Great choice Ian. I've had my Rover 75 for nearly 10 years now and have covered 80, 000 miles in it. Its been ultra reliable, and put it down to keeping it well serviced.. The pollen filters are a pain to change and also find replacing the air filter can be very awkward sometimes. Check those drain holes in the plenum chamber. If they block, your ecu could well end up taking a swim! The key fobs are cheap and easy to get hold of. With a new blade and swap of the old fob gubbins it only takes a few minutes to do. As the cars are getting on a bit now, the sills can start to rot out around the rear jacking pads. I think many 75/Zt will be suffering from this now. The rear upper suspension arms can suffer too. If you ever need some expert advice or help, Jules up in Conway (North Wales) is your man. What he doesn't know about these cars is quite frankly not worth knowing about. There's an excellent spy hole mod you can do to check the plenum chamber for blocked drainage holes. It saves the faffing around of taking the scuttle panels off to check. I'll be watching your next blogs on the 75 with great interest 👍👍
My parents just bought a rover 75 ZT we found for £1000, its just had £2000 spent on the rear suspension and back end and all faults were fixed before we got it, there is some minor cosmetic damage on the bumpers which is easily repairable and i believe the previous owner took it up to Jules all the time where i live, though being a specialist he'd find things that we can't really afford to fix, i'll be the one doing cosmetic touch ups and basic maintenance with filter service kits annually and making sure it stays around, 220ks on the clock, ECU has had the MG sports variant tune flashed on so it pulls very well, interior has had fancy wood installed and it even has a 6CD changer in the glove compartment! A very comfortable roadtrip car, doesn't miss a beat!
@@Pfirtzer That is true for a lot of their history, although in the case of the 75 it's more "Investment allows Rover to finally create a good car, management torpedoes it at its own launch." 😂🤦♂️
I had all these jibes, with the addition of the odd Werthers Original one, when I had my Rover 75 diesel back in my 20's. Fantastic car though, perfect fit for the long commute I had at the time. Comfortable, smooth, economical and reliable.
I think most rear parcel shelves in the 1960's and 70's were specifically designed to hold a straw hat and a box of "man size" tissues. My parents approved ! 😊
If you didn't care about appearances, I'll bet you could use one of those proprietary metal/epoxy mixes and just glue the shank back into the old fob body.
I thought the same as you when I bought my tourer connie for £180 as a stop gap, That was 6 years ago & apart from a clutch slave cylinder failure it has been superb, on 207,000 miles now & still purrs like a kitten & still getting over 40 mpg. & my keys were like yours but got a couple of kits on ebay & now fine.
"It's not a brilliant example" - I have to admit I did do a sensible chuckle at that. Also big thumbs up for the Unkle album, every song on that CD was great
@@chrissmith7655 Haha. Having driven one I'm not sure I agree. Early top spec examples are brilliant cars. Smooth, quiet and refined without being boring like most German steel. It was car of the year after all!
I had a Rover 75 in this exact colour and interior trim for a little while. It was powered by the 1.8 K Series and it wasn't exactly rapid either. It also had motor mounts so badly perished that it was absolutely impossible to shift gears smoothly. I liked the ride and general comfort of the car, but for some reason ended up selling it. I wouldn't mind owning a 2.5 V6 estate some day.
I bought one of these 'sight unseen' off of ebay last year. Everything is available form Rimmer Brothers or second-hand. I retro-fitted cruise control and various other bits. Coolant fan could well be failed resistor that is relatively easy to replace. I would suggest joining the rover 75 forum as their technical advice is spot on (although a little hysterical at times).
Hubnut 2020 Fleet since returning from NZ/AUS In: Citroen GSA Mitsubishi Delica Yugo Sana Vauxhall Vectra Rover 75 Out: Rover City Toyota Tercel Mitsubishi Delica Vauxhall Vectra None Movers: Citroen 2CV AC Invacar Daewoo Matiz Reliant Fox By all means correct me if I got anything wrong :)
At the very least it should be some transport during the winter so you wont have to worry about turning those Citroens into dust. As for head gaskets, Interesting you mentioned Peugeot. The turbo XUD in my BX has a blown head gasket. It seems like they don't lose compression, but end up pissing oil out from the back of the block. It does have 230,000 miles on it though, so it didn't do too badly. TU engines also seem to suffer the same fate at high mileage. 1.8 K series engines suffered from it from a young age, but my dad owned one for 10 years that had already been repaired early in its life and he had no trouble with the head gasket at all. I wouldn't be that put off by them, especially if its already been changed, which they all would have been by now. It is a fixable problem.
My dad had a MGZT 190+ he loved that car, kept it for 10 years spending far more on it than it was worth, finally chopped it in (for a Focus ST( he’s 78!!)) when it developed hot starting issues and cambelts were due again deciding it as much as he liked it, it was not worth to keep throwing money at it. But someone is looking after it as it’s still insured
They did the 75/ZT 190 With a 2.5 V6. They also did a 1.8 Turbo K Series. My MG 6 uses a lot of 75 parts and a reworked version of the K series 1.8 Turbo
Love the starting procedure. I can imagine it now: Copper: "Good evening, sir. Is this your car?" HubNut: "Indeed, Officer. I purchased this vehicle, not twenty minutes ago" Copper: "Did the pliers come with the vehicle, Sir?" etc....
Welcome to the 75 club. I never really liked them either but got mine for a 100 pounds in february as an mot fail. Fixed it and cant stop driving it now. Fixed the bodges from previous and now started adding the ppd bits.
