Support for Rover

[adrian50]

Well, I came to work again in my P5 today just for the hell of it, and to show the public the kind of cars Rover used to make.
Lets all get our P5's out this week to show support.

Adie

[Deleted]

Adrian,

I might need a trailer for mine!!! ;D

But I couldnt agree more with your comment.

Cheers
Steve

[glennr]

If they saw mine at the moment they would agree for the company to go. It is sad though. I still feel that the workforce mentallity now is so different from years ago that this company can be a success with the right backing/investment.The Govenment could use this as a shining example of how they can manage the country and invest and make this company profitable, hitting targets just as it does with the NHS! I'm off to the pub again. Cheers!

[Tom]

A sad end indeed. They should dump all the present models (and the management) and start making the P5 again. Upmarket is where the money is and it's heavy-body-low-roof-big-gaping-grille styling is positively en vogue right now. No guessing where the inspiration for the Chrysler 300 came from, or Mercedes' CLS 4 door coupé...
The boon for the government is that after 24 years they'll have something decent to be driven around in again ;-) and I'm sure HM will lend a hand...

having said that isnt it time we got some subsidy from the lottery for keeping up industrial heritage??

Tom

[Phil Nottingham]

:'(Sounds good but BLMC did not care about the P5B towards the end and allowed tooling to wear and slipshod trimming/painting. Whilst still quality cars they were not a patch on those produced when Rover was independent or under Leyland.

They would be too costly to make today and there is insuffucient skill to build these

[Geoff Arthur]

It has to be accepted that the chances of MG Rover surviving are nil.
They have managed to lose well over £1 billion in the last 5 years, they have already sold off their factory, engine plant, parts business and the intellectual rights to the 25 and 75. There is nothing left except the Rover name and that has been further discredited with this debacle.
It is only viable to make volume cars at the rate of 500,000 a year upwards as do all the main players now. I hope that it will just die off quietly and that someone will buy up the MG side and do something constructive with it.
At least they held on until after 6th April when the pension protection legislation took effect (I think they knew that date very well).
Our cars belong to a previous era when Rover was a top player and they should not really be associated with the ex BMC Longbridge plant at all as that was what dragged the whole industry down.

[Deleted]

ok every member chips in a quid and we make an offer, should be more than enough!

Do you reckon there is a machine in a shed somewhere that can press up some Rostyles and rear bumpers?

I think sidelight pips might be about their limit these days.

still feel sorry for the workforce though.

Will

[glennr]

I just feel annoyed and numb, throw in exasperated sad etc. Mr Austin whose body is buried overlooking the Longbridge site must be turning in his grave.

[Geoff Arthur]

Guys, When I was first getting in to cars as a kid the BMC products from Longbridge were already a laughing stock and I never though I would ever want one. Rovers and Triumphs were still ok but then they got absorbed by the BLMC fiasco as well. When they attached the Rover name to the cars in the 80s and early 90s I bought them and ran them. I encouraged family and friends to do so as well. Many were OK, some were not. I would not buy the cars they have made during the last 10 years because the competition was so much better in so many ways. I sold my last modern Rover in January this year. If I, as a loyal Rover liking British supporting person, did not buy the cars then your average citizen would not go near them and so it has come to pass. Our job now is to move on and keep the real original Rover heritage alive. That may mean distancing ourselves from the modern mess but it is essential that the Proper Rovers are understood as the quality vehicles they are and that they don't get lumped in with everything that has gone since. Our sympathy is of course with all those whose lives will become challenging for a while but our "brand" has been damaged by this saga and we must fight to ensure it is respected in the future.

[Deleted]

I drove my P5B down to the paper shop as a gesture of support.