Those of you who have been following my reviews for a while may notice a common theme: I quite like cars that many other people may not. A classic example of this was a 1998 Rover 214 which I bought as a temporary stopgap in 2009 when I had sold the Seat Leon.
At just under £1,000, I paid far too much for her. The central locking no longer worked, the rear lights had been changed for ones much more hideous than standard, the suspension crashed and thudded over bumps, the tyres were not brilliant and the first gear synchromesh was very worn. There were general design issues with this one too.
The handling was not brilliant, the driving position poor, the rear legroom cramped and the interior quality had barely moved on from the previous generation Rover 200, which was launched in 1989. However, the car had a big boot, the British Racing Green colour scheme was rather nice, and it was compact and easy to park.
Despite what many people say, the 1400cc Rover K-series engine, if well looked over, can be very reliable, and this one certainly had no head gasket issues. The performance was pretty good, but the fuel economy was not great, and when these were new, they were very overpriced. I had her for just a month when I moved onto something else, which again had a familiar theme to it: yet another Rover!
