[Kevin Davis]

There has been a lot of talk lately about "sport" versions of Rover cars,not as coarse as MG saloons,more of a grand tourer or Vitesse.Here is such a car,it is a 75 Sport which was owned by the Rover 75 chief designer,Richard Woolley,who bought it along to the Rover owners club meeting at Beaulieu in August 2000.As you can see it takes some design cues from the 75 Sport concept car shown earlier that year with mesh and body colour grille,you will also notice the unique 18" alloy wheels which have never been made available to the public,it also had sports suspension.The interior was 75 Connoiseur with leather etc,all in all a very nice car,i am pretty sure there is a market for this type of sporting Rover,especially if they look as classy as this.I wonder where this car is now as i suspect Richard Woolley is now driving an MG version.

 

[JLD]

Is this something that *** let slip through the net.

If it was on sale to the public when registered, ***s 3-series could have lost a lot of sales.

 

[Guest]

Kevin another picture I will steal and put on www.jerryflint.net

Cheers!

 

[Dave Harrison]

Ah......Been a good while since I saw a pic of that.
Not long B4 *** cut and run, a sporting 75 was indeed on the books, and this was the pot-boiler. To cut a long story short, *** were hysterical that Rover should not use the term "Sport" in association with any of their products, lest it taint their oh-so-dear range! So the name "Sharp" was the diktat from Munich for this. Until they decided that no sport, sorry, "Sharp" models were to be produced. An urban myth goes around that one was actually shipped to the (Frankfurt?) show without their knowledge, and was almost displayed!!

 

[Kevin Davis]

Dave,the car WAS displayed.

 

[Dave Harrison]

BRILLIANT!!!!!

So many have told me it wasn't, so was it pulled early, or hidden behind a curtain or something just as daft!

 

[Kevin Davis]

I have seen photographs of it on the Rover stand,i'm not sure what motor show it was at though,may have been Geneva,but could well have been Franfurt

 

[Ex-Member]

another anecdote from this great day was the reverse driving competition,a certain well known person from rover had to be disqualified for cheating,he got caught using parking sensors!

 

[cerbman]

They should make it, it really is like a small Bentley, wonderful.

 

[PatrickT]

They should make it, it really is like a small Bentley, wonderful.

I agree... sure there's crossover with the ZT, but some Rover owners want a sporty Rover, not a 4 door MG. I also think it's better looking than the ZT anyway. I've never been much of a fan of the front end of any of the Z cars.

 

[cerbman]

I would have that rather than the current 75 or ZT, perhaps keep the std 75 gear ratios which are longer than the std 190, but the same as the 160. I think it bridges the gap between the 75 and ZT perfectly. I love my wood and leather, but, in a sports saloon.

 

[cerbman]

Here it is, will it happen?

 

[Kevin Davis]

The original Rover 75 Sport as shown at the Geneva Motor Show 1999.Someone has been looking for this picture so here it is!.

 

[cerbman]

I wonder if it would work now with the monogrammed MG ZT?