Oh I love the 75! What a great improvement and far more interesting than the humble yet dull Vectra! I know Matt loved the 75 V6 Tourer but that was definitely more befitting of the Rover!
Great choice I've had 2 Rover 75 a Mk1 and Mk2. Keep an eye on the rear sills and drill a hole through the rubber jacking point or the water will sit and rot it from the inside out.
@@HubNut I'd be tempted to just try and hot-snot the key bit into the fob. If that doesn't work you can always get the hot snot back off with a dab of isoprop. It might be wise to keep the pliers on board if you go that route though, the solution might fail spontaneously.
Hi, so I tried watching live-ish and have just caught up now. These are bloody good cars. The sill covers are a different colour depending on where it was built. The body colour sills were built at Cowley and these are apparently better built than the ones made elsewhere. Cloth seats are the best option. BMW diesel option is the best bet. Ones built by BMW before the Phoenix takeover facelift are way better built than the cheapened later cars. Good choice mate.
Well yes Ian, it's nicer than your last Rover but you have lost a rear wiper and a key but you have gained a pair of pliers what's not to like 😉👍 Your a man with good taste 👌
I had the same problem with my key. Found it very easy to get a replacement plastic bit off eBay and refit the blade and transponder into the new plastic end.
Very nice piece of retro British automotive history - when these first came out I used to admire them a great deal, I thought the shape was really beautiful. I even said one day I would own one. Years on, there was a lovely light blue 2001 reg. diesel Rover 75 I used to see a fair bit on local roads. It was finally dumped five years back in a field a mile up the road from where I live, looking very sorry for itself, with a bust window and broken door card. The body looked fine though. I sat in it one day and it reeked of damp, and looked very sad with that lovely retro dash covered in mould. It was towed out of the field last Winter, but I noticed on DVLA it's still on sorn, so maybe someone is trying to save it.
I have to say that that is a HubNut car and also as a design I think it's timeless. I think it still looks very good as a whole even if that particular one has a few pieces of crust.
@@toppledgod So it was your car? Sorry I'm not a native speaker so I probably used the wrong word there. I have to say though that the 75 is a car I've lusted after since I saw a review of one in the late 90's and BMW's of that era are stellar cars so I bet it was rather enjoyable to drive but compared to the 75 they are chavvy and not stylish.
Welcome to Scotland Mr HubNut, you're up near my neck of the woods. I live down the road a bit in the Scottish Borders. Enjoy your time up here, and if you do end up going back down the M74, may I *very strongly* recommend stopping in Moffat on your way past and visiting the Moffat Toffee Shop. I promise you'll be like a kid in a.... Well, yeah, a kid in a sweet shop 😂 Speaking of Moffat, Elly would love a hoon along the A708 from Moffat across to Selkirk, past St. Mary's Loch and the Grey Mare's Tail. Perfect 2CV hoon road, that one. Useless fact of the day that you didn't need to know: I have abseiled off the Forth Bridge down into South Queensferry, close to where you were parked. I did it for charity, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, raised almost £1,500. I am terrified of heights, and I was absolutely petrified doing that abseil, but I can at least say I've done it 😁 I can't think of a more HubNut car than a near-20 year old Rover. I hope you enjoy your time with this 75. I wonder what the kids will nickname this one? 🤔
My dad had a 75, Petrol engine. Head gasket went in the end. Great air conditioner. It would feel like a fridge on hot summer days. I once broke the ignition barrel on a 205 GTi. I drove it around for months having to hot wire it until I eventually got a replacement from a scrappy.
Love these cars, I was offered a tourer version a few years ago with 135k motorway miles, clean condition for £600 and stupidly turned it down. I now daily drive a 45k mile 53 plate MG ZS, which I did a 4 hour round trip to collect because of the very low mileage and decent history. Enjoy!
I bought a Xsara Picasso in Sept '19 which had no cooling fan. As long as it was moving the temperature gauge never caused any worry, it would get a bit concerning if I had to struggle through heavy traffic. I would put the heater on flat out, open the windows and roast, but it never overheated. It has now gone to the Picasso garage in the sky......rotten sills, what a surprise!
This is bringing back memories. After I wrote off my lovely MG ZT-T I needed a cheap car quick. After a weekend of looking at low spec Mk 1 Focuses I chanced upon a £500 75. Knew straight away I'd have it, so much more car for half the price! After a thorough clean and removal of a complementary packet of Viagra from the cubby, it was an utterly superb car to drive and in many ways a better steer than the ZT. The lower output diesel unit felt dangerously slow in some situations though. One day may get a Connoisseur, but the lure of a ZT V8 is strong.
Never had a Rover 75 - but I did drive one back in the late 90's and it was glorious. It's a beautiful-looking car; so much more stylish than 99% of what is churned out by todays' manufacturers. I'd definitely go via Wrexham to get that key repaired (as per the comment below) because whilst probably a bit of a novelty now, it's going to drive you insane poncing around so much to get the ignition on.
YES !! Been waiting for one of these these for a while. So glad you got one. I’ve always loved the 75, like most old Rovers, it always seemed like a poor mans Jag. The Jag of the time was a Ford owned manufacturer, so was based on the Mondeo, this Rover was much different, a BMW derived Rover, best of both worlds. Looks like you got a pretty rough one, but, in fairness, your Vectra was no prom queen either so, good swap, we’ll done Mr Hubnut. I will be very interested to see how this fairs, and I’m sure you will let us know.
