Rover 800 Coupe
The Rover 800 Series is an executive car range manufactured by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland, and its successor the Rover Group from 1986 to 1999. It was also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1.
Partnership with Honda
The first product of the BL-Honda alliance was the Triumph Acclaim - and shortly after its launch the two companies mapped out a advisable strategy for future collaborative projects. Plans for a midsize car were investigated, but were dropped because BL already had the Austin Maestro and Austin Montego in the final stages of development. However both BL and Honda had a pressing need for a full-size executive car in their lineups. BL had to start planning for a successor to the Rover SD1, whilst Honda was keen to expand its presence in the lucrative North American market - something which it couldn't fully do unless it had a full-size luxury saloon (at that time the Honda Accord was its biggest model) which would compete with similar large Japanese imports from Toyota and Datsun. Joint development of the car began in 1981 under the "XX" codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as "HX". The development work was carried out at Rover's Cowley plant and Honda's Tochigi development centre. Both cars shared the same core structure and floorpan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems, including defective fusebox and heater.
Honda and Austin Rover agreed that Legends would also be built in the Cowley plant for the British market. The US-market (Acura) Legends were built in Japan.
It was finally launched on 10 July 1986, taking the place of the decade-old Rover SD1.
Coupé
A two-door three-box coupé version was launched in early 1992, having debuted at the 1991 Motor Show. This specification had originally been developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, with Rover having pulled out of the US market before the Coupé's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the 800 Coupé was finished by hand. The original Rover 800 had also formed the basis for the coupe version of the Honda Legend after its 1986 launch, but at the time Rover had decided against launching a coupe version of the 800 Series.
From February 1992 until 1996, the Rover 800 Coupe came exclusively with the 2.7 Honda V6 engine and 16" Rover 'Prestige' alloys. A four-speed automatic transmission came as standard, and the car was capable of well over 130 mph.
[Text abbreviated from Wikipedia]
Rover 800 Coupe
The Rover 800 Series is an executive car range manufactured by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland, and its successor the Rover Group from 1986 to 1999. It was also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1.
Partnership with Honda
The first product of the BL-Honda alliance was the Triumph Acclaim - and shortly after its launch the two companies mapped out a advisable strategy for future collaborative projects. Plans for a midsize car were investigated, but were dropped because BL already had the Austin Maestro and Austin Montego in the final stages of development. However both BL and Honda had a pressing need for a full-size executive car in their lineups. BL had to start planning for a successor to the Rover SD1, whilst Honda was keen to expand its presence in the lucrative North American market - something which it couldn't fully do unless it had a full-size luxury saloon (at that time the Honda Accord was its biggest model) which would compete with similar large Japanese imports from Toyota and Datsun. Joint development of the car began in 1981 under the "XX" codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as "HX". The development work was carried out at Rover's Cowley plant and Honda's Tochigi development centre. Both cars shared the same core structure and floorpan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems, including defective fusebox and heater.
Honda and Austin Rover agreed that Legends would also be built in the Cowley plant for the British market. The US-market (Acura) Legends were built in Japan.
It was finally launched on 10 July 1986, taking the place of the decade-old Rover SD1.
Coupé
A two-door three-box coupé version was launched in early 1992, having debuted at the 1991 Motor Show. This specification had originally been developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, with Rover having pulled out of the US market before the Coupé's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the 800 Coupé was finished by hand. The original Rover 800 had also formed the basis for the coupe version of the Honda Legend after its 1986 launch, but at the time Rover had decided against launching a coupe version of the 800 Series.
From February 1992 until 1996, the Rover 800 Coupe came exclusively with the 2.7 Honda V6 engine and 16" Rover 'Prestige' alloys. A four-speed automatic transmission came as standard, and the car was capable of well over 130 mph.
[Text abbreviated from Wikipedia]