Rover 75

This article is about the motor vehicle produced 1999–2005. For the original Rover 75 of 1949–59, see Rover P4.

The Rover 75 (codenamed R40 during development) is an executive car produced initially by the Rover Group at Cowley, Oxfordshire, UK, and later by MG Rover at their Longbridge site in Birmingham, UK. The Rover 75 was available with either a saloon or estate body and, latterly, with front-wheel drive or, in V8-engined form, with rear-wheel drive.

The Rover 75 was unveiled at the 1998 Birmingham Motor Show[1] — at the same time as the new Jaguar S-Type which had similarly 'retro' styling. Deliveries commenced in February 1999 from Rover's Cowley production facility.

Production of the Rover and MG branded models ceased in 2005 when manufacturer MG Rover entered administration. However, 'new' models with delivery mileage are still being registered. The Chinese manufacturer SAIC has started production of their version of the 75, called the Roewe 750, which is a slightly stretched version of the standard R40 design developed from designs purchased from MG Rover Group in 2004. Rival Chinese manufacturer Nanjing Automobile Group (the owner of the MG brand and MGR tooling) has started production of the MG 7. The latter vehicle cannot be branded as a Rover because NAC-MG do not own the rights to the brand, which Ford purchased in 2006. This version is essentially the same as the last models built in Britain by MG Rover Group.

Both the MG 7 and Roewe 750 have started production in China.

History

The Rover 75 started life as a project for the complete re-skin of the Rover 600, under the control of Rover Group designer Richard Woolley,[2] but following the BMW takeover it was quickly decided that the Rover 600 would not be re-skinned but replaced by an entirely new model. Work on the new model, codenamed 'R40' progressed well with little operational interference from BMW, with the basic design having received an enthusiastic response from BMW management and both BMW and Rover believing that a retro design would be the ideal choice for Rover. At the same time it offered a distinct marketing separation from the E46 BMW 3 Series in the executive segment.