The Rover 600 & 800 Owners' Club is delighted to be exhibiting once again at the Classic Car & Restoration Show.

2026 is a very special year for the club, being the 40^th anniversary of the launch of the Rover 800 Series, and to celebrate this special occasion we will have a six car stand showcasing all five body shapes produced during the production of the Rover 800, plus a Rover 600 restoration car as well.

The Rover 800 Series was launched on the 10^th of July 1986, and following a facelift to the Mk 2 (R17) version in 1991 continued in production until the last car rolled off the Cowley production line in September 1998 to be replaced by the new Rover 75 in 1999.

Initially offered only in four door saloon form at launch in 1986, the Rover 800 Series expanded to include a five door hatchback in 1988. Rover had originally intended to call the hatchback derivative the Rover 600 Series, but by launch the decision was made to instead style it as the Rover 800 Fastback.

The Rover 600 Series name would later be used on the Honda Accord based four door saloon later launched by Rover in April 1993 as a separate product line. Only ever offered in one four door body shape, and with only a very minor facelift during its production run, an example of the Rover 600 Series currently under restoration will also be displayed on our stand.

Our March 2026 club stand will feature a Rover 825 Sterling saloon currently under restoration. The Sterling was the flagship of the Mk1 range at launch, powered by a Honda 2.5 litre V6 engine.

An example of the Mk1 Fastback will also be on the stand, along with many sales brochures from the 1980s showing how Rover positioned the Fastback as the more family and sporting orientated derivative of the Rover 800 range.

The Mk2 range offered three body shapes, saloon, Fastback, and coupe, all of which will also be present on our stand.

The coupe model had been designed for the North America market, to be marketed under the new brand name of Sterling, but due to the failure of the Mk1 saloon and hatchback models in that market between 1987 and 1991 Rover (and hence the new Sterling brand) withdrew from that market before the coupe could be launched there.

Known within Rover during its development as the “Baby Bentley”, the coupe model always draws a significant amount of attention at the NEC shows as more and more enthusiasts come to appreciate it as a modern classic, offering power, luxury, and an enormous amount of space at a very affordable price.

The club's exhibition team is always happy to allow show attendees to sit in the cars and get a feel for them, so please do come to our stand and talk to our team about owning one of these lovely cars.

We will be happy to tell you about the benefits of club membership, which are very much designed to help owners keep their cars on the road, with access to technical support, Rover workshop manuals, remanufactured spare parts and more.