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I'm Richard Porter.

I'm Johnny Smith.

And this is On the Other Side of Things, the Smith & Sniff spinoff in which we answer

your questions.

Welcome, once again, to our Friday Q&A show.

And...

Oh, hi, everyone.

I was going to kick off with a question from a listener called Nick.

Nick Rutherford, who identifies himself as aged 41 and 7 eighths.

I can't do the maths on that.

7 eighths?

I want to start with this question because I saw it and I thought, I'm going to look

this up because I didn't believe entirely what I was reading.

Nick says, hello, you pair of euphemisms.

So in cream, as in the Wutang clan song, Reqvon states for the benefit of a tape, rolling

in MPVs, every week we made 40 Gs.

Oh!

I imagine Reqvon is trembling at my flow there, which was quite substantial.

I was hanging on your every syllable.

Nick says, now to me, an MPV is a people carrier.

My question to you is, do you think they were rolling in Renault espaces, or perhaps the

combination of the threat of drivebys and fibreglass construction led them to choose

something more domestic, such as a Chrysler Voyager, CMTMB Nick.

I looked this up because I was thinking, that can't be the lyric.

Surely, rolling in MPVs, it just doesn't seem plausible.

So I looked this up, I looked up the lyrics of the track.

Yeah, and what a track it is.

There's one of those song lyric websites that allows people to sort of annotate and

explain lines in the lyrics, and helpfully someone had put an explanation in for this

line in cream.

So it is MPVs, but it's really specific.

It's about, do you remember the Mazda MPV?

Yes.

Possibly the most unimaginatively named car ever.

Yes, it was very plain, wasn't it?

Yes, exactly.

And they're not just talking about the genre of MPVs, they're talking about the Mazda MPV.

Apparently, this was the car of choice for when you were perhaps supplying certain substances

on the street.

Right, because it's discrete, it's the ultimate discretion car.

Well, it's also apparently because sliding doors are quite useful for getting in and

out of in a hurry.

Of course.

And having enough room inside for some of your associates and your produce and possibly

some weapons and things might be quite useful.

Supposedly, in the Wu Tang manual, the MPV was described as the hossest minivan back then.

If you if you watch the video for this song, supposedly Mazda MPV features in it.

Hang on, this is great because the Wu Tang clan were basically explaining stealth wealth.

I suppose so.

This is stealth wealth.

They're making 40 grand a week, allegedly, rolling around in a Mazda MPV.

What they're saying is, I don't need to show you my wealth.

I know I've got a shed load of it.

Plus, I've got the practicalities of a minivan so I can carry produce, henchmen and

possibly guns and ammunition.

You know, when people go, oh, look, blacked out G-Wagon or a Range Rover Sport, such a

drug dealers car.

But it's always occurred to me that an actual street level drug dealer would be stupid to

roll around in that kind of car.

Well, I know someone who used to buy marijuana off a drug dealer in London who

had stopped it, had a Ford Focus LX.

Yeah.

And he he he he was he once explained to my mate that he deliberately bought a Focus LX

and not a Z-Tec because the Z-Tec had alloy wheels and he felt these were too flashy and

would attract too much attention.

And the crappy plastic wheel trims of an LX just created a more low key vibe for the

illegal distribution of narcotics.

So that's a real drug dealer for you.

I like his thought process.

I would have probably bought the Z-Tec and then just put steels on it.

But that's just me.

Well, I mean, maybe he also felt the firm suspension was going to be a disadvantage.

He wanted the comfort as well.

See, I still think that Wu-Tang Clan's cream is a masterpiece of a track just because of

the the sample more than anything.

But the guys at Top Dead Centre, their podcast, I still think has the best name of a car

podcast and I'm still annoyed about it.

I just I still wish that I'd thought of it.

It's just great.

Cars rule everything around me.

I suppose you have to get the reference for it to make sense.

Otherwise, you might think they're just like massive Eric Clapton fans or they really love

rich milk products.

But well, I love I love a cream.

The band are one of my favourite bands.

Are they?

Yeah, because it was one of the it's one of the bands that I was exposed to when I

started learning the guitar at the age of I think I was about 10 or 11.

