Rover is a British automotive marque that was used for over a century, from 1904 to 2005. It was launched as a bicycle maker called Rover Company in 1878, before starting to manufacture autocars in 1904. The brand used the iconic Viking longship as its logo.

The Rover Company operated from its base in Solihull in Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by Road & Track in 1952 was pronounced finer than any but a Rolls-Royce. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from 1948 onwards, which spawned the Range Rover in 1970, and went on to become its most successful and profitable product — with Land Rover eventually becoming a separate company and brand in its own right.

The rights to the marque are currently part of Jaguar Land Rover, but no Rover vehicles are currently in production and the marque is considered dormant. In 1888, Rover made an electric car, but it never was put into production.

rover motorcycles

The company developed and produced the Rover Imperial motorcycle in November 1902. This was a 3.5 hp diamond-framed motorcycle with the engine in the centre and 'springer' front forks which was ahead of its time. This first Rover motorcycle had innovative features such as a spray carburettor, bottom-bracket engine and mechanically operated valves. With a strong frame with double front down tubes and a good quality finish, over a thousand Rover motorcycles were sold in 1904. The following year, however, Rover stopped motorcycle production to concentrate on their 'safety bicycle' but in 1910 designer John Greenwood was commissioned to develop a new 3.5 hp 500 cc engine with spring-loaded tappets, a Bosch magneto and an innovative inverted tooth drive chain. It had a Brown and Barlow carburettor and Druid spring forks. This new model was launched at the 1910 Olympia show and over 500 were sold.

In 1901 the Rover company began producing automobiles with the two-seater Rover Eight to the designs of Edmund Lewis, who came from Lawson's Daimler. Lewis left the company to join Deasy in late 1905.

The 1950s and '60s were fruitful years for the company. The Land Rover became a runaway success (despite Rover's reputation for making upmarket saloons, the utilitarian Land Rover was actually the company's biggest seller throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s), as well as the P5 and P6 saloons equipped with a 3.5L (215ci) aluminium V8 (the design and tooling of which was purchased from Buick) and pioneering research into gas turbine-powered vehicles.

In 1970, Rover combined its skill in producing comfortable saloons and the rugged Land Rover 4x4 to produce the Range Rover. The Rover SD1 of 1976 and the range rover were  excellent cars, but was beset with so many build quality and reliability issues it never delivered on its great promise. Following the closure of the Triumph factory at Canley, production of the TR7 and TR8 was moved to Solihull. Due to poor quality the rover group got into trouble.

As British Leyland struggled through financial turmoil and an industrial-relations crisis during the 1970s, it was effectively nationalised after a multibillion-pound government cash injection in 1975. Michael Edwardes was brought in to head the company.

In 1979, British Leyland (or as it was now officially known, BL Ltd.) began a long relationship with the Honda Motor Company of Japan. In the 1980s, the slimmed-down BL used the Rover brand on a range of cars codeveloped with Honda.

By 1988, Austin Rover had moved to a one-marque strategy, using only the Rover brand. Its parent, BL, was renamed as the Rover Group, with the car division becoming Rover Cars.

In 1986, the Rover SD1 was replaced by the Rover 800, developed with the Honda Legend. The Austin range were now technically Rovers, though the word "Rover" never actually appeared on the badging. Instead, there was a badge similar to the Rover Viking shape, without wording. The Metro was officially badged as a Rover when the restyled version was launched in May 1990.  The larger Rover 600, launched in April 1993, was based on the Accord and used various Honda and Rover engines and was aimed further upmarket at the likes of the BMW 3 Series rather than the likes of the Ford Mondeo which the Honda Accord was marketed to compete with.

In 1988, the Rover brand went back into private hands when the Rover Group was acquired by British Aerospace.

The Honda partnership proved to be the turnaround point for the company, steadily rebuilding its image to the point where once again, Rover-branded cars were seen as upmarket alternatives to Fords and Vauxhalls. In 1994, British Aerospace sold the Rover Group, including the Rover, Land Rover, Riley, Mini, Triumph, and Austin-Healey brands to BMW, who had begun to see Rover-branded cars as potential major competitors.

