Wane’s Wheels: Couple’s devotion to the Rover

Greg Wane
Drysdale’s Paul and Kathleen Kenny are devoted Rover fans. In fact, they’re so keen on the marque that they own one each: a 1990 Rover 827 Sterling and a 1984 Rover Quintet.
“I’ve always liked Rovers ever since I was a kid but when I got my licence I couldn’t afford one, so over the years I drove a succession of locally built cars,” Paul said.
“The last one we owned, about seven or eight years ago, was a complete lemon.
“I happened to come across a red Rover Sterling in Melbourne for sale at a good price in 2006. We bought it and really loved it, so much so that we ended up buying another one the following year, this time the Rover Quintet. It was for private sale in Geelong and had been well cared for.”
Paul said both Rovers were in “garage condition”.
“Many Rovers were owned by doctors and professional people and they really looked after them,” he observed.
“The Rovers we chose have got the Honda drive-line, so everything under the floor is Honda.”
The Sterling has a V6 Honda Legend engine and the Quintet boasts the same motor as the Accord.
The Kenny’s first Rover, the Sterling, had been in storage for nine months, which caused some issues with the electrics.
“The solder gets dry and brittle in most of the relays and after replacing 15 relays and fuses over a month or more that was all sorted,” Paul said.
The Kenny’s second car, the 1984 silver Quintet has all original features such as air-conditioning, power steering, tinted electric windows and wood laminates.
“It’s a superb little car, very plush and well-appointed for its time – and very well built,” Paul said.
“The doors shut with a satisfying thunk sound. There is a solidity about it that is usually lacking in vehicles of this era.
“On the road, the performance is lively with a 1602cc Honda in-line four with a three-speed semi-automatic gearbox. The economy is fantastic.
“The car is bullet proof – it never lets us down in any way.”
Paul said the Quintet was still relatively common on Australian roads.
The Quintet came to Australia when Leyland stopped making Minis in Australia.
“Apparently they were left with an import licence to bring in 1000 cars a year in the early 1980s of their choice for four years, so they chose the Quintet,” Paul said.
“Leyland was the owner of the Rover name at the time and they did a deal with Honda to import. The model lasted four years.
“They were only built for Australia and I believe they were a very expensive car at the time.”
The original price for the Quintet was $14,000 in 1984, which was a great deal more than a Commodore.
Paul said he preferred to do all the servicing and maintenance on the cars himself. Parts were readily available locally as well as from New Zealand.
“I do all the work and service them religiously,” Paul said.
“The later model Sterling has a four-volume workshop manual and each volume is as thick as a phone book. It’s a fairly complicated car but the older Quintet is a much simpler little beast – about the only complicated thing is its electronic distributor system.
“They’re not particularly expensive to maintain. The Quintet especially is nearly all Honda Accord, so I can get all the service bits I need and other parts from Honda dealers
“The Sterling is all Honda Legend underneath, so there’s still plenty of them around.”
Paul was happy to find parts available over the Tasman.
“I came across a supplier in Christchurch who I have a good rapport with and he’s able to arrange for parts I need and send them over for me.
“There were more Rovers imported into New Zealand than Australia, so there are a lot of them in New Zealand wrecking yards.”
Bigger parts and panels could be sourced easily enough, Paul said, from a couple of suppliers in Melbourne.
“I much prefer the Honda drive line. The original British-built Rover engines were really good but they did have a nasty habit of blowing head gaskets.
“The Honda engine, though, is absolutely bullet-proof.”
Paul said his Rover Sterling was a prestige car at the time, with an Australian list price in 1990 of $73,500.
“They were dearer than a new Jaguar at the time,” he boasted.
“The Sterling was the top of the Rover range and was loaded with all the toys. It had electric windows, power steering, a full sound system, air-conditioning.
“In fact, they had eight on-board computers and ABS braking. They were one of the first cars in the world to employ ABS braking – apparently the cars were dubbed ‘Bionic Dogs’ either kindly or unkindly by some motor traders.”
Paul recommended joining a car club.
“We’re members of the Rover Car Club of Australia. Clubs are a good support base, too” he advised.
“I’ve been in car clubs over the years and recommend anyone who is a car enthusiast to join one. They’re worth their weight in gold at times if you’re sourcing parts or trying to fix a problem.
Would Paul consider selling either of his Rovers?
“We wouldn’t trade them for the world,” he said.
“Although the one car I would consider swapping them for would be a Rover 75, the last of the Rover range.