And my dad, my dad got some CDs from the local library, which were Eric Clapton and

Cream and said, oh, you'll I think you'll really enjoy this music.

And to this day, it's still one of my sort of favourite favourite bands, just

incredible.

So one of my favourite songs of all time is by Cream.

So I'm like, well, you know, you know, it stays with you rich.

Do you know what I mean?

Well, look, there we go, Nick.

I feel like it's not really the point of this podcast to actually answer questions

properly with information.

But on this occasion, I wanted to make an exception because I was intrigued.

And so there you go.

It really is about MPVs and specifically the Mazda MPV.

Yeah, I enjoy the question, Nick.

We're going to go straight on to another question by somebody called Mian.

On Mian.

Mian Cal.

Hello, you meet substitute kebabs.

I need some advice on my next car choice, please.

I like a car that's different, like in a car park.

Mine's the only one, that kind of thing.

My car history was Audi A2, Saab 95 Estate, Mazda 6 Estate, but

2.2 Spowet, good car.

And I currently have a CRZ and a Gen 1 C-Max.

Oh, CRZ.

The C-Max was bought purely to transport elderly parents around.

I love the way they had to add that.

My question to you guys is, what next to consolidate the two?

And should it be Alpha 159, a GT or Brara?

CMTMB, Mian, PS, Johnny, do you still want a CRZ for your daughter?

2012, blue, 86k miles, call me, comma, maybe.

All right.

Hey, I just met you.

I was going to say, and this is crazy, but do you want to buy me one?

Well, in the words of, we buy any car, I will buy any car at the right price.

That price is £7.

Exactly. It's 12 quid.

I wonder what he wants for his CRZ.

If it's killer money, maybe.

But look, guys, listen, let's answer the question first.

So what was the question?

Oh, right. So what he wants to?

He wants to consolidate a CRZ and a C-Max into one car

that is interesting, but also can transport elderly parents.

Yeah. And he hasn't mentioned budget.

No, because I see.

I didn't. I didn't much like the Alpha GT.

And I wasn't wowed by the Brara.

So I'd say the 159 is actually the the nicest.

I've seen two Braras.

I've seen two Braras this week, which I think is quite rare.

One of them was a school run Brara.

And the other one was on a neighbor of my girlfriends.

So I think they own it.

At some point, I'll need to say hi and talk about the Brara.

I think you're going to have to.

Yeah, because it's a connoisseur's choice.

Also, I mean, elderly parents, plural.

Yeah, I'm not going to force an elderly mum or dad

to get into the back of an Alpha GT or Brara.

I mean, that's just not fair, is it?

That's going to cause agro, unless one of them has to drive

and you have to get in the back and then, yeah, no.

So 159 of those three is my vote.

So he's, yeah, they've said.

The car needs to be like in a car park, mine's the only one.

They haven't specifically said it needs to be dynamically brilliant

or exceptionally fast or so.

Why don't if he likes Saabs, why doesn't he go for the last of the Saabs?

Because it's got lots of back end space.

So it's a practical four door.

It would be very unique and it would be a very, if you know, you know car

because only Saab warriors or tragic like us will go,

oh, it's the last of the Saabs.

Yeah. So I'm wondering.

That's good, that I'm thinking, yeah, he could do that in terms of money.

I don't know what they're about these days,

but I know they're not classed as collectible yet, whether they ever will be.

I don't know. No, no, no, in that, not in that realm.

I mean, not yet.

Hey, on that note, the one that I was like, again, late era Saab,

yeah, is the nine three X.

Yes, I sort of like and handsome car sits a tiny bit higher,

so easier for your parents to get in and out of, of course.

And and it's, you know, you won't see many around.

So that's got that on its side.

I was suddenly thinking just purely if the driving criteria

above anything else is there mustn't be another one in the car park.

Suzuki Kizashi.

Oh, my gosh, yes. Strange thing.

Because you will never see another one of those.

Surely. What about Toyota Picnic? Oh.

I think it's a sliding door.

People carry it, isn't it?

So. Hmm.

It's a shame we don't have a budget here

because I've just found for sale a late

shape Saab nine five.

It's the two point eight TV six aero four wheel drive.