Under BMW, the Rover Group developed the Rover 75 and was launched in June 1999, as a retro-designed car influenced by the earlier Rover P4 and P5 designs. It proved to be a success for the marque, gaining positive critics, although it failed to outsell the BMW 3 Series.

In May 2000, BMW split up the Rover Group, selling Land Rover to the Ford Motor Company for an estimated sum of £1.8-billion, retaining the MINI marque and selling the rest of the car business to the Phoenix Consortium, who established it as MG Rover. Although BMW included ownership of the MG brand in the deal, they retained ownership of the Rover brand, licensing its use to the new MG Rover company for use on the ongoing car models that they had acquired.

A specially assembled group of businessmen, known as the Phoenix Consortium and headed by ex-Rover chief executive John Towers, established the MG Rover Group from the former Rover Group car operations (acquired from BMW for a nominal £10 in May 2000) and continued to use the Rover brand under licence from BMW.

In 1999, the Rover Group had sustained losses of an estimated £800 million – largely due to the declining sales of its existing 200 and 400 family cars and initially slow sales of the Rover 75. The four businessmen who took control of the newly formed MG Rover Group are reported to have received around £430-million in a dowry from BMW that included unsold stock.

Ford purchased the Land Rover company from BMW in 2000, and the deal included the option to purchase the Rover brand name if MG Rover ceased trading. This right was exercised on 18 September 2006 and effectively meant the brand was transferred to Land Rover.

Ford sold their Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors in 2008, along with the rights to the Rover brand. In 2013, the operations of Jaguar Cars and Land Rover were merged into the single car manufacturing company Jaguar Land Rover along with the rights to the Rover brand.

p5

Mark I

The P5 Mark I appeared in September 1958, badged as the "3-litre". It was powered by a 2,995  engine. This straight-6 IOE engine used an overhead intake valve and side exhaust valve, an unusual arrangement inherited from the Rover P4. In this form, output of 115 brake horsepower was claimed.^[3] An automatic transmission, overdrive on the manual, and Burman power steering were optional with overdrive becoming standard from May 1960.

By 1962, when production of the original Mark I series ended, 20,963 had been produced.

An automatic version tested by The Motor magazine in 1960 had a top speed of 152.9 km/h and could accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 17.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of 13.8 L/100 km was recorded.

Mark II

The Mark II version of the P5 was introduced in 1962. It featured more power, 129 horsepower, from the same 3-litre engine and an improved suspension, while dropping the glass wind deflectors from the top of the window openings which also, on the front doors, now featured "quarterlight" windows.

The most notable addition to the range was the option of the Coupé body style launched in autumn 1962. Unlike most coupés, which tend to be two-door versions of four-door saloons, this retained the four doors and was of the same width and length as the saloon, but featured a roofline lowered by two 6.4 cm along with thinner b-pillars, giving it the look of a hardtop. Hydrosteer power-assisted steering was standard on the coupé and optional on the saloon.

Production of the Mark II ended in 1965, by which time 5,482 coupés and 15,676 saloons had been produced.

Mark III

The Mark III was presented at the London Motor Show in October 1965  described at the time as "even more luxuriously trimmed and furnished". It was again available in two 4-door body styles, coupé and saloon. A total of 3,919 saloons and 2,501 coupés had been sold by the time production ended in 1967.

P5B

The final iteration of the P5, the P5b  appeared in September 1967. Now powered by the 3,528  Rover V8 engine also used in the 3500, the car was badged as the "3.5 Litre", and commonly known as the 3½ Litre. When introduced in 1967 the Buick-designed V8 produced 160 PS. The 3½ Litre saloon variant was a favourite of high-ranking government ministers, and served as Prime Ministerial transport.

p6

The Rover P6 series (named as the 2000, 2200, or 3500, depending on engine displacement) was a saloon car produced by Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, West Midlands, England, UK. The P6 was the first winner of the European Car of the Year award.

