1997 ROVER 800 COUPÉ
Used car addict Keith looks back at his best – and worst – classic buys. This week, a Rover 800 Coupé bought for peanuts and brought back to rude health
ALL THE CARS I’VE EVER BOUGHT
WHY DID I WANT ONE?
One thing you may have noticed is that I am a bit of a serial car buyer – and more than that, I tend to go back to what I like. That might explain why I’ve owned three out of the four types of Rover 800 Coupé – the Honda V6, the four-cylinder Vitesse turbo and the Kv6-powered one. Of the three, I would say that the Honda is the one to have if you want reliability, while the Vitesse Turbo had more than enough dynamics to keep you amused in the bends. The KV6 800 Coupé was more of an oddity – its engine was far sportier than the Honda’s and its steering set-up was a real joy, being communicative and nicely weighted. So, in theory it combined some of the Honda’s V6 attitude with most of the Vitesse’s excellent dynamics. Then fellow Rover enthusiast, Craig Cheetham, oered me one for beer money – how could I possibly refuse?
WAS IT A JOY OR A NIGHTMARE TO LIVE WITH?
To be fair, I didn’t really know what to expect. Craig had said it had one or two running issues but was cosmetically spot on. I soon fell in love with it as I drove it back home, appreciating its growling V6 but ever mindful of its reputation for being something of a ticking time bomb, by keeping a hawk’s eye on the instrument cluster. The drive passed uneventfully and I started to relax (and give it some beans) as home hoved into view. And slight mis re aside quickly realised that the KV6 engine is a proper gem, revving gloriously and delivering more than enough performance to keep me amused. In terms of servicing, I ended up changing three coil packs before twigging that the actual problem was the waterlogged spark plugs on the transverse V6 engine’s rear bank. And boy were they a pig to change – I had to dismantle a fair bit of the car’s air intake system to gain access.
WHAT’S YOUR ABIDING MEMORY OF IT?
This car never really let me down once the niggles were serviced out and the paint bued to perfection although I wasn’t too con dent about the JATCO automatic transmission, which would sometimes refuse to go into top gear. But it did what all 800 Coupés do while I had it – it made me feel like a million pounds thanks to its wonderfully cosseting interior, fabulous driver’s seat and willing performance. The wonderful styling was something of a bonus, too, with a curvaceousness denied by the rather boxy-looking 800 saloon and fastback. Unlike my previous 800s, in which I’d undertaken some amazing European journeys, this one never went much further than the neighbouring county – and yet driving it always made me feel like a Monaco playboy. Yeah, okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but not much. It’s telling that I replaced it with another Rover – as I said at the top, I have serial habits where old cars are concerned!
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR BUYING ONE?
Rover 800s are becoming sought-after and values are beginning to re®ect this. Although it had a deserved reputation for unreliability, buying an 800 is straightforward these days. Most issues will have been sorted by now and there shouldn’t be too much to be scared of as long as you’re handy with a soldering iron. The Rover KV6 engine was pretty much hand-built in the 800 and suered from all manner of problems earlier in life but they should be okay to maintain with a good supply of high quality parts to work with. Make sure that it’s up-to date with its cambelt servicing (they’re a pain to change) and that the JATCO auto gearbox has been topped up recently. The bodywork is the weakest link so make sure that the sills and wheel arches are in good order and that any repairs have been done correctly.
ENGINE 2497CC/V6/DOHC POWER 177bhp@6500rpm TORQUE 177lb ft@4000rpm MAXIMUM SPEED 135mph MPH 8.2sec FUEL CONSUMPTION 18-24mpg TRANSMISSION FWD, four-speed automatic