Or your best WD is Saab said.

88,000 miles. It's not cheap.

It's nine thousand two hundred pounds.

Private seller. Right.

I mean, a private seller.

That's going to be a Saabthusiastic.

Surely you don't end up with one of those by accident.

Private cave dweller. Yeah.

Yeah. So OK.

It's it's I mean, it's not it's not cheap.

But, you know, you will not see another one.

The seller says the car is in very good condition

and a pleasure to drive.

I think your the Saab X is a good call.

I just like them.

So we've offered just me.

We've offered a pair of Saab's is.

I mean, if you could get an Audi all road in a funky color,

like the first gen one, that would be nice.

Now, that reminds me of something.

What? I was chatting to some people the other day.

Yeah.

And I've just decided that I feel like this is maybe a hill I will die on.

Audi's aren't reliable cars.

No, you know what it is?

Is Audi have become one of those brands where people buy them

because they think that they're exceptional quality

and they're dependable and in the same way that I think

I'm going to say that, you know, that idea of Range Rover.

Look, I'll buy one and it can go anywhere and do anything.

Yes, it can if it works, but it might not work.

That's the problem.

Well, this is the thing.

You know, this is a standard response, isn't it?

So any Land Rover product to us go, was it broken down yet?

Was it broken down now?

What about now?

And much of that reputation may be founded or not.

I was just watching Mike Ferney's excellent video

about those ingenium diesel engines and what an absolute shit show they are.

Yeah, for quite a sort of simple reason,

but one that ultimately just just wreaks havoc with them.

Yeah, potentially because the DPF and but as a thing,

I think Audi's people assume because they feel very well made.

But I think to qualify my they're not reliable.

I think it's as they get older and I would also lump BMWs in with this.

If you, you know, if you talk to BMW perverts, they'll say the same thing.

As they get older, there's some little plastic bit in the engine

or there's some poorly thought through design feature that can end up

felling the car or at least causing you great inconvenience

and costing you lots of money to get fixed.

Yeah. And so I don't think they are as dependable

as they feel like they should be is probably where I'm going with this.

And it reminds me, we had a we had a message

from a listener, which I now I now can't find because I'm an idiot.

Well, while you're looking, while you're rummaging, it's occurred to me.

So any car that feels like it could be invincible

and it gives you this powerhouse effect like a BMW,

I think people are so convinced by its reputation

that they don't look after them and that because they go, well,

they're just their bulletproof.

I've been told they're bulletproof and they're strong.

So therefore they mistreat them and they miss maintain them.

And then at some point the car throws the towel in and goes,

not you should have done that 50,000 miles ago and you didn't.

So yes, I'm dying now.

I mean, this is the thing.

I think you're absolutely right.

And but also that sometimes the manufacturers

have underspecified these cars or this is one of the things

that actually Mike made the point in his video about JLR.

They're the service intervals on those ingenium diesels,

something absurd, like 21,000 miles and just go, no, no, it should be.

They may they meant 2100 miles.

Yes, exactly. Well, that's the thing.

It's one of the ways to ensure that that or at least maximize your chances

of the engine not absolutely shitting itself is to just change the oil.

Yeah. Remember, like the wet belt, one of the chaps at Morgan,

when we did our live show at Morgan, one of the chaps who works there

has got a discovery for. Yes.

And he gave us a lift back to where we're staying.

And we said, how many engines has it gone through?

And he went, no, because I changed the oil all the time.

Yeah. I mean, not, you know, not Brian Maystile,

but but he just changes it way more regularly than in guidelines.

And and that has helped it to stay healthy.

So I think it's the future of your tree lesson.

We should be sponsored by several high quality oil companies,

because we're just telling people to change your oil every week.

Well, so that people can hedge their bets.

We need them to trade off against one another.

But also not just that.

And I'm going to be a bit partridge when I say this.

It's not just the oil.

It's the quality of the oil filter.

Do not buy cheap oil filters by there are a difference

in the internals of the elements of oil filters

and cheap oil filters will bite you.

So you must buy good quality oil filters.

They've really gone downhill in recent years, sadly,

like a lot of components. So you have to pay care.