The diesel is a great mile muncher. I've done 650 round trip to Paris for a concert, no back ache at the end. The Rover 75 is a very under rated car just because it is a Rover
of course it has cruise control (ya right foot), key innards can probably be transferred to a new case, furious driving and twin cam guys will be impressed lol
It's a 3 series floor pan,the prop shaft tunnel was there all the time. For the V8, Rover sent it to Prodrive in Banbury for the conversion to rwd, made a bit of a pigs ear of it according to one of my engineering work friends
Nice swap, always thought they were a pretty car, poor mans Jag? I think you will have a bit of fun with that, we certainly will watching your endeavours. Best of luck Ian.
@Ian: Pretty sure you can get a repairkit off of ebay for the key, where you get a new plastichousing and transfer the important bits over, it looks like its the housing that has given up, as the pin is still in the key. I recently got one, actually from the UK, for a Primera P12 that had button issues.
That key fix is about a fiver to fix. The engines are really efficient engines so unless you have a stuck thermostat it wont overheat. Don't let the fuel drop below a quarter of a tank incase the in tank pump is gone. You've done well there. I think you'll find it boring but good looking. Exactly what miss hubnut said about yourself 🤣
May not be a BMW chassis but it has mostly the BMW e39 / e38 electronics system. The indicator click is a fake relay that just clicks in the cluster. You will need to invest in a good scan tool to fix that ABS issue.
Thats a nice looking car and pleased to see it doesn't have the cream interior. Been in a few 75's and they're a nice comfortable car although I always felt I was sitting too high in them too but I put ut down to being 6 foot tall.
@@HubNut Hope you do get a good position seeing as its your car, the ones I was in were never mine or in them long enough and I never found that sweet spot in the adjustments for me. In the back was fine and a good place to be. Good luck
Another new car to the fleet,marvelous..as a vauxhall fan i was a bit disappointed that the vectra didn't last long..but as you say it had issues and you wasn't that keen,,which is far enough..anyway good luck with the 75.
Great swap Ian, I'm on my 3rd 75, a remapped diesel Auto in Contemporary SE spec, it's torquey and smooth! The cloth seats are far more comfortable than the leather, I agree. Sill panels available from eBay by Tom Hobbs. Diesels run cool so no fans aren't really a worry, 2 of my diesels didn't have working fans and the temp never flinched even on diagnostic mode. There is a fix for them though! I hope you get to like it, I love any 75, regardless of spec.
Wheatus - a SERIOUSLY underrated band! Teenage Dirtbag has to feature in the top ten singles of all time - ever..! And Respect - a wonderful cover! Well done HN! - showing some great musical taste....!
My old boss had a blue 1.8ltr 75 as a company car I wasn't taken by the styling but lived the interior. Sadly the company went bust a few months later but he managed to get a good deal buying his car.
I always laugh a bit when people in Britain talk about distance. Land's End to John O'Groats is less distance that Highway 401 in Ontario. It runs from Windsor in the West of the Province to Cornwall in the East. All of Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, would fit comfortably inside Southern Ontario.
Ah, but I'm guessing highway 401 has rather less traffic. Is it many lanes the whole way? Land's End to John O Groats involves a lot of single carriageway roads, some of which have rather too much traffic on them.
Very nice Ian, always liked the 75, reminded of its beauty just the other week when FuriousD had the wedgewood blue tourer on his channel. Nice too to have the added HubNut touches with the key and the ding in the side :)
Ah now that it definitely more you Ian! I agree with your choice of motor. Funnily enough I never liked the 75 when it was launched, and it's only now that it's design has won me over. Best of luck, many happy miles.
It's beautiful. Love it. No doubt if it's a good reliable car that needs little tinkering, it will bore you Ian. However, the intention to improve it and move it is very noble. South Queensferry is gorgeous and the railway bridge is just incredible. The other bridge, not so much. Hope the trip back was amazing and frugal.
I bought one of those 1.8 K series engine, some years ago, one owner low miles lovely condition, lovely car when it was running, the infamous HGF struck three times, milled head, new bolts, latest head gasket and finally a new old stock head. Never cured the problem which was a great pity, Diesel ones were much more reliable, Good luck with it.
Really liked this , great fun, hair raising MOT history , with the car obviously being driven with a fail on it , like 3 MOTs in 2018. But for all that with a bit of welding, sort that cooling it will be fine.
My 75 hasn't got a tringe of doom so it might be just the blades fitted to this specific one and yeah you can remap them and fit cruise control relatively easily from what I know. I also have that trim under steering wheel piece and a few key shells in my garage that I would gladly donate to this car !
The M47 is a solid engine, shouldn't give you much trouble at all. I don't think they used the infamous swirl flaps either on the Rovers which is good, one less thing to worry about. Doubt it matters too much, but there are likely adapters out there if you wanted the steering controls working with the Pioneer stereo.
Certainly less pedestrian than the Vectra. It looks quite nice and the interior is streets ahead, apart from the loose trim and that key madness but those are minor things. Have you bought any beige cardigans yet? Sorry, that was rude.
I remember seeing both the 75 and the X-Type at the NEC Motor Show when they were launched. The AWD X-Type is my preferred car now (well the later wagon anyhow), but the 75 did look good (maybe even better) at launch. And the later facelift kept them looking fresher than the X-Type too (the MG version looks a little bling nowadays mind!).
I imagine when you open the nearside rear door, the other dome lightbulb comes on. If nobody else has already mentioned it. Nice car, nice video. Better weather in Oban today though!
