‘The budget Bentley’
Skelton’s 75 proves that bangernomics can work longterm
I’d never been quite sure about Rover 75s. On the one hand, I like the junior Rolls-royce vibe, but on the other I worried that it might come off as a little bit too much – a bit ‘Trafford Centre’ as a friend of mine is fond of pointing out. So I decided to borrow my mate Craig’s 2.0 Club for a week to see if I liked it. Then I was offered this car by a pal in the trade. The timing was perfect. Despite a big fleet I needed a daily, and this £250 Rover seemed ideal. So I bought it sight unseen from over 150 miles away.
Since then I’ve given it basic servicing, replaced the brakes, undone some of Rover’s infamous ‘Project Drive’ costcutting and corrected the folly of a previous owner who had fitted MGZT front suspension. This folly was behind the wobble at 70, as the lower ride height was forcing the driveshafts to try to rotate unevenly. And it has rewarded me with faultless service. Even the cambelts – now about 20,000 miles overdue, because a replacement engine is as cheap as doing the job – are behaving perfectly, proving that a KV6 can be reliable.
My only gripe is unusually high insurance premiums – and that’s why I’m looking to move it on after 19 months of hard use and excellent service. As I’m now dailying my X300, having this sitting idle and costing almost £100 per month in tax and insurance seems insane – I would rather it went on to serve someone else as well as it has served me. I’ll miss the old dowager – but it certainly won’t be my last 75.
THE VERDICT
Over the past 18 months my 75 has been an invaluable companion. A comfy wafter, my Rover has performed perfectly over 21,000 miles of use.