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Fully. Yeah, I'm going to stop your partridge now.

I found this message is from a listener who describes

himself as Tristan off of Leeds.

The reason it suddenly came to mind is because it's actually

his message he said was sitting in his drafts for ages

and is about a Maserati Levante that he owned at the time.

He took so long to send us the message that he's added a PS

that says I swapped the Levante last October for an Audi e-tron GT.

Great car, no more reliable than the Maserati.

Oh, which is the bit that really caught my eye, Tristan.

Please do let us know how this how this came to be the case

because his main message says you were talking recently

about OCD tendencies and how us car boards tend to suffer

quite badly from them.

The timing was impeccable as I just noticed that the speedo

on my Maserati Levante doesn't increase in equal increments.

What?

Up to 50 miles an hour, the numbers rise in sensible 10

mile per hour steps.

After that, it jumps to 20 mile an hour increments.

Because there's also a digital readout, it took me a few

weeks to spot.

But now I have spotted it.

I can't unsee it.

This has led to several issues.

Firstly, for reasons I can't fully explain, it makes me deeply

uneasy.

I like symmetry in a car.

Secondly, it took me weeks to notice.

How have I missed this on other?

Have I missed this on other cars I've owned?

What else have I been blindly tolerating?

I'm trying not to spiral.

Naturally, the only logical solution was to sell it.

This was even before the engine warning light came on.

In its defense, it had been fairly reliable over seven months

and 10,000 miles.

Although it was always going to remember it was Italian at

some point, the warning light turned out to be camshaft and

crankshaft position sensors, which at least gave me a semi

plausible justification to my better half, who is now very

familiar with my habit of changing cars multiple times a

year for, if I'm honest, daft reasons.

So my question is this.

What's the most pathetic excuse you've ever used to justify

selling or changing a car?

Cheers mate, thanks mate, bye.

Tristan off of Leeds.

Pathetic, ridiculous for changing or selling a car.

I see, I have quite a lot of inertia for getting rid of cars

because I find selling cars the most

you hate, the thing that you can do.

It's become, it's definitely less fun than it was.

Definitely.

It's because I find it excuse to sell a car to someone I know

just to get it gone.

I'll take you, I shouldn't say this because I can't get

pleased to come back.

I'll just like take any old money just to get it sold to

somebody I know who I, I've sold quite a few cars to people.

I'm trying to sell a loved one Skoda Yeti.

So if anybody would like one, can you

contact us, 84,000, 1.4 petrol, it's white as Yeti should be.

And I've replaced the rear lower wishbones because they rot out

like all Volkswagen's of that era apparently, which took me by

the same.

Again, you see VWs, all the dependable cars.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know, are they anymore?

Yeah, I know.

You told me about this rotty wishbones, that's quite shocking

because that's a safety critical part.

Yeah, well I took it for a mot and there was a hole in it

the size of your fist in that one of the lower wishbones.

So I replaced the pair, but I was a bit put out.

Can I just say that?

Yeah.

It's more actually these pathetic excuses to buy a car.

We've got those out.

Yeah, I've got loads getting rid of one or changing it.

It's more excuses to keep them really, but yeah, I am bad.

I mean, the one that my wife brought up multiple times as the

car turned out to be a bit of a crock was predictably my

Panda 100 horsepower, which I justified buying to her.

People may remember that saga from an earlier podcast.

I just defied her by saying I just wanted something to zoom

about in.

Yeah, she kept bringing us up when when she'd go as the

fear I was had to go back to the garage.

Oh no, what are you going to zoom about in while it's gone?

She would say slightly suck.

You did precisely no zooming in that damn car.

There was a little bit of zooming, but always with growing

sense that if I zoomed too much, it might break again.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, like the old Mazda slogan.

We're not very good at answering this question.

Well, no, because I've got friends who are very pedantic

about the spec of a car, but they say they buy one when they

can't find the exact spec they want, and then they'll tool

the round in it for several months, and then the right

spec car will come along and so they will just jump straight

out of the other one and quickly have to sell it because

they've got to buy the other one because it's the it's the one

that has the panoroof and green metallic paint that they want.

Yeah.

And I'm amazed at how far they'll go to just get the right

spec.

