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Jag or Rover?

B

Bill Parker

master brummie
Ladies and Gents,

suppose you won a few bob on Ernie or came into a few bob from some other good fortune and you decide to but a classic car, What would be your choice? The cash limit is aroud the £10-15K mark.

Incidently I dont want anyone thinking that this sort of fortune has come my way and Im trying to pick your brains........I have not got any spare cash!!! :(

My choice would probably be A Jaguar Mk11, but I want a dark green one with wire wheels, I dont mind which engine is fitted and ideally a cream leather interior.

Alternativley I quite like the idea of a Nice Rover 2000 (P6) but it must be pre 73 to qualify for free road fund .

Go one have a bit of fun, remeber the cash limits!!
 
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Hello Bill,
I have never been one to get emotionally involved with motor cars but I do have fond memories of a 1974 Triumph 2000 mark 11 with power steering and overdrive that I owned in the early 80's.
Acres of space to work in under the bonnet on the straight 6 twin carb engine, there was even a push button which turned the engine over slowly- very usefull. Leather seats and plenty of room for the family, you could even take out the seats when on a picnic. With overdrive engaged I could get 35 m.p.g but only about 22 around town.
Not sure if you think this qualifies as a classic car Bill but pure joy to drive. Regards, Mike.
 
I have been buying cars since 1957. With the exception of four Dagenham and two French (SIMCA and Renault) products all the rest have been of Midland manufacture - Austin/BMC and successors or Rootes Group. The total is something like 25 vehicles.

However the thread title is Jaguar or Rover. Without doubt a Rover 100 or 105 is my choice. I drive a Rover at present so I am biased and Jags are not easy to park these days in congested places and narrow parking places.
 
I have owned around 5, XJ's, in my time and even with build quaility issues I still recon them to be the best I ever owned, in saying that the last one only cost £61 to fill both tanks, I really would not like to have to do so now, the first one cost, £27.
 
Jags over here have been bad news on reliability until fairly recently but reliability is still only ordinaire. So methinks I would plump for a Rover 90/100...you know the older type that Seigfried drove. Probably would steer like a boat compared to latter day offerings. The 2000 was a nice vehicle with the de-dion rear suspension also. Yeah real leather and the associated aroma of such and no nonsense dash with round flush speedo. A glove compartment that you can reach without giving yourself a hernia.
Triumph had a couple of nice vehicles and the 2000 was a similar concept to the Rover 2000 I think but then they were all ditched.
 
Mike Bond said:
Hello Bill,
I have never been one to get emotionally involved with motor cars but I do have fond memories of a 1974 Triumph 2000 mark 11 with power steering and overdrive that I owned in the early 80's.
Acres of space to work in under the bonnet on the straight 6 twin carb engine, there was even a push button which turned the engine over slowly- very usefull. Leather seats and plenty of room for the family, you could even take out the seats when on a picnic. With overdrive engaged I could get 35 m.p.g but only about 22 around town.
Not sure if you think this qualifies as a classic car Bill but pure joy to drive. Regards, Mike.
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Hi Mike, its a classic in my book.
 
Hi Rupert,

I always considered these machines as a bit of an old mans car, when I was younger of course, many years ago a friend of mine happened to have one, he bought and sold on a regular basis and he asked me to drive it just down the road for him. I cant rememebr if it was a 90/100 or what but I was suprised how well it drove. The long gear shift was positive and it handles quite well. So after this little trip I completely changed my mind about these rather splendid old motors.
 
Hello Bill,

I think test driving, before release from the factory, was done at Rover back then. Old mans car?...who makes these aspertions. The mini-van is a 'soccer moms' car....so they say and make SUVs to be a dads car....who would not be seen dead driving the much more practical and usefull van....soccer or not Sorry; had a couple of glasses of Ontario wine belt Cab with my supper. Come to think of it; they would have gone down well with a picnic lunch...looking out over the lovely old Warwickshire countryside...yeah leather and a wooden dash.
I'm dreaming again. It would have had to be a Mini and ballancing my cold cup of tea on my kneecaps. This is a very promissing thread. Memories of good times past...pity that most of us never would have had the opportunity for enjoying the same up front.
 
If I could have a weekly fuel allowance too, I'd go for a Land Rover Defender. Cold, basic and uncomfortable but still great fun to drive. I really miss my old Landy.......:cry:
 
Mike, my brother had a Triumph TC with leater seats when he passed his test, it was old then but as he was in the Navy, I got to use it while he was at sea and it was a beautiful drive! There is a story about the alternator belt breaking on it when he was camping with a group of school mates and he borrowed a pair of tights to makeshift repair it to get home,the girl whose tights he used is now his wife of almost 25 years!
My car would be a Porsche 925, loved those for looks but sadly never got to own one or a Vauxhall sports coupe, 2.0l version.
Hubby says audi quattro coupe, though like Chocks puts Vauxhall Victor FE and VX high on the list as he used to own one and belonged tothe owners club
Sue
 
If you go for the Jag watch out for rust and loads of body filler. In the sixties I had one of the early E types, when I took it in for a minor bump to be repaired it turned out that the sills were badly corroded and also the back end under the hatch door. The body shop owner advised me that most Jags of this era were in a similar condition.
 