Outside temp is the upper right display in the odometer module Ian. The bogus water temp gauge is not faulty that's typical of gauges driven from the ECU and not reading actual water temp, Hyundai are the same, the gauge shows cool until the engine reaches 65 C, the gauge then shows just under half gauge right up to 115 C before it budges a nano-meter. In Australia I think we only had the Rover in the 2.5 L V6, they weren't all that popular here for some reason, but they did look very classy, maybe just a bit fussy looking for a country raised in recent times on White or Beige Toyota Camrys? I must admit they did interest me at the time, for some reason I ended up with a Ford Territory I think at the time, bad decision.
Lovely part of the world. I was stood in that exact spot a couple of years ago before taking the ferry to Inchcolm. And I always thought the 75 was a good looking car
Great choice of car. The key is an easy fix. You can get a blank shell for about a fiver from Amazon or eBay, & swap across the blade and circuit board. Five minute job.
Yeah, had one of these brand new in 2001. Really great looking car. And I really wanted to love it. From new it was obviously too low powered, so I had the 130 bhp upgrade done by Rover. That made it better but it was never really satisfactory. Then within a year it developed one of those tappety rattles in the driver's door, right by my ear. Enthusiasm was falling... then suddenly it had the oddest engine fault, no power above 3000 rpm or so. Not the place for a long story but after many trips back to the dealer they found that the fuel pump was cracked. It took forever to find because Rover weren't allowing dealer to test for faults by parts substitution if the diagnostic kit said no fault. Good policy (not), certainly lost any faith I had in Rover, dealers and the 75. Got rid of soon after. Bet you do too Ian!
Great choice Ian.
I've had my Rover 75 for nearly 10 years now and have covered 80, 000 miles in it. Its been ultra reliable, and put it down to keeping it well serviced.. The pollen filters are a pain to change and also find replacing the air filter can be very awkward sometimes.
Check those drain holes in the plenum chamber. If they block, your ecu could well end up taking a swim!
The key fobs are cheap and easy to get hold of. With a new blade and swap of the old fob gubbins it only takes a few minutes to do.
As the cars are getting on a bit now, the sills can start to rot out around the rear jacking pads. I think many 75/Zt will be suffering from this now. The rear upper suspension arms can suffer too.
If you ever need some expert advice or help, Jules up in Conway (North Wales) is your man. What he doesn't know about these cars is quite frankly not worth knowing about.
There's an excellent spy hole mod you can do to check the plenum chamber for blocked drainage holes. It saves the faffing around of taking the scuttle panels off to check.
I'll be watching your next blogs on the 75 with great interest 👍👍
Also Jules supplies the viton o ring I mentioned above, top bloke.
A filter that's a pain to change? That sounds like the start of a great tinkering video!
My parents just bought a rover 75 ZT we found for £1000, its just had £2000 spent on the rear suspension and back end and all faults were fixed before we got it, there is some minor cosmetic damage on the bumpers which is easily repairable and i believe the previous owner took it up to Jules all the time where i live, though being a specialist he'd find things that we can't really afford to fix, i'll be the one doing cosmetic touch ups and basic maintenance with filter service kits annually and making sure it stays around, 220ks on the clock, ECU has had the MG sports variant tune flashed on so it pulls very well, interior has had fancy wood installed and it even has a 6CD changer in the glove compartment! A very comfortable roadtrip car, doesn't miss a beat!
My son Lee's old motor. Enjoyed the wee film.
Hello Mum!
Looking forward to seeing it all done up. Laughed hard at the key fiasco. There's always a way round things lol
@@angelaparker804 I hope Ian doesn't get stopped by the Police, "Just hand them Pliers over Sunshine" 😉
@@Jaxs2 they'll say, "oh it's ok. It's the chap off UA-cam who drives the Invacar. Of course she starts with a pair of pliers."
Hello mum as well.
If you want to call in Wexham on the way back,I can repair the key. Keys Direct Autolocksmith Wrexham.
That's a kind offer.
Cheers. I may struggle to get to you before closing tomorrow, but will see how things go.
@@HubNut Up to 7pm would be OK
@@Aspins remember to charge like a rhino. These youtubers are loaded 😄
Respect to you @Keith Aspin. That's A very Kind Offer. Fair play to you 👍
I literally cheered when I saw it was a Rover.
Always loved the retro styling, like nothing else around at the time. They have aged well too but it's a shame it wasn't enough to save Rover.
Rover history in one sentence: penny wise, pound foolish.
@@Pfirtzer That is true for a lot of their history, although in the case of the 75 it's more "Investment allows Rover to finally create a good car, management torpedoes it at its own launch." 😂🤦♂️
I was thinking thats not very hubnut, then we get to the ignition switch, ah now that’s hubnut. #Ditch the aero blades.
Already ditched!
It's South queens ferry, Ian. yes, it's a lovely place.
Always loved the 75 styling.
Sort of a modern day p5 in my mind,but with a choice of engines.
Yours certainly looks nice in her red coat.
A great car let down by Rovers demise. What could of been?!
Walking stick, hat, box tissues and some cushions and your good to go. Went to Edinburgh middle aged came back as a pensioner.
Oi! I was 30 when I had mine! Best car ever - if I had the space I would have one now, 18 years on.
I had all these jibes, with the addition of the odd Werthers Original one, when I had my Rover 75 diesel back in my 20's. Fantastic car though, perfect fit for the long commute I had at the time. Comfortable, smooth, economical and reliable.
