Still A Looker
by David Finlay (17 Feb 05)

If someone tells you that they own a Rover 75, you're going to need a lot more information before you understand what they mean. 75s come in so many varieties that the top-spec V8 Tourer costs nearly twice as much as the basic 1.8 saloon. Those models represent the top and bottom of the 24-car range, but there are so many options - and indeed option packs - that the total number of permutations must be something in the order of . . . gosh, lots.

So a certain amount of discussion is required to establish exactly what I've just been driving. The engine is straightforward enough; it's a two-litre turbo diesel, and Rover offers only one of those, though in two forms. At 130bhp, ours was the more powerful of the two.

It was also a Tourer, and therefore very handsome. In the early days of the 75, Rover was one of the very few manufacturers to offer an estate car which was better-looking than the equivalent saloon, and although this has rapidly become virtually the norm over the past three years I reckon that the Tourer remains one of the most visually pleasing cars of its size.

Furthermore, the test car was blessed with the highest state of trim available in the 75 range. The old Club specification is a thing of the past, but you can still choose from (in ascending order) Classic, Connoisseur, Contemporary, Connoisseur SE and Contemporary SE. A really keen 75ist will be able to tell one from another simply by looking at the interior colours; some of these verge on the brash, but the Contemporary models are trendily monochrome - all blacks and greys - with the browns and beiges of lesser 75s kept to an absolute minimum.

Contemporary also signifies fantastically supportive front seats, which are among the best I've experienced in years. In the case of the SE models these are also electrically controlled - eight-way for the driver, four-way for the passenger - and SE specification also includes a Traffic Alert congestion warning system.

Rather than carry on through the full list of equipment, I would refer you at this point to Rover's brochure, though with a warning that it doesn't entirely seem to fit with reality. According to this slim volume, the test car shouldn't have existed at all. The 17" Star Spoke alloys which it undoubtedly sat on are listed as being available for the V8 only, and the fact that there was a full-size spare contradicted the brochure's claim that this option is restricted to the Limousine.

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