Rover 75 V8 2006 - World Of Classic Cars -

Rover 75 V8 2006

The Rover 75 was manufactured by Rover Group and later by MG Rover. The Rover 75 was available with front-wheel drive in either a saloon or estate body style and latterly, in long-wheelbase form and a rear-wheel drive, V8-engined specification.  Rover 75's were built at Cowley, Oxfordshire, for just a year when the owners at the time, BMW, divested its interests in Rover and the 75 was built by the new MG Rover Group at their Longbridge site in Birmingham. Production of the Rover and later MG badged models ceased on 8th April 2005 when manufacturer MG Rover Group entered administration. The Rover 75 V8 was created as a means of proving MG Rover's engineering expertise and to attract a development partner to the company. The car was extensively re-engineered to accommodate Ford's Modular V8 in 4.6 litre capacity, driving the rear wheels to give a car with much higher performance, taking advantage of the stiffening tunnel in the body structure. These cars were built on the standard production line and then removed to allow the necessary structural modifications to be carried out. The cars were then returned to the trimming lines for completion. Less than 900 models in the V8 format were produced in both saloon and tourer body styles.