The vehicle was marketed first as the Rover 2000 and was a complete "clean sheet" design intended to appeal to a larger number of buyers than earlier models such as the P4 it replaced. Rover had identified a developing market between the standard '1.5-litre' saloon car class (such as the Ford Consul and the Singer Gazelle) and the accepted 'three-litre' large saloon cars (typified by the Wolseley 6/99 and the Vauxhall Cresta). Younger and increasingly affluent professional workers and executives were seeking out cars that were superior.

Mark I

The first P6 Mark I used a 2.0 L engine designed specifically for the P6. Although it was announced towards the end of 1963, the car had been in "pilot production" since the beginning of the year, therefore deliveries were able to begin immediately. Original output was in the order of 104 bhp. At the time the engine was unusual in having an overhead camshaft layout. Cars that were built until 1966 are referred to as early cars. The Rover 2000 had many detailed differences that changed over the first 3 years of production.

3500

The 3500 was introduced in April 1968. Rover saw Buick's compact 3.5 L (3528 cc/215 in³) V8 from the Buick Special as a way to differentiate the P6 from its chief rival, the Triumph 2000. They purchased the rights to the innovative aluminium engine and once it was modified to allow its use by Rover, it became an instant hit. The Rover V8 engine, as it became known, outlived its original host, the P5B, by more than thirty years.

Mark II

The Mark II as it was actually named by Rover, was launched in 1970. All variants carried the battery in the boot and had new exterior fixtures such as a plastic front air intake (to replace the alloy version), new bonnet pressings (with V8 blips even for the 4-cylinder-engined cars) and new rear lights. The interior of the 3500 and 2000TC versions was updated with new instrumentation with circular gauges and rotary switches. The old-style instrumentation with a linear speedometer and toggle switches continued on the 2000SC versions.

2200

In October 1973 the 2200 was announced.  In order to try to meet exhaust emission requirements particularly in California various changes were made to carburation and exhaust. The engine capacity was increased ten percent to increase torque and minimise the loss in reported power output and the 2200 SC and 2200 TC replaced the 2000 SC and TC. The last 2200 came off the production line on 19 March 1977, a left-hand drive export version that was then converted to right-hand drive by Tourist Trophy Garage, Farnham. The 2200 originally fitted Pirelli Cinturato 165HR14 tyres (CA67) when leaving the factory.

land rover

The Land Rover series I, II, and III (commonly referred to as series Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models), or simply the Land-Rover, are compact British off-road vehicles, produced by the Rover Company since 1948, and later by British Leyland. Though unapologetically inspired by the World War II jeep, the Land Rover immediately distinguished itself from all other cars. From launch, it was the first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car with doors on it, and an available hard roof. Contrary to conventional car and truck chassis, it used a sturdier fully box-welded frame. Furthermore, due to post-war steel shortage, and aluminium surplus, Land Rovers received non-rusting aluminium alloy bodies, favouring their longevity. In 1992, Land Rover claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had built were still in use.

Most series models feature leaf-spring suspension with selectable two or four-wheel drive (4WD), however series I's produced between 1948 and mid-1951 had constant 4WD via a freewheel mechanism, and the Stage 1 V8 version of the series III featured permanent 4WD. All three models could be started with a front hand crank and had the option of front & rear power takeoffs for accessories.

After adding a long wheelbase model in 1954, Land Rover also offered the world's first four / five door, 4WD off-road station wagon in 1956. Series Land Rovers and Defenders continually excelled in space utilization, offering (optional) three abreast seating in the seating rows with doors, and troop seating in the rear, resulting in up to seven seats in the SWB, and up to ten seats in the LWB models, exceeding the capacity of most minivans, when comparing vehicles of the same length.

range rover

The Land Rover Range Rover (generally known simply as the Range Rover) is a 4x4 motor car produced by Land Rover. The Range Rover line was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and is now in its fourth generation. Additional models have been launched under the Range Rover name, including the Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, and Range Rover Velar.

