Regular contributor Eddy starts at the beginning with this pair: he remembers both being launched and has owned similar examples of each.
The rather handsome BMWarrived in 1981, a generallygood car which was a coolly efficient update on the outgoing coolly-efficient E12; the first 5 series. The upgrades were subtle and logical. The whole car, indeed the whole range, made sense. A buyer could start with a four-cylinder 1.8 and go up through the sixes to a snorting beast displacing 3.5 litres. All were perfectly reasonable choices in their respective market slots. In comparison, the Rover was, well, unreasonable.
Launched in 1976 (halfway through the reign of the E12) the SD1 came initially with only one engine, and exactly the wrong engine, you might imagine, to be fitting to your crucial new model just after the 1973 oil crisis. Although already an old design, and second hand to boot, the all-aluminium V8 that Buick had discarded was making itself very much at home in the various Rover models that used it, not to mention other applications such as the Morgan Plus 8. UK police forces loved it, especially in the P6 body, so the new model had big shoes to fill.
Esta historia es de la edición February 28, 2018 de Classic Car Buyer.
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Esta historia es de la edición February 28, 2018 de Classic Car Buyer.
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Staff Classics
REPORTING ON: Alfa Romeo GTV
Rootes Group - The Golden Years
The Rootes Group’s finest years commenced immediately after the end of the Second World War with the launch of a handful of brand-new models and lasted until the company was absorbed into the Chrysler empire in the middle of the following decade
MG ZT
The MG ZT was more than a Rover 75 in sports shoes. Much, much more. It was a performance saloon par excellence and today makes for a superb classic sporting bargain
MG Display Controversy
A classic vehicle insurer met with a mixed response at the Classic Motor Show when its display stand depicted a 1998 MGF apparently crushed by a WW2 Hellcat tank. But was this a sacrilegious act against a classic car, or an inspired promotional display?
Extra Ordinary
Exotics are usually the go-to classic investments, but a recent trend in everyday cars means more common street sights could be the way to go
Alternative Go
As the internal combustion engine’s fate seems in question, we look back at its past challengers
Death Of The Sports Car?
Another manufacturer belies its heritage to switch to SUVs
Cool Coupes
Every manufacturer was in on the ’90s coupe trend, stylish two-doors in abundance. But nearly three decades on, which are worth investing in?
Classic Scenes
Writing this as news reports bring us images of Sheffield residents trapped overnight in shopping centers by floods, we were struck by this image from October 1987.
500 Not Out
We identify some modern classics in danger of extinction... and the older cars which massively outnumber them