Curbside Classic Dead Brands Week: 1987 Sterling 825 SL (Rover 825i)

N.B. In anticipation of Saab’s (inevitable) demise, we’re going to have Dead Brands Week at CC.

We’ll start off Dead Brands Week with a royal Rover triple bang, with this Sterling zombie corpse. When it comes to persistence (idiocy) in trying to flog dead corpses in the US, Rover absolutely takes the cake. It took three US deaths to finally convince Britain’s favorite maker of cars (and its government medium-wigs) to give up the ghost. The last attempt, Sterling, is the classic English car disaster story. Despite Rover’s intentions to avoid the usual pitfalls, by building an essentially reskinned Honda/Acura Legend, they still managed to create the ultimate rolling clap-trap English nightmare.

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  • Fahrvergnugen “enormous power.” I guess ludicrous power must have been taken already. Where's the shazzbot power?
  • Probert Just to note: The suspension and braking system have been massively upgraded to match the drivetrain performance.
  • MaintenanceCosts They are trying to compete straight across with the BMW iX and Volvo EX90 on price. With a Kia (Boyz) badge. Good luck with that.In the $65k range there would be a case.
  • 28-Cars-Later Minivan Grand Tourer... yes really we needed that.
  • Lorenzo I'd say most cars built before 2000, if in good shape, and not known money pits, would be a good bet. Just be prepared to do a lot of routine maintenance - everything is rebuildable at moderate prices, and give up the the living room entertainment center, which doesn't belong in a vehicle anyway.