I get it.

So I'm more about condition than spec, really.

Yes, I know what you mean, and you'll go, no, it's not the

model I wanted, but it's so good.

I'll just live without.

Yeah.

I don't know.

An ashtray or something.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think another one, again, this is a from the sort

of flimsy justification desk is that I bought that Jeep Cherokee

for 800 quid entirely because it was like, I just need a car

to drive the dog around in.

Oh, dog car justification.

Because it was like, oh, yeah.

You know, I used to take a dog out and we'd go up to, you know,

various sorts of pits of local parkland, but then she'd get

quite muddy.

I was like, I just need a, you know, an old beta that I could

take the dog around without worrying about it.

But really, it's because I just quite fancy the Jeep Cherokee.

Man, I wish I wish I'd known you then.

I think I did know you.

You did.

You did know me then.

I never saw your Jeep.

It was all right.

I saw it says someone that I work with again, someone I know.

And he then gave it to his dad because his dad needed an

automatic because he got a foot or a leg injury or something.

And his dad threw it away.

He buried it in the gun.

They did actually end.

I think they ended up throwing it away because it's, I forget

now, there was some issue.

It was fine.

Well, I'd say except that those I've mentioned quite recently,

the instruments would sometimes black out for some reason or

other.

And then one of the gas struts on the tailgate went and that's

just, I'll be honest.

Gas struts are close to spring compressors in the pantheon of

things I fear.

Oh, yeah, I always put off replacing the gas strut on the

tailgate.

Do you?

Um, yeah, I just, I used to, I used to get the tailgate and the

tailgate on that car was not that heavy.

I just get the tailgate and I just let it rest on my own head

while I got the dog out.

Yeah, I know my dad had a broom handle.

He just had in the boot for years.

I was, when I was walking the dog, I would be looking around in

the hope that I would see a really, a suitably sized branch on

the ground that I could just take back and use as my tailgate

prop.

That's a great idea.

Um, I know what else is a great idea is replacing the gas strut

on the tailgate like and stop being an absolute sleeve about it.

But anyway,

Well, we've got a letter here from, um, chap called Carl

Walston Holm.

Uh, how you pair a foot fine automotive or connoisseurs?

Wow, there's no insult there.

That's really quite surprising.

Um, I've always had a soft spot for Rovers, especially the

handsome 75.

And after hearing frequent references to Richard's beloved

Rover 75, I decided that if a car should ever come up that

matches my exacting requirements, I should pull the trigger and

just go for it.

Admittedly though, this isn't perhaps the most usual pursuit

of a chap in his mid twenties, but I've always enjoyed a

depreciated or deceased spec luxury car such as my X358 XJ

Sovereign Jag late last year.

Such a car came up via a contact in the Mark one focus preservation

club, another of my cars.

I'm riddled with this disease.

I didn't know that I love that.

Excellent.

Is that an actual club?

Um, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Copper leaf red, piped cream leather, connoisseur SE

Highline with every option, including full chrome grille, rear

blind, Harman, card and audio, sat-nav CD changer, TV, serpent

alloys, heated memory seats, factory carpet and rubber mats, part

wood, steering wheel, even the original brochures and two

genuine Rover pens.

Yes.

What struck me the most was the quality of this product, even

compared to my Jags, the carpets are thick and plush.

The panel gaps are tight, touch points pleasing.

Everything has such a feel of solidity that belies its

company's reputation.

Clearly the investments that BMW had made had paid off in this

product, even if the sales were slow at the time.

So here lies my question, guys.

In an alternative universe where BMW had decided to stay the

course and finish the job, would Rover have become a success?

Think about the product we know was in the pipeline, the L322

Range Rover, the Disco 3, the Range Rover Spowet, the new

Mini, all the first half of the decade.

Did they pull the plug too soon before the new high quality

product got a chance to turn things around?

Or was it in the bin fire that they were, why, or was it a

bin fire they were wise to run away from, even if it meant

taking a multi-billion pound right off?

I would love to hear your thoughts and maybe a little bit

more about your 75.

Many thanks, Carl.

Well, Carl, how long have you got?