I think most rear parcel shelves in the 1960's and 70's were specifically designed to hold a straw hat and a box of "man size" tissues. My parents approved ! 😊
@@jamessalt13 I own a Fender Stratocaster that's the same colour as a Werther's Original ...or is it a Murray Mint ? 😂
@Paulie Gualtieri True ! 😂
The key is fixable. There is a pin either broke or missing. It's pretty standard, any key cutting shop should be able to sort it
I fixed a similar Peugeot key by getting the plastic bit off ebay and swapping all the interior gubbins.
If you didn't care about appearances, I'll bet you could use one of those proprietary metal/epoxy mixes and just glue the shank back into the old fob body.
@@tauncfester3022 Care about appearances? You do remember which channel this is, don't you? :-D
I thought the same as you when I bought my tourer connie for £180 as a stop gap, That was 6 years ago & apart from a clutch slave cylinder failure it has been superb, on 207,000 miles now & still purrs like a kitten & still getting over 40 mpg. & my keys were like yours but got a couple of kits on ebay & now fine.
I liked that Vectra too but have to say this is much more intetesting and these are just so classy cars.
Very nice colour 😎
"It's not a brilliant example" - I have to admit I did do a sensible chuckle at that. Also big thumbs up for the Unkle album, every song on that CD was great
That "Old Edinburgh" is actually South Queensferry. This looks interesting.
Was just about to point out, that's not Edinburgh, that's Queensferry, South Queensferry 👍🏻
Finally. A Hubnut car if ever I saw one. (Club had illuminated vanity mirrors before Project Drive I believe. And the CDT can be mapped I think also.)
yep, right load of junk
@@chrissmith7655 bollax, great car.. but he's got
the wrong one.
@@chrissmith7655 Haha. Having driven one I'm not sure I agree. Early top spec examples are brilliant cars. Smooth, quiet and refined without being boring like most German steel. It was car of the year after all!
They are lovely cars. My dad had a connoisseur in blue from new. He wasn't happy when I swiped the barriers with it on a German autobahn!
I had one of these for a couple of years. Infinitely upgradeable with scrappie bits. A very active and helpful forum for it too.
I had a Rover 75 in this exact colour and interior trim for a little while. It was powered by the 1.8 K Series and it wasn't exactly rapid either. It also had motor mounts so badly perished that it was absolutely impossible to shift gears smoothly. I liked the ride and general comfort of the car, but for some reason ended up selling it. I wouldn't mind owning a 2.5 V6 estate some day.
Rover 75! My type of car! Lovely interior,classy colour. I'm really looking forward to seeing you drive this for a while 😊
Scotland is always delighted to have you! 🏴
Had my Old English White Rover 75 club for 16 years wouldn't change it for anything beautiful car hope you enjoy this luxury motor Ian Rob
I bought one of these 'sight unseen' off of ebay last year. Everything is available form Rimmer Brothers or second-hand. I retro-fitted cruise control and various other bits. Coolant fan could well be failed resistor that is relatively easy to replace. I would suggest joining the rover 75 forum as their technical advice is spot on (although a little hysterical at times).
Haven't you tried dmgrs, Rimmer's are good but can be over priced and sell cheap xpart Chinese parts which fail
I've got a big soft spot for a 75 /mgzt/ztt it was what I was looking at before I for my fully loaded 407sw
Even a better chassis vis a vis 407 for my ZT-T, but quality built is in favour of the peugeot. By far.
Hubnut 2020 Fleet since returning from NZ/AUS
In:
Citroen GSA
Mitsubishi Delica
Yugo Sana
Vauxhall Vectra
Rover 75
Out:
Rover City
Toyota Tercel
Mitsubishi Delica
Vauxhall Vectra
None Movers:
Citroen 2CV
AC Invacar
Daewoo Matiz
Reliant Fox
By all means correct me if I got anything wrong :)
Ian changes cars more often than I change socks, which thinking about it is probably not a good thing
Love the rover 75 think it's a stunning looking car so the hubnut family will be travelling around in style 😎
At the very least it should be some transport during the winter so you wont have to worry about turning those Citroens into dust.
As for head gaskets, Interesting you mentioned Peugeot. The turbo XUD in my BX has a blown head gasket. It seems like they don't lose compression, but end up pissing oil out from the back of the block. It does have 230,000 miles on it though, so it didn't do too badly. TU engines also seem to suffer the same fate at high mileage.
1.8 K series engines suffered from it from a young age, but my dad owned one for 10 years that had already been repaired early in its life and he had no trouble with the head gasket at all. I wouldn't be that put off by them, especially if its already been changed, which they all would have been by now. It is a fixable problem.
Nothing like a decent road trip whilst listening to the verve. Love the look of the 75.
My dad had a MGZT 190+ he loved that car, kept it for 10 years spending far more on it than it was worth, finally chopped it in (for a Focus ST( he’s 78!!)) when it developed hot starting issues and cambelts were due again deciding it as much as he liked it, it was not worth to keep throwing money at it. But someone is looking after it as it’s still insured
I was expecting to be disappointed but I am not - I'm amazed to find I feel nostalgic for such a recent car.
I live just a stones throw aeay from South Queensferry in Linlithgow. Never expected to see a HubNut video filmed up here, Lovely part of the Country.
