Rover 216 GSi Hatchback
The once mighty British Leyland (BL) made up a majority of the previous volume-brands in the UK. These included, among others, Austin, Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Morris, Riley,Rover, Triumph, Wolesley and Vanden Plas.
Despite all the heritage, ownership of the brands also brought with it a bunch of dated products and under-resourced factories. Through the 1970s a majority of these were closed down and consolidated, and what was left entered a product-development agreement with the Japanese brand Honda.
Although there were a few well-regarded legacy products associated with some of the stronger marques, it was otherwise best to start with a clean sheet. Rover was selected as the strongest marque to take the group forwards. The Rover 200 model shown here was one of the earlier product agreements, being largely Honda Concerto-based (itself a Honda Civic platform derivative).
The Rover was sold as a 200-series of five-Door and Coupe, and as a 400-series four-door. Rover had developed their own small-capacity 4-cylinder that was well-regarded, which was also shared down to the smaller Austin Metro.
The 200-Series evolved into the Rover R25 (and 400-replacing R45) during the 1990s, at which point a surprise BMW takeover of the group occurred.
Rover 216 GSi Hatchback
The once mighty British Leyland (BL) made up a majority of the previous volume-brands in the UK. These included, among others, Austin, Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Morris, Riley,Rover, Triumph, Wolesley and Vanden Plas.
Despite all the heritage, ownership of the brands also brought with it a bunch of dated products and under-resourced factories. Through the 1970s a majority of these were closed down and consolidated, and what was left entered a product-development agreement with the Japanese brand Honda.
Although there were a few well-regarded legacy products associated with some of the stronger marques, it was otherwise best to start with a clean sheet. Rover was selected as the strongest marque to take the group forwards. The Rover 200 model shown here was one of the earlier product agreements, being largely Honda Concerto-based (itself a Honda Civic platform derivative).
The Rover was sold as a 200-series of five-Door and Coupe, and as a 400-series four-door. Rover had developed their own small-capacity 4-cylinder that was well-regarded, which was also shared down to the smaller Austin Metro.
The 200-Series evolved into the Rover R25 (and 400-replacing R45) during the 1990s, at which point a surprise BMW takeover of the group occurred.