Hello Sue,
They rather had the image of being a stogy old man's car but talk to anyone who has driven or owned a Triumph 2000 and you will find that they all loved them. For it's day and given the limited advances of the time it was in the fore front of new developements i.e. powered steering which is standard in to-days motor car. Go to any classic car show and they still draw admiring glances.
The tights I can well beleive, those were the days when you could get yourself out of trouble with some basic materials and imagination -- not like todays thoroughbreds.
You would certainly live in the fast lane with a Porshe 925. Best wishes, Mike.
 
Radiorails said:
I have been buying cars since 1957. With the exception of four Dagenham and two French (SIMCA and Renault) products all the rest have been of Midland manufacture - Austin/BMC and successors or Rootes Group. The total is something like 25 vehicles.

However the thread title is Jaguar or Rover. Without doubt a Rover 100 or 105 is my choice. I drive a Rover at present so I am biased and Jags are not easy to park these days in congested places and narrow parking places.
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Love to have XJ - but you are right a big bulky Jag is no place for a cramped tiny island that is the UK riddled with oncoming psycho drivers who insist on driving 60/40 rather than keep 50/50 on their side
However, i have a Rover 75 and that is v poor to reverse park
 
If the choice is only those two makes, then a Rover 3500. I've had two in the past, and they were truly excellent cars.
If there was no make limitation, then a 1951/2 Daimler DB18 'Consort', again I've had one in the distant past and it's comfort and ease of driving far exceeds Mercedes, Rolls and Bentley products of the same era, IMHO.
 
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I have only driven Daimler Sovereign, I loved it, my Father owned a number of Rovers as I grew up, the last one being a 3 litre coupe (P5) a very nice straight six engine, I think I would like to own either of them now...:smug:.
 
About 20 years ago I bought my dream car, Rover 2.2 Turbo, the so called "tomcat". Fastest production Rover ever made, 145 mph. Problem was they had taken the 1600 version and upgraded engine and other parts but seemed to have forgotten the force exerted on the drive shafts. I managed to get through four and found it extremely worrying being in the outside lane of the M5 one Sunday morning accelerating to overtake a car when suddenly the drive shaft came out, rev counter went over to max and all power was lost. Still a dream to drive. Unfortunately other people wanted to drive it, stolen of my drive once and then had my garage broken in to and the car removed.
Enough was enough.
 
The best car I have ever owned was a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, bright yellow with a black Webasto roof. Brilliant to drive and with a high seating position it was just right for someone short like me. Most cars since have been a disappointment because of the seating position. Currently I have a Golf GTI which I like a lot, but nothing compares to the Triumph. My husband has a Mercedes C Class AMG Sport which is wonderful to drive, smooth and so easy as it's automatic, but although I have driven it, I prefer not to, because it's an expensive car and if I even got a slight scratch I would never hear the end of it! If I came into a little money what choice would I make? Probably a Golf, because a Triumph today looks silly!!
 
I like your choice Shortie - not sure if I should admit I was involved in designing the electrics for the Dolomite. The Golf would be a worthy modern alternative.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
 
Rolls Royce, Bentleys, Daimlers, have always sold well in the USA, because they are the elite of British cars, also a few sports cars.

Jaguar cars, or, as the Americans call it 'Jagwar', has always been a favourite of the more standard production car. Probably our biggest
seller in the USA. In my many years of travelling the USA I saw more Jaguar cars than any other British make.

Probably John, (Old Brit), can confirm this.

Eddie
 
https://www.autonews.com/section/ussales

If the figures shown on the link are to be believed - and I see no reason to doubt them. What sells now are Land Rover, Jaguar, and Mini (in that order). Sales for the others are minimal (less than a couple of hundred a month). You might see more of the classics because they are kept longer but, given the likelihoood that such things are bought by corporations, I wouldn't count on it. I suppose the increasing small car sales are down to an increase in urban living and the lack of parking space.
 
I have driven/owned, at least two of these cars pictured. A Rover 100, a Jag, and a Rover 3.500.
 

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Gaydon is well worth a visit, some fabulous and famous motors on display. On the question of Jag or Rover, I've always fancied a Jag, but I've owned two Rovers (a 400 & a 600). A great aunt who lived in Wiltshire, had a Rover like the one below and told me she would leave it to me, because I liked it so much, when I was a schoolboy. I never got it, but I was able to buy my own eventually, albeit second hand. I'm presently having my late father's 1950s Morris "shooting break" restored, it hasn't been on the road since the 70s and took us on many happy day trips. There were not many left on the road even back then and I look forward to seeing it back to it's best (like the one below). I remember us buying it in the 60s from Bromford Car Auctions for £65!
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In Colorado USA I had a new 1967? Rover 2000tc for a few years apart from no air con it was a fine machine that I drove all over the USA and went skiing in the Colorado Mountains with snow tyres no problem at all. later I had a Sterling that was nothing but trouble
 

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oldbrit said:
In Colorado USA I had a new 1967? Rover 2000tc for a few years apart from no air con it was a fine machine that I drove all over the USA and went skiing in the Colorado Mountains with snow tyres no problem at all. later I had a Sterling that was nothing but trouble
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What no air con . I remember picking up a hire car at Orlando Airport late eighties and was so grateful for air con. First time we’d ever had a car with aircon but since the mid nineties we’ve never been without it.
 
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