Riley badged Rover 75

[MartinW]

I am sorry but the orange coupe was never going to be badged as a Riley. That was built under MG Rover management in 2004 to showcase their talents in an attempt to woo the Chinese along with the prototype TF coupe. There was little chance that with BMW owning the Riley name it would have been used on the 75 coupe prototype at that stage. However, I am sure it is still a possibility that this may be offered by the new Blackpool firm as a Riley and in fact a few months back NAC had this proto-type out of the mothballs which lead to further speculation that it may yet see the light of day (in which I would have to sell my remaining body parts to buy!)

The blue coupe shown in the post above was done as a photoshop by a forum member at the time (I forget which - it was a while ago). It was very well done and as with many of the purported cars shown in AutoExpress, it has no doubt lead to much speculation, but was not an official picture if I recall.

The car originally shown as a Riley possibility at the time in the late 90s was the one in the image attached below.

You can see where the similarities started with the styling on the ZT, however, it is rumoured that BMW had deliberately insisted on setting the front indicators as close to the ground as possible within the legal limits. This way, any lowering of the car for sporting pretensions that might detract from BMW sales would not be possible, hence the ZT being the only one to have a new set of front indicators in the bumper alternative to the 75 style. You may also notice that the bumper line follows around the front headlights as if there should have been indicators up near the wing top, again suggesting theindicators were moved. Whether true or not I think that both the ZT and the 75 are better for it!

To my mind, had the badge been available, and despite being a huge MG fan, I always thought a sporty 75 should have been either badged Vitesse or Riley.

There was also the 95 shown at a few motorshows iirc, which was a stretched version with an interior that was very elegant and reflected a very much more upmarket model.

I recall a road test of the earlier version of the 95, which was badged as a Vanden Plas by the coach builder doing the conversions in Kent (?). They put it up against the 7 Series stretched saloon, and a stretched Skoda Superb. I believe the Rover won. The Skoda lost points for being a Skoda, whilst the BMW lost points because it suffered a depreciation of something like 65% over 3 yrs, which, whilst better than the Skoda or the Rover, was a big loss! In fact so big, they reckoned you could buy two new stretched 75s or three new Skodas for the same money you lost on the BMW!

[Tim_Burgess]

The Car in the post above is the 2000 Geneva Show 75 Sport Prototype. Used by Richard Woolley as personal transport for a time.

A photoshopped image of this car - made to look like a coupe by stretching the front door and losing the rear door shutlines - appeared in Autocar of 31May 2000 wearing the registration W209LOE. An MG badge had been crudely stuck on the grille in place of the Rover one. The Autocar article mentions the BMW era 75 Coupe:

"The 75 Coupe project had been started as a means of relaunching the BMW owned Riley marque when Bernd Pischetsrieder still ruled the roost as BMW Chairman in early 1998"

The Auto Express image of late 1998, although clearly a CGI is a much more individual design, the article also mentions that the Riley version was planned to use a 3.0 litre version of the KV6 producing 200+ horsepower. The plan under Pischhetsrieder was to use the Riley marque as a flagship to rival the Mercedes CLK and Volvo C70.

Personally I don't think the plan had, or has, much credence - the last cars to wear Riley badges were the Elf and Kestrel - badge engineered Mini & 1100 respectively and they had fallen out of public perception nearly 30 years previously (and, yes, I can remember when they were new). I think that Triumph would have been a much better brand to choose as it had not been out of use for so long.

Incidentally, the MGR Orange 75 Coupe has surfaced again, rebadged by NAC as an MG.

[Bartonrover]

Talkng of Rileys and Triumphs - have just received this:

Triumph TR is back!


Is another of Britain's most famous names set to make a comeback? We look into the sensational plans.

Auto Express
10th October 2007


In the first of two shock scoops about one car giant this week, Auto Express can exclusively uncover exciting plans by BMW to bring back one of Britain’s best-loved marques – Triumph is on to a winner!

Last week, the firm announced its plans for the future. Part of this strategy was the introduction of the long-awaited SUV version of the MINI – but bosses also described why they are aiming to expand the company with new brands.

Despite speculation that Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo are in the frame as targets for acquisition, our sources have suggested that BMW will add to its portfolio by reviving a classic badge – and Triumph is top of the list. The historic British marque, which the maker took over when it bought MG Rover in 1994, would be a clear choice to market a rival for the new, Chinese-owned MG TF roadster.

Our pictures reveal what a modern Triumph car could look like, taking its styling inspiration from the classic TR4. Just as the new MINI’s design was heavily influenced by the Sixties classic, a reinvented Triumph would be a retro remake.

BMW is committed to launching more premium models as it bids to gain a bigger slice of the most lucrative areas of the new car market. And these pictures show how an upmarket two-seater could offer a premium alternative to the Mazda MX-5. With a raft of class-leading engines and platforms in the BMW stable, the roadster would be a force to be reckoned with. However, there are obstacles to overcome before any Triumph car could be built.

One problem may be Triumph the motorcycle manufacturer. The firm confirmed the car and motorbike brands are separately owned. A spokeswoman for the firm told us: "BMW owns the rights to Triumph Cars, which is entirely separate from Triumph Motorcycles. We are therefore not privy to any activities they may be planning and are unable to comment".

As well as using the household name to market a new roadster, BMW would benefit from having Triumph models to test its low-weight materials and new technologies before using them on mainstream cars. But bosses will be watching with interest Audi’s relationship with the Austrian motorbike maker KTM, which has already led to the production of the X-Bow track-day car.

In a recent statement, chairman of the board of management at the blue propellor, Norbert Reithofer, said: “The BMW Group explored all the options for future growth during the strategic review, including potential acquisitions or the creation of a fourth brand. However, this would require the new automotive brand to be a perfect fit for the company.”

No official comment has been made about the Triumph project, but British car fans can expect to hear more on the ambitious plans by the end of the year.

[JohnDotCom]

Naughty, Naughty.
But yes i did read that article.
Perhaps BMW consider the NGF a threat?

[Pete]

I'm going to have a bit of a beef here.

First, the woeful artist impressions pics. Bad enough that they come up with a badly cobbled together mess with bits from a Chrysler amongst others, but the fact that they used the Triumph motorcycle logo when the motor car one was completely different demonstates yet again what a spineless bunch of halfwits staff this rag at times. Why don't they just come clean about BMW trying to buy Triumph bikes a while back instead of dancing round handbags? Bloor the builder has been doing well with Triumph bikes recently and they've been taking an increasing amount of market share from BMW. So for Munich to buy them and re-launch Triumph cars is pretty logical in the company having unified a good brand name and added a potentially strong niche performer to their stable.

Of course, this does depend on Bloor selling Triumph Motorcycles, which the last time around was a pretty firm 'no'.

[Gryphon]

Originally Posted by Pete

Of course, this does depend on Bloor selling Triumph Motorcycles, which the last time around was a pretty firm 'no'.

And thats how it should stay "NO"

[GreyGhost]

This is the left Hand drive version of my old TR250. I don't think a BMW Triumph could come close