OK so we broke the rules a little…
As you know the StreetKa now has an MOT, but before we had chance to go and fetch it, clean it and sell it a little something popped up on Facebook.
You know those ones where you just have to?
Rover 827SLi Lynx Brown
GeoffBuysCars went and bought a 1989 Rover 827 SLi…!
We gave ourselves an ‘advance’ on the StreetKa sale money and invested in a quick flip.
It had no MOT and was fairly local, so we just had to go and have a look.
Sitting pretty in Lynx Brown Metallic with Chalkstripe Coffee Velvet Interior it was every inch the executive saloon that Rover designed it to be.
The chap had been using it as a daily driver until a few months ago, and the MOT was out by 10 days. Other than a bit of rust and a blowing exhaust, it was in remarkably good shape. No trim missing, no damage, original manual and books, original radio (working), fully working electronics including the sunroof…
The silky smooth 2.7 V6 had covered just a smidge over 82,000 miles and £800 was the asking price. Being such a rare car these are incredibly hard to price, but with a bit of haggling over the condition of the car vs the pictures in the listing, we shook hands, left a deposit and arranged for the Rover to be delivered to our garage in Worcester.
We were £600 all in.
The Rover begins the journey to Worcester (only about 15 miles)
That was on the Thursday…
By Saturday the Rover was at the garage in Worcester, by Monday it had been checked over and given a prognosis and by Wednesday it had an MOT.
It took us 6 days to get the car to the garage and get a fresh ticket on it. Not bad going considering:
A) this is a hobby
B) GeoffBuysCars has a real job (or two)…
C) and two young children to run around after
For the MOT it did require a bit of spend, but it didn’t need any fresh parts. A small repair to a rusted sill on the drivers side, a bit of work to free a brake caliper and a weld to the blowing exhaust and she was right as rain, ready for another year of fine wafty motoring. All said and done it was a £188 bill, standing us at £788 invested in the car.
Now, here’s the best bit…
As soon as GeoffBuysCars knew the verdict from the MOT, we threw it up for sale on a Rover 800 Enthusiast page on Facebook for £1500.
Two messages came in immediately, one phone call and 20 minutes later and the car was sold for a nice round grand.
This was BEFORE we had even paid the bill for the MOT!
The next morning we had a £250 deposit in the bank, which was used to pay the garage for the MOT.
The buyer arranged collection of the car, and now as we type we are waiting for Dave to arrive with a lorry to take the Rover to it’s new home in Wales.
1989 Rover 827 SLi Mk1 2.7 V6 Standing Proud
Conclusion:
We didn’t make a TON of money, but we made a little pocket money to put towards the next car.
Sure, we could have held out for bigger bucks, but as the saying goes, your first profit is the best profit and a bird in the hand beats fifteen-hundred-quid that may or may not be in the bush.
Most importantly, it was a chance to spend time with a rare old car, a chance we probably won’t get again. The Rover 827 was lovely, a really nice running and driving car, and we were even able to use it for the school run.
That really completes the circle, because GeoffDad had one of these back in 1991. His was on a H reg, so it was just 1 year newer than the 827 GeoffBuysCars had bought. and a very bad ponytail hat. (The photo was taken around 1992… That little boy is Geoff’s little brother. One of ’em.)
Just before the Rover went to a new home, GeoffDad came to see it and we took it out for a drive.
There was lots of ‘oh this takes me back‘ and ‘I really liked my Rover 820‘ and ‘boy this is a comfortable car‘. GeoffDad had a choice of a Rover 800, a Ford Granada and a Vauxhall Cavalier. He fondly remembered the Rover 820, you could see it in his face as we cruised around that evening!
There might not have been a huge profit in the deal, but you know what? It was entirely worth it for the adventure.
My very earliest memory is climbing into the back of a Rover 820 in 1991 when proudly collecting the company car with my Dad, so it really did bring me great joy to be able to buy a Rover 800 MK1 and drive it around with my Dad thirty-something years later.
A thoroughly enjoyable week, a nice old car and a lovely little story.
Nice one Geoff, Nice one. That all felt really, really good.
Scroll down to see more photos of the 1989 Rover 827 SLi in all it’s Lynx Brown goodness.
Oh, and the same day we were cruising around with GeoffDad, we won a Volvo on eBay.
Dave is delivering it right now. Yup, the same Dave who’s taking the Rover. How’s that for a logistics win?
More on that story coming up soon!
