Second Coming

Creating a credible car in the 800 was a real achievement for Rover... but continuing the magic into a second generation was an almost greater achievement. We drive the Rover 827 Sterling.

- Paul Wager

Regular readers will remember that back in our November issue our regular twin test feature compared the Rover 825 with the Jaguar XJ40. It was a fascinating comparison since both cars were an attempt by their respective makers to move the game on massively. Both also had their fair share of reliability issues early on in life, but came good eventually.

With John Egan working hard to lift quality, Jaguar was able to lean on the goodwill of its immensely strong brand image despite the damage done during the BL years, but Rover needed to work twice as hard with its new executive.

Thanks largely to input from Honda, it managed a real result with the 800-series and the car kick-started a wave of well received products which eventually saw Rover enter the period we’ve often referred to as a golden age.

Perhaps even more interesting though is how both Jaguar and Rover managed to take the tricky next step of keeping the momentum going to pursue the dream of capturing those BMW and Mercedes buyers.

Jaguar had grand ideas of following up the XJ40 with a car which began development under the code name XJ90. Opinions vary as to whether it was a heavily revised XJ40 or an all-new design but the reality was that the project stalled shortly after Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989. Speaking to our colleagues at Jaguar World magazine in 2004, former Jaguar technical Director Jim Randle recalled finishing the XJ90 under Ford ownership, only for the project to be cancelled in 1991. Unusually, few sketches have survived of the car, but Randle recalled it being an attractive design, slightly taller and longer than the XJ40.

The reason for the project’s abrupt halt was, as ever, financial and specifically the need to overhaul the antiquated production facilities at Browns Lane, which was where the investment went instead: all £110m of it.