The first-generation Range Rover was produced between 1969 and 1996. It was available only in a 2-door body until 1981. (Before then, 4-door models had been produced by specialist firms).

Unlike other 4x4s such as the Jeep Wagoneer, the original Range Rover was not designed as a luxury vehicle. It was up-market compared to preceding Land Rover models, but the early Range Rovers had fairly basic, utilitarian, interiors with vinyl seats and plastic dashboards that were designed to be washed down with a hose. Convenience features such as power steering, carpeted floors, air conditioning, cloth/leather seats, and wooden interior trim were fitted later.

The Range Rover was a body-on-frame design with a box section ladder type chassis, like the contemporary Series Land Rovers. The Range Rover used coil springs as opposed to leaf springs, permanent four-wheel drive, and four-wheel disc brakes. The Range Rover was originally powered by various Rover V8 engines and diesel engines.

Originally, the Range Rover was fitted with a detuned 130 hp version of the Buick-derived Rover V8 engine. In 1984, the engine was fitted with Lucas fuel injection, boosting power to 155 hp. The 3.5-litre  engine was bored out to a displacement of 3.9 litres  for the 1990 model year, and 4.2-litre  in 1992 (1993 model year) for the 108-inch Long Wheelbase Vogue LSE (County LWB [long wheelbase] in North America). 

Twenty-five years after the introduction of the original Range Rover, the second-generation (model-designation P38A) was introduced for the 1995 model year, based on the LWB chassis of the model, with an updated version of the Rover V8 engine or a 2.5-litre BMW six-cylinder turbo-diesel with a Bosch injection pump. This was the first diesel injection with electronic controls in a Land Rover, before common rails were introduced. This was a result of BMW's subsequent ownership of Rover Group and hence the Land Rover brand.

This model was the last to use the Rover V8 and interior leather supplied by Connolly who went out of business in 2002. It was the first model to feature Satellite Navigation as an option.

In 2001, the third-generation model was introduced, which saw the model move further up-market. Planned and developed under BMW ownership the third generation shared components and systems (electronics, core power units etc.) with the BMW 7 Series (E38). The 7 Series electronics system was being phased out during the development of the third-generation Range Rover and being replaced with the electronics from the BMW 5 Series (E39).

There were three "Generations" of the L322. First, from 2001 until 2005, was the 4.4 litre M62 BMW V8 with ZF 5HP-24 transmission. (The manual transmission was dropped, leaving only the automatic). Then, from 2006 until 2009 a 4.4-litre Jaguar-derived engine or a 4.2-litre supercharged variant of the Jaguar engine partnered with the ZF 6HP-26 transmission. and thirdly, in 2010 Land Rover fitted the newly-designed AJ133 5.0 N/A and Supercharged engine with ZF 6HP-26 until the 2012 model year, the end of L322 production.

The 4th generation (L405) Range Rover again uses a unitary monocoque body-shell, but contrary to the previous model, it is made from all-aluminium rather than steel, including unique high-strength alloy, up to 50% recycled aluminium; and production takes place in an all new aluminium facility at Land Rover's Solihull site.

The all-aluminium monocoque body structure is a first for a 4x4 SUV platform, according to Land Rover, resulting in a remarkable 39 percent lighter body-shell, and a reduction of 420 kg  compared to its predecessor. The Range Rover has a new version of Terrain Response, dubbed Terrain Response 2.

Early models include a choice of two petrol (5.0-litre 375 PS LR-V8 and 510PS LR-V8 Supercharged) and two diesel (3.0-litre 258PS TDV6 and 4.4-litre 339PS SDV8) engines, all with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

All engines use an eight-speed automatic transmission. Gears are selected from the Drive Select rotary shifter on the centre console or the driver can also manually select gears via the paddle shift controls on the steering wheel.

