Real Road Test: Rover battle! 800 vs SD1
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2019
- In this head to head battle, I pitch the legendary Rover SD1 against its replacement, the 800. Both are in fastback form. The SD1 is a 1982 Vanden Plas with twin carburettors, while the 800 is an 827 Vitesse automatic with leather interior. Which one is best?
Oh and yes. I drove all the way to The Netherlands to test a pair of British cars. How very HubNut! This was filmed a few hours before I got my ferry home on the 2CV to Croatia roadtrip.
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The SD1 was my dream car. I owned one for a short while. I loved it, spent many weekends reattaching trim, tracing water leaks and fixing electrical problems. Once everything was fixed it was a real joy to drive. The best part was the long legged manual gearbox.
I was brought up on SD1 after SD1 all V8's that seated 5 kids, could tow a huge caravan and with a boot full of stuff. My father used to play Barbara Dickson 'caravan' as we burbled our way to wales on holiday. No Contest, in spite of it's flakey build quality the SD1 was a robust car, only let my dad down once when the Borg Warner box spewed its torque convertor and his green V8-S saved my life when I fell asleep at the wheel and hit an electricity pole which sheared and shunted the rover into a ditch across the road which was as deep as the car was long. It caught fire and I managed to put the fire out with water from the ditch. So no contest for me. Beautiful design, classic engine, comfortable (too comfortable) and a robust chassis.
Styling .. it's the SD1. Definitely the best looking police car in the old "jam sandwich" days.
“Let’s go right here” as hubnut turns left 😂😂😂😂 Classic Ian
David from Tasmania here, Love Hubnet. I had a 1978 SD1 SE from 1985 to 1990. Absolutely loved it. I was living in Sydney then, and a friend who owned a Rover service centre advised me to avoid the fuel injected version and buy a carburetted one. I had plans. After about 6 months of ownership, I took the car to a Rover conversion company in North Sydney and had the 3.5 litre V8 swapped for a 4.4 litre engine from the Australian Leyland P76. Put the 3.5 litre cylinder heads back on, (ups the compression) a new intake manifold from the UK, bigger carbies, and a full flow 2 inch exhaust system. Sounded glorious. It was a beautiful long distance touring car. Drove many times from Sydney to Adelaide, 1430 klms, sometimes in one day. and the SD1 would average about 28mpg. My late wife absolutely loved it. My only major problem was water ingress in to the back hatch. Spent a couple of hours matching the shape of the plastic taillights to the shape of the steel body, presto, no more water leaks. About 18 months after I sold it, we passed the Rover on the road on the way back from an Adelaide F1 Grand Prix. Just about every panel had a ding in it, and it looked like it hadn't been washed since I sold it. I nearly cried. Would love another one. Keep up the good work, Cheers, David
Head says 800, heart says SD1. Got to be the SD1 though, on looks alone.
The 800 is a nice looking car but the SD1 is one of my favourite all time cars.
Back in the 1980s i owned both cars, absolutely loved them! Unfortunately i was 10 and the cars were in
That's got to be the finest example of an SD1 I've ever seen, truly fabulous machine!! Loved these back in the day :D
I’ve always wanted a SD1 VDP after watching Rita Sue and Bob too 😂
The SD1 was a truly beautiful looking car. That example looks like it was just wheeled out of the showroom.
What a nostalgia!
Thanks for sharing.
Love the early SD1s. If I could find a really good one it would be VERY tempting.
Little update on the cars now. I still have both! The 800 interior has had a lot of tlc. The wood was relaquered, the leather on the wheel and front seats recoloured and the headlining redone. There was a little rust on the sun roof that was properly repaired and the roof resprayed. Also, the wheels were restored. The SD1 has had a lot more tlc. Dashboard was replaced by a like new one, so the shine is gone and all the wood was replaced and relaquered. Looks a million bucks now. Fog lights installed, horn repaired, wheels restored and an Edelbrock carburetor fitted. Last but not least, there were some rust spots in the floor and boot area. Everything is welded and good now.
Our neighbours when I was growing up had a blue SD1. I must have only been about 6 years old, but I remember the plush seats, smooth ride and that wonderful engine noise, even being so young!
Great video, brought back great memories for me having done my apprenticeship with British Leyland from 1978 and worked with Rover and Land Rover until 1989, continued with Rover V8's in TVR's for 10 years after that.
I remember the first time I saw that car. in my area on that date, there were only Renault 4 and Citroen 2cv. Well, one autumn afternoon in '83 I saw that car for the first time. To this day I have not seen a car as beautiful as that. Love at first sight
That 800 is absolutely gorgeous. Would love to own one one day.
Hearing “Buy the two cars” is not nice for my wife’s ears... But it is a good piece of advice: do not choose, take both. Love it! ❤️
WOW what an amazing video !!!!,,,,,,, will watch it later ,,,,,,,,, the cars are so interesting !!!!!!