That is special, because the basic version did not have that.
You can buy some cars just because of the story behind them. That’s why we’re taking you back to the 1990s. BMW owned Rover and that didn’t work out very brilliantly. There are only three success stories: the New Mini, the Range Rover and the Rover 75.
The Rover 75 had to be a front-wheel drive vehicle that was tailored to comfort. Sporty rear-wheel drives were intended for BMW. Now it was an excellent car for its kind: spacious, chic, luxurious and it drove great. The car was somewhere between mainstream and premium, together with the Alfa Romeo 156 and Volvo S60, so to speak. Rover always wanted to build a sporty version of it, but BMW didn’t allow that.
Takeover Phoenix Group
After BMW sold Rover to the Phoenix Group for £10, they went all out. The MG brand started to be used for sporty models of the 25 (MG ZR), 45 (MG ZS) and therefore also the 75 (the MG ZT). Despite the fact that the money was almost gone and there was hardly any money coming in, they invested in strange projects such as the City Rover (and Tata Indica with Rover badge), 25 Streetwise (an Allroad version of the elderly 25) and the MG sports coupe with carbon body.
Perhaps the most notable was the MG T 260. In contrast to the MG ZT190, the layout is completely different. The MG ZT 190 (just like the Rover 75) has the engine located transversely with the transmission next to it, which drives the front wheels.
MG ZT260
The MG ZT260 has a 4.6 liter V8, mounted lengthwise with the transmission behind it and rear-wheel drive. Why did they do this? To prove to BMW that they could also build sports sedans.
The intention was to release a whole series, including a variant with 385 hp and one with 500+ hp. MG Rover was bankrupt long before that happened (gee), but the ZT260 did come onto the market. The engine comes from Ford, which used this Modular V8 in the Mustang. Advantage: parts are easy to find and, unlike a BMW V8 from that period, these are above-average reliable engines.
Special occasion with rear-wheel drive in the Netherlands!
The 4.6 liter V8 is good for 260 hp and 440 Nm, which is not really very much. The used car we found today has a manual Tremec six-speed gearbox (there was also a four-speed automatic transmission that you definitely don’t want). This allows you to sprint to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 250 km/h.
This copy is extra special, because it is an original Dutch car. Yes, a handful of them have been sold in the Netherlands. What’s really special is that the car comes from the first owner!
This in combination with the low mileage ensures that the price is reasonably high: 19,950 euros. Well, the undersigned thinks it’s not too bad, but our editor-in-chief @michaelras indicates that you can get a little Camaro or Mustang with a V8 for considerably less. So what do you choose? Let me know! You can view the advertisement here!
Read more? Unfortunately, these 11 BMW M3 rivals did not materialize!
This article This special occasion has rear-wheel drive and a V8 first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
#special #occasion #rearwheel #drive