Fast Marina Magazine

We all know the story of rover being sold out and closed, but could this have been the car that could have saved rover ?> This is a prototype that was never released and looks identical to the chrysler that we have all seen on our roads.

Or could it have been the upgraded mg tf with a turbo engine and flared body ??

Not suprising they went bust..........that TF looks like it was designed by Leepu from Chop Shop. :shock:

With the management that Rover had!!!! not much chance.

BL on the other hand was too big, too much infighting between brands, very poor management and a work force that thought it was owed a living by the tax payer.

My dad was one of them, and when asked why he was on strike it was invariably a feeble excuse. Red Robbo cost the 'Austin' and surounding supply firms a lot of money and jobs.

Brian

I have just read the book "End of the Road: The Real Story of the Downfall of Rover " by Christopher Brady.According to that book, Rover was still too big and too much "BL" up until the very end. BMW bought the company in 1994 and if they had reacted quickly enough the company could maybe have been saved. But the actions needed would have been politically impossible - laying off thousands off workers, closing Longbridge and so on.
What BMW did though was fund the development of the Rover 75 - a beautifully engineered car but which was too expensive for its own good.

Rover should have shifted into the premium segment already in the early nineties. The small cars (the Metro! and the CityRover) did absolutely nothing for the brand value and were difficult to export due to the expensive GBP. But it's always easy to know afterwards what they should have done...