They did the 75/ZT 190 With a 2.5 V6. They also did a 1.8 Turbo K Series. My MG 6 uses a lot of 75 parts and a reworked version of the K series 1.8 Turbo
the only things i like on this car are the speedometer and the revcounter
Love the starting procedure. I can imagine it now:
Copper: "Good evening, sir. Is this your car?"
HubNut: "Indeed, Officer. I purchased this vehicle, not twenty minutes ago"
Copper: "Did the pliers come with the vehicle, Sir?"
etc....
Welcome to the 75 club. I never really liked them either but got mine for a 100 pounds in february as an mot fail. Fixed it and cant stop driving it now. Fixed the bodges from previous and now started adding the ppd bits.
Good swap, and Probably well worth the long trip.
Oh I love the 75! What a great improvement and far more interesting than the humble yet dull Vectra! I know Matt loved the 75 V6 Tourer but that was definitely more befitting of the Rover!
Unkle for the win! And a very Hubnut car! All of the good times!
Great choice I've had 2 Rover 75 a Mk1 and Mk2. Keep an eye on the rear sills and drill a hole through the rubber jacking point or the water will sit and rot it from the inside out.
Think you're going to get tired of the key situation pretty quickly.
I got tired just watching him do the start procedure 😀
I've improved matters greatly, and hope for a more permanent fix tomorrow.
@@HubNut I'd be tempted to just try and hot-snot the key bit into the fob. If that doesn't work you can always get the hot snot back off with a dab of isoprop. It might be wise to keep the pliers on board if you go that route though, the solution might fail spontaneously.
Hi, so I tried watching live-ish and have just caught up now. These are bloody good cars. The sill covers are a different colour depending on where it was built. The body colour sills were built at Cowley and these are apparently better built than the ones made elsewhere. Cloth seats are the best option. BMW diesel option is the best bet. Ones built by BMW before the Phoenix takeover facelift are way better built than the cheapened later cars. Good choice mate.
Well yes Ian, it's nicer than your last Rover but you have lost a rear wiper and a key but you have gained a pair of pliers what's not to like 😉👍 Your a man with good taste 👌
Like the ignition system 😂 Like the Rover, lovely colour. Hope Miss Hubnut likes it as well.
I had the same problem with my key. Found it very easy to get a replacement plastic bit off eBay and refit the blade and transponder into the new plastic end.
Very nice piece of retro British automotive history - when these first came out I used to admire them a great deal, I thought the shape was really beautiful. I even said one day I would own one.
Years on, there was a lovely light blue 2001 reg. diesel Rover 75 I used to see a fair bit on local roads. It was finally dumped five years back in a field a mile up the road from where I live, looking very sorry for itself, with a bust window and broken door card. The body looked fine though. I sat in it one day and it reeked of damp, and looked very sad with that lovely retro dash covered in mould. It was towed out of the field last Winter, but I noticed on DVLA it's still on sorn, so maybe someone is trying to save it.
Love it, the 75s look great and they're not as bad as people make out. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it 👍
Oh well. Love them but really needs to be a wafty 2.5 auto top uk spec.
Or one of the extremely rare V8 75's.
@@karstentopp for the love of God it still narks me off that Rover managed to mispell Wedgwood - or was it deliberate for trademark reasons??
The starting protocol is the best anti theft device ever
Ps I like the swapping idea
Best anti theft device is the badge 😂
I have to say that that is a HubNut car and also as a design I think it's timeless. I think it still looks very good as a whole even if that particular one has a few pieces of crust.
It's actually very uncrusty. I caught it on a rock and it ripped through. It's gone rusty now but is still solid.
@@toppledgod So it was your car? Sorry I'm not a native speaker so I probably used the wrong word there. I have to say though that the 75 is a car I've lusted after since I saw a review of one in the late 90's and BMW's of that era are stellar cars so I bet it was rather enjoyable to drive but compared to the 75 they are chavvy and not stylish.
Forgot to say keep the water drains at the at the A pillars open otherwise the cabin filter fills up with water and your passengers feet get wet!
Welcome to Scotland Mr HubNut, you're up near my neck of the woods. I live down the road a bit in the Scottish Borders. Enjoy your time up here, and if you do end up going back down the M74, may I *very strongly* recommend stopping in Moffat on your way past and visiting the Moffat Toffee Shop. I promise you'll be like a kid in a.... Well, yeah, a kid in a sweet shop 😂 Speaking of Moffat, Elly would love a hoon along the A708 from Moffat across to Selkirk, past St. Mary's Loch and the Grey Mare's Tail. Perfect 2CV hoon road, that one.
Useless fact of the day that you didn't need to know: I have abseiled off the Forth Bridge down into South Queensferry, close to where you were parked. I did it for charity, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, raised almost £1,500. I am terrified of heights, and I was absolutely petrified doing that abseil, but I can at least say I've done it 😁
I can't think of a more HubNut car than a near-20 year old Rover. I hope you enjoy your time with this 75. I wonder what the kids will nickname this one? 🤔
Cheers, but did the M74 this morning, missing Moffat!
@@HubNut Oh well, you'll just have to bring Elly up for a special trip to Moffat so she can experience that A708 😂
My dad had a 75, Petrol engine. Head gasket went in the end. Great air conditioner. It would feel like a fridge on hot summer days.
I once broke the ignition barrel on a 205 GTi. I drove it around for months having to hot wire it until I eventually got a replacement from a scrappy.
Love these cars, I was offered a tourer version a few years ago with 135k motorway miles, clean condition for £600 and stupidly turned it down. I now daily drive a 45k mile 53 plate MG ZS, which I did a 4 hour round trip to collect because of the very low mileage and decent history. Enjoy!