The fifth generation Range Rover was revealed on 26 October 2021 by the Jaguar Land Rover Chief Creative Officer and the car's designer, Gerry McGovern, at the Royal Opera House in London. As well as two PHEV, three diesel and two petrol JLR 3.0 L Ingenium I6 engine options, the car will be the first from JLR to use an engine developed under the combustion and electrified powertrain partnership agreed between JLR and BMW in 2019, as a 4.4L BMW/JLR V8 engine is also an option. It was launched with a range of mild hybrid diesel and petrol engines, with plug-in hybrids due in early 2022 and an all-electric model in 2024.

sd1

The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the Jaguar-Rover-Triumph division) of British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. It was produced through its Specialist, Rover Triumph and Austin Rover divisions from 1976 until 1986, when it was replaced by the Rover 800. The SD1 was marketed under various names. In 1977 it won the European Car of the Year title.

In "SD1", the "SD" refers to "Specialist Division" and "1" is the first car to come from the in-house design team.

The SD1 can be considered as the last British Rover,^{[clarification needed]} being the final Rover-badged vehicle to be produced at Solihull, as well as being the last to be designed largely by ex-Rover Company engineers. Future Rover models would be built at the former British Motor Corporation factories at Longbridge and Cowley.

Rover's plans to use its then fairly new 2.2 L four-cylinder engine were soon abandoned as BL management ruled that substantially redesigned versions of Triumph's six-cylinder engine were to power the car instead. The Rover V8 engine was fitted in the engine bay. The three-speed automatic gearbox was the BorgWarner 65 model.

The SD1 was intended to be produced in a state-of-the-art extension to Rover's historic Solihull factory alongside the TR7. It was largely funded by the British government, who had bailed BL out from bankruptcy in 1975. Unfortunately, this did nothing to improve the patchy build quality that then plagued all of British Leyland. That, along with quick-wearing interior materials and poor detailing ensured that initial enthusiasm soon turned to disappointment.

maestro

The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Allegro. The car was produced at Morris' former Oxford plant, also known as Cowley, with 605,000 units sold.^[3] Today, the redeveloped factory builds the BMW Mini. An MG-branded performance version was sold as the MG Maestro from 1983 until 1991.

Although later models were sometimes referred to as the Rover Maestro, the model never wore the Rover badge. The Austin Montego saloon was a variant of the Maestro.

The Maestro incorporated many novel and pioneering features for its class. It had a bonded laminated windscreen, homofocal headlamps, body-coloured plastic bumpers, an electronic engine management system, adjustable front seat belt upper anchorage positions, an asymmetrically split rear seat, and a 19,300 km service interval.

The car was a reasonable success, but not as much as beleaguered BL had hoped. It was Britain's sixth best selling car in 1983 and 1984, with more than 80,000 sales in its second year. After the "boom" years of 1986 and 1987, Maestro sales went into decline.

200/25

400/45

600

800

 Joint development of the car began in 1981 under the "XX" codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as "HX". The development work was carried out at Rover's Cowley plant and Honda's Tochigi development centre. Both cars shared the same core structure and floorpan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems.

Honda and Austin Rover agreed that Legends would also be built in the Cowley plant for the British market. The US-market (Acura) Legends were built in Japan.

It was finally launched on 10 July 1986, taking the place of the decade-old Rover SD1.

At launch, the 2 litre versions of the 800 used two naturally aspirated 2.0 L 16-valve developments of British Leyland's stalwart O-series engine, dubbed the M series. However, in 1988 an 820 Fastback (no letter after the 820 badge), with a single carburettor version of the O series was launched for the fleet market. The top 2.5 litre versions (825i & Sterling) used a Honda designed V6 unit in 2.5 L capacity. Initially, only a saloon body was offered; a liftback version – referred to as a fastback – became available in 1988. There were no V8 versions of the Rover 800 series, in contrast to earlier Rover saloons of this size, including its immediate predecessor, the SD1. Unlike its rear-wheel drive predecessor, it had front-wheel drive.

