Rover 416 Si

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After the 400 had been in production for five years, Rover launched a completely new version in March 1995. The new car was based on the contemporary Honda Civic platform but had all new body panels and was powered by a fuel-injected Rover K-Series 16-valve engine which in 1.6-litre form produced 111bhp.

First registered on 1st April 1995, this particular 416 Si is the very first example of the revised car to roll off the production line (chassis number 001) and was first registered to Rover Group. Kept by them for the next eight years, it spent most of this time on display in the Gaydon Motor Museum until being acquired by its first private owner in 2003 and then by our vendor in 2015, making three keepers in all.

Presented in attractive Kingfisher Blue, the car has only covered 6,883 miles to date and is still in virtually showroom condition throughout, having been kept garaged since it left Gaydon and polished more than driven. Starting instantly and running beautifully as we moved it around on the occasion of our visit, it sailed through its MOT this February with no advisories recorded, the previous MOT having expired in April 2016 when it was last used on the road.

Since Rover's assets were taken over by the Chinese in 2005, no more Rover badged cars have been produced, making this a unique opportunity to own a historically significant part of this once famous but now sadly defunct British marque.