I mean, but very briefly, in my view, I, because it's

interesting, he says, you know, there were, there was the

third Range Rover and the Discovery 3 and the Mini as well.

Yeah.

Coming along.

Yeah.

And those products have all been a success.

I mean, the Mini's a slow, was a slow one.

There's a whole story about that Mini and how, and when it

went on sale, the base model, the Mini one was not cheap,

no, really competitively priced.

It was sort of quite amazing that you could have that, which

felt like a much more sophisticated and expensive car than,

you know, a fairly low or mid-spec fiesta or something.

I think it was like 11 or grand or 11 and a half, something

like that.

And the Cooper wasn't loads more.

It felt quite good value at the time for what you were getting.

And part of the reason for that was that BMW panicked that no one

was going to buy it.

And so they deliberately priced it a bit, a bit less than they

were going to, I think, just so they could get people in the door.

Why would no one buy it though?

Looking back, it seems absurd.

I think they just, they just lost confidence in it, I think,

because it, but the problem with that car is that it wasn't

related to anything else they did.

No.

And, you know, this maybe would have made more sense if they'd

stuck with Rover because it would have been sensible to create

a small Rover, a Rover 200 replacement, I suppose, on the Mini

chassis, if that was possible.

Instead, it just existed this island.

So they had to sell a lot of them to cover its costs.

Mini wasn't a profitable exercise for a long, long, long, long time.

I mean, I think it struggles now, even as they dovetailed it with

the smaller BMs now they've gone front-wheel drive.

So I think that's the thing.

BMW would have had to have held their nerve because the cars that

Karl mentions, none of them are actual Rovers.

You know, the 75 didn't do brilliantly.

And I think some of that could be blamed on BMW, as in, you know,

sort of like when Burt Pitchery gave that speech, the motor show

where the 75 was announced kind of going, Rover's needs to

buck up its ideas.

It's a fucking nightmare.

I think I'm paraphrasing, but, you know, that was, it was, it was

badly timed and clearly meant to sort of fire a shotgun in the

air to get Rover to fall into line.

But, but I don't think that it's, I think it's all BMW's fault.

But equally, it's, you know, they did impose on Rover a certain

direction, because they, again, were terrified of Rover stealing

their customers.

If Rovers were sort of almost too sporty, that would have

trampled on BMW's patch, which is why, you know, most of the

things, they briefly considered making the 75 rear-wheel drive

sticking on a five-series platform.

And then they were so scared of stealing their own USP as the

ultimate driving machine that they then spent, effectively, they

spent more money to allow Rover to create a bespoke front-wheel

drive chassis for the 75.

They were just caught in this.

It doesn't make sense, though, to me, whichever one is more

successful, if you own both the companies, you still make the

money and you can then ride the wave.

Well, I suppose it's the idea that people are, you know, they're

choosing a Rover instead of a BMW not instead of a Mercedes or

an Audi or what sort of.

Oh my gosh, imagine if BMW brought Rover back now, it would

be the most handsome car that BMW currently makes by probably by

country mile without a great deal of effort.

I don't know.

I mean, that's the thing.

I, I just worry that Rover, I think you could have turned it

around because there was a brief sort of golden patch, I think

for Rover in its modern history, when the 200, the second

generation 200 came out in 89.

And that car just, it actually hit the sweet spot of what a Rover

should be at that point, which is to say that it had that sense of

sort of slightly classical luxury about it, but it wasn't too

backward looking.

It was just more tasteful and felt more expensive than an

equivalent escort, and it felt sort of tasteful and expensive in

a way that was slightly different to a Golf, particularly because

that round then the Golf Mark III came out and was, I was about to

say, sort of flimsy and shit.

Yeah, they hit a point where escorts were at an all time low

and VW wasn't as great as they had been.

I think the 200 was genuinely a decent car, but it also helped

that the escort and the Golf were hitting a low patch and the

Astro is sort of alright, but it's a, it's a voxel, isn't it?

It's like that Rover was just exactly what a Rover should have

been at that point.

It's just a little bit of a cut above just a bit.

We did a thing once on Top Gear about the Rover P5 that Hammond did.

And we came up with this line for the script about how a Rover

wasn't like a Rolls Royce or even a Jaguar.

