April 22, 2005
R.I.P. Rover (no, not the dog, the car)
Rover Cars, the once proud British marque, is no more. Stunningly, I have not seen this story mentioned in the newspapers I read (the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal). Or, if the story has been mentioned, it was mentioned in passing and, to borrow from EB White, Rover passed despite the mention.
Some highlights: Rover announced about a week ago that it would no longer honour (spelled with a "u" out of respect) its warranties. That's right. You had a Rover and, bam, no more power train coverage, or any coverage. That sent the British press into a tizzy.
Then, this week, we learn that after all the land had been sold out from under the factories in a desperate attempt to raise money, the company is bankrupt.
Just so you know, that means 21,000 people are out of work now in England. Twenty One Thousand. That's a lot of people, any way you write it.
And with Rover, some say, goes the heart of British industrial manufacturing capability.
Finally, with the passing of Rover, we say good bye to some of the most famous British car names:
Austin-Healey
Triumph
and of course, MG
Silly, isn't it, but I'm kind of sad.
Agree, RP, it is sad! them cars had style!
Posted by: GrammarQueen at April 22, 2005 09:58 AMIt's all we've heard about here. While the new Rovers were pretty darn ugly, it is sad that this is the last English owned and run production car.
That, and over 5,000 jobs lost in an already rough industry area in England. My heart bleeds for them.
Posted by: Helen at April 22, 2005 12:42 PMOk, let me ask how many of you ever owned one of those marques? I fell in love with the MGB while in college and managed to convince my father and his friend to help me rebuild one. They were very leery of the idea, but went along with a young and foolish man. And they were right: English cars were crap. So you can say I found out the truth I later learned summed up by what my father's friend told me when I first proposed rebuilding the MG:
Q: What do you have when you have 2 English cars and an old Chevy pickup?
A: One reliable vehicle.
A sad day indeed!!
Posted by: azalea at April 22, 2005 05:58 PMThe MG is gone? I am very sad. I loved those roadsters. :-(
Why didn't Ford buy them up? They purchased everybody else.
Posted by: Jim at April 25, 2005 11:03 AMI always wanted a Triumph. Sigh.
Posted by: Jodie at April 25, 2005 04:31 PM