner and covered 9000 miles from new, was bought by a private collector after being listed on an auction website last week.
Seller David Roberts, an Oxfordshirebased trader who specialises in lowmileage classic cars, says that while he’s unable to disclose the exact final price due to client confidentiality he was able to confirm it was in the ‘region of £10,000’, making it by far the highest price paid for an 800.
He says: ‘It’s an exceptional car, and I don’t know of any Rover 800 out there in better condition. As far as I know it’s the most that’s ever been paid for one, and just shows how much interest classics like these from the 1970s and 1980s are now attracting.’
The G-registered Rover was originally owned by an employee of a Rover main dealer on the south coast, who won the car as a prize in a competition. It was then driven infrequently until the early 2000s, when the owner gave up driving and left in the car in the garage.
After the car’s original owner died last year, it was given a fresh MoT prior to being offered for sale.
The car’s online description stated: ‘[It is] the Holy Grail of Rover 800s and an absolute must-have for any Rover aficionado, or indeed any classic car collector, enthusiast, or investor who simply wants nothing but the very best, original, unmolested, unrestored example. Almost every part is the original, fitted on the Rover production line nearly 30 years ago.’
CCW’s auction analyst Richard Hudson-Evans says the price for the 9800-mile car is far above the typical range paid at auctions for 800s – a 1999 Sterling at H&H’s Duxford sale last month, for example, sold for £1250.
He adds: ‘ This is the first time I’ve heard of a Rover 800 going for such a high price – typically the top end of values for these cars is closer to £3000.’