It, but it was, it was just, it was, it was midweek luxury.

It was like going for a meal out on a Wednesday.

Yeah, it's sort of, it's just treating yourself, but you're not

going somewhere too fancy.

You just go to a pub or something.

But midweek luxury is, is a really sort of Rover idea.

You're not being too flash, not being too, you know, fancy about

anything, not being too indulgent, but just treating yourself

nice. I don't remember Hammond doing a P5 thing.

It's a long time ago.

So yeah, I think that's the thing partly as well.

BMW, you know, forced Rovers to be sort of soft and luxurious,

but there's no bad thing in that alone.

But I think Rover were also in charge of their own destiny and

they chose the path for 75, which was a little bit backward

looking. I mean, the 75 is a hell of a nice looking car to this

day, but I think I like it.

It was one of those cars where they, Richard Woolley, the guy who

designed it, or led the design, sort of came up with the original

concept. And if you look at the archives, the first styling model

looks pretty much like the production car.

It just, it was one of those cars that sort of arrived fully

formed. And apparently the bosses from Germany came over to

look at it and Wolfgang Reitzler famously detail orientated

stern critic of things, had no feedback.

He just was like, yeah, there you go. That's it. Do it.

And so when that was Rover, BMW didn't say make it tweedy and

chromey and stuff. They just, Rover was sort of feeling that was

the right direction and BMW endorsed it because it didn't

tread on their toes. But and also, while we're on this, it drives

me fucking nuts. And you still read this online to this day,

people going, oh, BMW only bought Rover to take Land Rover and

Mini and steal all their technology and know how.

It's like, they didn't because they spent, I mean, what's the

budget on the 75 was like 700 million quid or something like

that. You don't spend 700 million quid on a brand new platform

for a brand new car and refit factory and all this stuff. If

you just want to nick the good bits, I think BMW arrived with

good intentions, but they just didn't really know what to do.

And the things they thought they did know how to do were perhaps

misguided, you know, in terms of like being so paranoid about

losing customers that they would de-force Rover to be sort of

soft and comfy. And that, you know, that stuff that a lot of

the work that came out on the MGZ cars when they arrived after

BMW had buggered off was actually things the engineers have

been playing with behind the scenes anyway, but which they

knew that BMW would never let them do because it was sporty.

And it's like, no, we do sporty, you do luxury. And it's a bit

high, just you need to relax a bit here.

I think the colourful MGZ range was actually really popular. I

think it worked. It seemed people seem to buy into it. And

they were, I think they were pretty good value. And they did

things like that funky MG van, didn't they? They did a Z van.

Yes, the Express. Yeah, yeah.

So I think I mean, Carl, I could, as you can tell, I could

talk about this for bloody hours.

You could. I'd have to stop you though.

I know, I'm sorry. I will do like, we'll do a kind of like

special episode that you have to download separately for people

who want to hear more about this, because otherwise it's very

boring to people who don't give a shit.

You have to blink twice if you're if you're being under being

captive against you.

So yeah, that is great question, Carl, one that I will think

about now, probably for the rest of you know, why haven't why

haven't we as Smith and sniff bought a Rover 75? It almost

seemed so obvious that we haven't done it.

I was thinking about them again the other day. Anyway, Carl

sounds lovely as well. That's a great spec. Yeah. Since he

asks, mine was Dorchester red. There's a connoisseur, but it

was one of the cars that was on a boat to Japan when BMW

sold Rover. And Rovers in Japan were being sold by BMW's

distributors. So they went, we don't do that anymore. The boat

turned around and came back to the UK. And all these Japanese

spec cars were converted to UK spec and sold through the Rover

network and the new owners. So it has a slightly unusual spec had

slightly unusual spec doesn't exist that car anymore, sadly.

Well, while we're going to have to bring this to a close, but

why don't you are in your own time, Richard, spec your perfect

Rover 75 and then what's up it to me? And we can talk about

way ahead of you, man. All right, listen, well, thank you for

all your questions. If you've got one for us. Hello at

Smith and sniff.com is the address. We will do this all

again next Friday, normal show on Monday. Until then, goodbye.

Bye everybody.

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