Open up the key holder, take the chip out and glue it to the inside of the lock housing. Worked on my LDV.
I bought a Xsara Picasso in Sept '19 which had no cooling fan. As long as it was moving the temperature gauge never caused any worry, it would get a bit concerning if I had to struggle through heavy traffic. I would put the heater on flat out, open the windows and roast, but it never overheated. It has now gone to the Picasso garage in the sky......rotten sills, what a surprise!
This is bringing back memories. After I wrote off my lovely MG ZT-T I needed a cheap car quick. After a weekend of looking at low spec Mk 1 Focuses I chanced upon a £500 75. Knew straight away I'd have it, so much more car for half the price! After a thorough clean and removal of a complementary packet of Viagra from the cubby, it was an utterly superb car to drive and in many ways a better steer than the ZT. The lower output diesel unit felt dangerously slow in some situations though. One day may get a Connoisseur, but the lure of a ZT V8 is strong.
The V8 is the rare & expensive member of the family. Under £7k is considered cheap.
A far better use of a Mustang engine though. 😆
Never had a Rover 75 - but I did drive one back in the late 90's and it was glorious. It's a beautiful-looking car; so much more stylish than 99% of what is churned out by todays' manufacturers. I'd definitely go via Wrexham to get that key repaired (as per the comment below) because whilst probably a bit of a novelty now, it's going to drive you insane poncing around so much to get the ignition on.
Love it!!! Beautiful car, fabulous colour, and difficult to explain but the epitome of a modern Hubnut vehicle
YES !! Been waiting for one of these these for a while. So glad you got one. I’ve always loved the 75, like most old Rovers, it always seemed like a poor mans Jag. The Jag of the time was a Ford owned manufacturer, so was based on the Mondeo, this Rover was much different, a BMW derived Rover, best of both worlds.
Looks like you got a pretty rough one, but, in fairness, your Vectra was no prom queen either so, good swap, we’ll done Mr Hubnut. I will be very interested to see how this fairs, and I’m sure you will let us know.
The Jag S Type was not based on the Mondeo, contrary to popular opinion, though the X Type shared a number of components with the Mondeo
The diesel is a great mile muncher. I've done 650 round trip to Paris for a concert, no back ache at the end. The Rover 75 is a very under rated car just because it is a Rover
of course it has cruise control (ya right foot), key innards can probably be transferred to a new case, furious driving and twin cam guys will be impressed lol
These have a webasto heater to help them get up to temp when it’s cold, although they usually don’t work.
It's a 3 series floor pan,the prop shaft tunnel was there all the time. For the V8, Rover sent it to Prodrive in Banbury for the conversion to rwd, made a bit of a pigs ear of it according to one of my engineering work friends
Nice swap, always thought they were a pretty car, poor mans Jag? I think you will have a bit of fun with that, we certainly will watching your endeavours. Best of luck Ian.
@Ian:
Pretty sure you can get a repairkit off of ebay for the key, where you get a new plastichousing and transfer the important bits over, it looks like its the housing that has given up, as the pin is still in the key. I recently got one, actually from the UK, for a Primera P12 that had button issues.
It was looking a bit sensible and rational, then I saw the ign key procedure - nice work 👍
That key fix is about a fiver to fix. The engines are really efficient engines so unless you have a stuck thermostat it wont overheat. Don't let the fuel drop below a quarter of a tank incase the in tank pump is gone.
You've done well there. I think you'll find it boring but good looking. Exactly what miss hubnut said about yourself 🤣
Excellent swap I’ve been looking at these for ages as a classic so this has come along at the right time
I’ve had my Rover 75 for about a month, awesome car 👌
I was up there in Queensferry Edinburgh last month, really lovely place, p.s always liked the rover 75.
Glenn Powell Yes We went over it, my family think I’ve got a bridge fetish since that holiday 😂
May not be a BMW chassis but it has mostly the BMW e39 / e38 electronics system.
The indicator click is a fake relay that just clicks in the cluster.
You will need to invest in a good scan tool to fix that ABS issue.
Thats a nice looking car and pleased to see it doesn't have the cream interior. Been in a few 75's and they're a nice comfortable car although I always felt I was sitting too high in them too but I put ut down to being 6 foot tall.
After 200 miles today, I am struggling with the seat position. The angle of the base just isn't right for me. No leg support!
@@HubNut Hope you do get a good position seeing as its your car, the ones I was in were never mine or in them long enough and I never found that sweet spot in the adjustments for me. In the back was fine and a good place to be. Good luck
Another new car to the fleet,marvelous..as a vauxhall fan i was a bit disappointed that the vectra didn't last long..but as you say it had issues and you wasn't that keen,,which is far enough..anyway good luck with the 75.
Starting your own car like a thief in the night trying to get it going. Love it!
Great swap Ian, I'm on my 3rd 75, a remapped diesel Auto in Contemporary SE spec, it's torquey and smooth! The cloth seats are far more comfortable than the leather, I agree. Sill panels available from eBay by Tom Hobbs. Diesels run cool so no fans aren't really a worry, 2 of my diesels didn't have working fans and the temp never flinched even on diagnostic mode. There is a fix for them though! I hope you get to like it, I love any 75, regardless of spec.
I need to have a go in one of these one day.
Wheatus - a SERIOUSLY underrated band!
Teenage Dirtbag has to feature in the top ten singles of all time - ever..!
