The "Brand Savior" Rover 55 That Was Never Built
Before the remnants of the British Leyland empire were sold off to various developing-world automakers (in an intriguing automotive inversion of colonialism), BMW temporarily became the caretaker of a number of British auto brands, including Rover, MG, Land Rover, and Mini. Only Mini now remains under Bavarian fealty, but before dumping the mess on the hapless Phoenix Consortium, BMW helped the Rover brand develop its only halfway-competitive car of the 1990s: the retro-inspired Rover 75. And according to Britain’s AutoExpress, BMW also helped Rover developed this odd duck, known as the 55, as an attack upmarket on Audi’s A4 and Mercedes’ C-Class. It was to be followed by a larger replacement for the 75, which would have given Rover a one-two punch to match the Mercedes C and E Classes, Audi’s A4 and A6 and so on.
The long-nosed look of this 1997 design study is the result of a Passat/A4-style longitudinal-front-drive platform, which (like the 75’s platform) had been experimentally developed by BMW. Of course, the looks are a bit odd, and BMW really didn’t need to develop unique-platform competitors for its 3- and 5-Series, so this car was probably never likely to make it to production. Still, it’s interesting to imagine what Rover would be like today if it were still struggling along with a large neo-retro flagship based on dated German technology and not much else… except that then it would pretty much be a British Chrysler.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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Actually a very handsome car, IMO. And yes it could be a British Chrysler. I'd buy one.
If it'd ever been released it would have been yet another Rover which was only bought by those over the age of 40, only to be sold on after 5-6 years after MASSIVE depreciation to someone who would've treated it like crap. It's second owner would no doubt be another tracksuit/baseball cap/Rebok classic wearing genius who would have then bolted a body kit and 'phat' exhaust onto it, lowered the suspension, fitted a massive subwoofer in the boot, tinted all the windows, and then driven it around at stupid speeds. Such is the fate of all old Rovers in the UK.