In the autumn of 1991, the 800 was reskinned and reengineered under the R17 codename. This saw the reintroduction of the traditional Rover grille and more curvaceous bodywork. The scope of the design change was restricted by the need to retain the core XX structure, including the door structure design. The 2.0 L T16 replaced the M16 found in pre-1992 cars, and came in both normally-aspirated and turbocharged forms. The 2.0 L turbo was fitted to the Vitesse and the later Vitesse Sport (1994–96), taking the place of the former 820 Turbo. 317,306 were built in total.

 BMW was looking for ways to increase its volume and its board felt there were few possible purchases available. They were attracted by many of the iconic brands such as Mini and Land Rover – at this time, BMW did not make 4WD vehicles although one was under development.

BMW owned Rover from 1994 to 2000 by which time the company was piling up losses at a rate of £2million a day. The merger of BMW and Rover ‘failed’ because of cultural differences, poor leadership and poor due diligence; if BMW had fully understood what it was buying, they may not have done the deal, done a different deal for selected assets, or bought at a lower price. BMW has, however, re-launched the Mini with great success and in fact sold other assets from the Rover Group at a profit or at market value.

75

The Rover 75 is an executive car manufactured initially by the Rover Group and later by MG Rover, under the Rover marque and available over a single generation with front-wheel drive in either saloon/sedan or station wagon/estate configurations. Later variants included an extended-wheelbase model, and a rear-wheel drive variant with a V8 engine. In 2001, MG Rover launched a badge engineered variant, the MG ZT. A coupe concept was built, but did not receive further development. Rover 75s were manufactured by the Rover Group at Cowley, Oxfordshire, for one year. After owner BMW sold Rover, the 75 was manufactured by the new MG Rover Group at their Longbridge site in Birmingham. The Rover 75 debuted in 1999. As the last Rover executive sedan/saloon, production of all models ended in 2005 when MG Rover Group entered receivership.

The Rover 75 started life as part of a group of three new designs for the company under the guidance of Richard Woolley; a large saloon codenamed Flagship, a smaller vehicle (with the codename of Eric), and the 75. Of these only the 75 concept progressed. The initial aim was to reskin the Rover 600 (launched in April 1993) but following the BMW takeover in 1994, it was quickly decided that this platform would not be reused but replaced by an entirely new model, scheduled for launch in the late 1990s.

Initial sales of the Rover 75 failed to match the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 in the British car sales charts during 1999.   The car drew favourable reactions, but was unfortunately overshadowed by a press conference  by BMW chairman, Bernd Pischetsrieder, containing criticism of the UK Government and  the press interpreted this as saying that BMW were unhappy with continuing financial losses and were intending to close Rover down. This undoubtedly scared off many prospective buyers. In all 211.175 were made.

The MG badge-engineering project (first implemented by Austin Rover in 1982 with the Metro) ended in 1991 despite some reasonable success for its Austin Maestro and Austin Montego ranges (the MG Metro had been discontinued after the facelift in 1990). The MG badge was revived in 1992 on the RV8 – an updated MG MGB which made use of a 3.9 V8 Range Rover power unit, but lacked modern refinements that were expected in similarly priced sports car of its era. The car didn't sell as strongly as earlier MG sports car, and production had ended by 1995.

The "real" rebirth of MG sports cars occurred in 1995, when the MG F was launched. Powered by a 1.8 16-valve mid-mounted engine, it was an instant hit with buyers thanks to its distinctive styling and excellent ride and handling. It was a huge success in the roadster renaissance of the late 1990s, despite some buyers being let down by lacklusture build quality and reliability.

The MG name was revived on passenger cars in 2001 when the ZR, ZS and ZT models launched, based on the Rover 25, 45 and 75 models respectively.

The MG ZT is an automobile which was produced by MG Rover from 2001 to 2005. It was offered in saloon and estate versions, the latter designated as the MG ZT-T. Styling is similar to the Rover 75, upon which it was based, although various modifications, most noticeably the wheels and tyres, make for a far sportier ride. Production ceased in April 2005, amidst financial turmoil at MG Rover.