And Respect - a wonderful cover! Well done HN! - showing some great musical taste....!
Beautiful motor definitely an upgrade from the Vectra.
My old boss had a blue 1.8ltr 75 as a company car I wasn't taken by the styling but lived the interior. Sadly the company went bust a few months later but he managed to get a good deal buying his car.
You must be exhausted, I drove a 7hr round trip last month and was moody as hell come the end. The 75 will be a comfortable chariot to get you home.
I always laugh a bit when people in Britain talk about distance. Land's End to John O'Groats is less distance that Highway 401 in Ontario. It runs from Windsor in the West of the Province to Cornwall in the East. All of Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, would fit comfortably inside Southern Ontario.
Ah, but I'm guessing highway 401 has rather less traffic. Is it many lanes the whole way? Land's End to John O Groats involves a lot of single carriageway roads, some of which have rather too much traffic on them.
8:34 OMG it's got the wrong style number plate, it needs a smiley plate. A square plate in a oval hole hole don't fit lol
Boiling point of water at 15psi above atmospheric is 121deg C so as long as the radiator cap is OK it will be fine up to that point.
Very nice Ian, always liked the 75, reminded of its beauty just the other week when FuriousD had the wedgewood blue tourer on his channel.
Nice too to have the added HubNut touches with the key and the ding in the side :)
Ah now that it definitely more you Ian! I agree with your choice of motor. Funnily enough I never liked the 75 when it was launched, and it's only now that it's design has won me over. Best of luck, many happy miles.
It's beautiful. Love it. No doubt if it's a good reliable car that needs little tinkering, it will bore you Ian. However, the intention to improve it and move it is very noble. South Queensferry is gorgeous and the railway bridge is just incredible. The other bridge, not so much. Hope the trip back was amazing and frugal.
I bought one of those 1.8 K series engine, some years ago, one owner low miles lovely condition, lovely car when it was running, the infamous HGF struck three times, milled head, new bolts, latest head gasket and finally a new old stock head. Never cured the problem which was a great pity, Diesel ones were much more reliable, Good luck with it.
Really liked this , great fun, hair raising MOT history , with the car obviously being driven with a fail on it , like 3 MOTs in 2018. But for all that with a bit of welding, sort that cooling it will be fine.
My 75 hasn't got a tringe of doom so it might be just the blades fitted to this specific one and yeah you can remap them and fit cruise control relatively easily from what I know. I also have that trim under steering wheel piece and a few key shells in my garage that I would gladly donate to this car !
a distance queen: nice from afar, but far from nice
The M47 is a solid engine, shouldn't give you much trouble at all. I don't think they used the infamous swirl flaps either on the Rovers which is good, one less thing to worry about.
Doubt it matters too much, but there are likely adapters out there if you wanted the steering controls working with the Pioneer stereo.
Certainly less pedestrian than the Vectra. It looks quite nice and the interior is streets ahead, apart from the loose trim and that key madness but those are minor things. Have you bought any beige cardigans yet? Sorry, that was rude.
Ha! Pipe and slippers on order.
Good choice. I believe the Rover 75 is THE best pain in the arse car to own. You will love it. It is beautiful.
I remember seeing both the 75 and the X-Type at the NEC Motor Show when they were launched. The AWD X-Type is my preferred car now (well the later wagon anyhow), but the 75 did look good (maybe even better) at launch. And the later facelift kept them looking fresher than the X-Type too (the MG version looks a little bling nowadays mind!).
You need a Big Country CD when heading to Scotland.
I imagine when you open the nearside rear door, the other dome lightbulb comes on. If nobody else has already mentioned it. Nice car, nice video. Better weather in Oban today though!
love the new car ian! I have always liked the 75 for the design and the lovely interior. well done
Outside temp is the upper right display in the odometer module Ian. The bogus water temp gauge is not faulty that's typical of gauges driven from the ECU and not reading actual water temp, Hyundai are the same, the gauge shows cool until the engine reaches 65 C, the gauge then shows just under half gauge right up to 115 C before it budges a nano-meter. In Australia I think we only had the Rover in the 2.5 L V6, they weren't all that popular here for some reason, but they did look very classy, maybe just a bit fussy looking for a country raised in recent times on White or Beige Toyota Camrys?
I must admit they did interest me at the time, for some reason I ended up with a Ford Territory I think at the time, bad decision.
Lovely part of the world. I was stood in that exact spot a couple of years ago before taking the ferry to Inchcolm. And I always thought the 75 was a good looking car
Great choice of car. The key is an easy fix. You can get a blank shell for about a fiver from Amazon or eBay, & swap across the blade and circuit board. Five minute job.
Yeah, had one of these brand new in 2001. Really great looking car. And I really wanted to love it. From new it was obviously too low powered, so I had the 130 bhp upgrade done by Rover. That made it better but it was never really satisfactory. Then within a year it developed one of those tappety rattles in the driver's door, right by my ear. Enthusiasm was falling... then suddenly it had the oddest engine fault, no power above 3000 rpm or so. Not the place for a long story but after many trips back to the dealer they found that the fuel pump was cracked. It took forever to find because Rover weren't allowing dealer to test for faults by parts substitution if the diagnostic kit said no fault. Good policy (not), certainly lost any faith I had in Rover, dealers and the 75. Got rid of soon after. Bet you do too Ian!
Love your adventures. Thanks for keeping me entertained this horrendous year. Take care Ian and thanks again
Yesssss, now we're talkin'....a 75! For some strange reason i really like these.