Rover - Rover 800 Fastback - Salesman Training Programme - A Question of Style (1988)

Rover - Rover 800 Fastback - Salesman Training Programme - A Question of Style (1988)
Salesman Training Programme
"A Question of Style"
For the use of Rover sales staff only.
Produced by The Marketing Institute - Studley. Austin Rover Group Limited, May 1988

[@daveslife9486]

Watched this multiple times and it's better than TV ❤️

[@heyzoos-cgr9369]

The added string back gives an extra bit of purchase

[@billy4072]

so someone, wrote that script, hired the actors and freakin filmed it. Im speechless.

[@jonnyc429]

Makes you want to be sick doesn't it

[@lewis72]

The 800 saloon and 800 'fastback' were virtually identical yet they talk about them here as if they're totally different cars.

[@jnbr7520]

I really wanted to see Alan Partridge strut across the room at the Launch Party.....shame

[@daveslife9486]

I love watching old sales videos on KZbin and it's free and what I love👍

[@patrickwalsh7439]

Bore fact: The garage forecourt where the bald guy drives like a nutter was Hartwells in Cowley, right outside the factory. It's now a Lidl. The estate where the salesmen are driving around is the Blackbird Leys area of Oxford too.

[@davidphayman]

Ha it sure is, I used to sell from that very showroom during the 80's

[@oxfordspecialistcars3059]

@@davidphayman Bartman?

[@davidphayman]

@@oxfordspecialistcars3059 sure is me dude, is this Cuthbert O'Rielly of NOG fame ?

[@oxfordspecialistcars3059]

@@davidphayman Oh yes! Clearly you are as sad as me watching old Rover dealer videos!

[@davidphayman]

@@oxfordspecialistcars3059 LOL!! No idea how on earth I found that but what a larf eh? Would be good to catch up Huw but I dont know how secure this is to excahnge numbers / details etc do you? Are you in touch with Steve @ NOG? Im on Linkedin whatsapp and other shit!

[@daveslife9486]

Thoroughly enjoyed this, like a trip down memory lane 😁

[@rover800ownersclub9]

It's great to see what kind of customers AR was targeting with the 800. Awesome vid, thanks for uploading

[@bensmithkent22]

Staggeringly they sold many when the w124 e class and e34 5 series were direct competitors.

[@andyb3666]

@@bensmithkent22 a lot cheaper than a W124 or E34, at least to the same spec. You didn’t get much as standard in German cars back in those days.

[@rossbethell4187]

I use to go to those launch and demo parties as a kid with my dad. He was one of those brigade with a company car list and a knack for going against the established manufacturer that his colleagues had. He also pulled some negotiating in order to beat his own car list. Getting the bigger engined car but with solid paint instead of metallic Many a time I saw my older brother having to “debadge” a car in order for my dad to avoid awkward questioning at the office when he was driving above his pay grade. They all just accepted he had poor old man taste in colour and that’s why he wasn’t rocking metallic silver or burgundy like the rest of them. Interesting to how the firms culture dictate the brand. I recall him working his way up the vauxhall tree with seniority. Cavalier-Carlton- Senator. A British firm of course. Then he went to work for a French outfit and found himself in a R25. 😂 All this made me the car lover I am today. Two brands, brands that were never on any of his company car lists were the ones aspired to. His customers and competitors often had them. And I’d be dragged along to a lunch time knees up aka meeting, where I’d see them. Saab and BMW. One guy he knew even had an Alfa 75 V6. They were so exotic and exciting over the Rover, Vauxhall, Ford and Renault that adorned his options for so long. The day I got taken out in a white E34 525i with black leather and front arm rests and boot spoiler was the day I became a bmw fan boy.

[@fluchterschoen]

Simply spiffing old chap, what!

[@augnkn93043]

I want a car of distinction! Are these Rovers still available? I have lower class neighbours and they will respect me if I drive a Rover of distinction!

[@kevinbaird7277]

Hey, I am one of your neighbours, I don't like being referred to as a lower class person, just because I BBQ in my boxers in my front garden with my kids whilst drinking beer, I really need to get my dad's old van off the bricks and get it scrapped but my dogs like staying in it, don't you dare get a Rover, next you will want my wife.

[@AdrianJayeOnline]

many years ago, when I was in my 20's, to own a rover was a big thing a status symbol, I had the chance to drive a rental for a couple of days when my company van was in the shop, it was a big thing,we all drooled over the old rover SDI 3500's wowow, just to think how things turned out :(

[@bensmithkent22]

Yep according to this video somebody was trading in a bmw for that silver vitesse and the lady at the end had to choose between a merc or the sterling 🤣🤣. The comparable merc of the time being the iconic w124. E class.

[@gillan8274]

2:04 on the left is Hyacinth Bucket’s postman I wonder if he’s on the promotional video for their 200

[@austinpowers2k9]

Awesome! I have a silver G reg 827 Vitesse, 2 years newer than the E reg one in the video :D

[@rowlewis81]

Great video, even in the early 90's I was embarrassed as a kid my parents had an rover 800 fastback.

[@Tmuk2]

Alan Partidge's favourite car

[@delacaravanio]

Tmuk2 he had the fastback

[@mintsauce82]

Actually he had the 800, followed by a 214Si when Lynn made him trade it in.

[@tynebar]

Cock Piss Partridge

[@nthnmonkey]

Cook pass Babtridge......just a quick fix on it for now like.

[@tynebar]

A Rover 100? They've re-badged it you fool.

[@MylesHSG]

The Coupe is definitely my favourite style

[@TheCatBilbo]

Love these videos & spotting the famous faces! 'Corporates' keep so many actors eating.

[@apemoon1731]

Did I see Swiss Toni in that video?! 😃

[@Relay300]

Making a sales video is very much like making love to a beautiful woman 😎

[@guitarlover302]

Surprised it made the test drive without falling to bits 😂😂

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

It's a 17 minute video, enough time for the paint on that new 800 series to have started rusting

[@fluchterschoen]

@@mipmipmipmipmip All the Rover showrooms were climate-controlled to prevent pre-delivery rust-holes from developing...

[@andrewthomas4671]

swiss toni

[@johnparsons6608]

Like making love to a beautiful woman

[@guitarlover302]

Swiss Toni indeed - car salesman can’t abide them- Swiss Toni is actually Ray from Minder 😂😂 Car salesman , estate agents 😱😱

[@daveslife9486]

My third reply I looooove this video it's so addictive and harmless I wish they did a series I'd be hooked❤️❤️

[@jimhinks3476]

There's no point finishing the sentence, Lynn, because I am not driving a Mini-Metro

[@zerocapacitance1]

Had the 825sl, great car.

[@tomassmith2312]

what I miss about the 80s. good coke and music

[@TheSpritz0]

And men wearing big mustaches to hide BAD TEETH...

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

​@@TheSpritz0 yellow fingers and fingernails from all the cigarette smoking

[@apacherider7110]

My dad had 800 series the 827 saloon & fastback...they were good cars...

[@evoivowner7732]

Mrs Hardaman, what were you thinking?

[@0898007]

"You'll certainly never 'lack' for power with the new 2.7 V6 engine".

[@mick0905]

This is like a pilot for The Inbetweeners. Simon Hopkins is so much like Jay.

[@andyb3666]

Maybe instead of being about selling double glazing in the '80s, the sitcom 'White Gold' should've been about selling Rovers 😂

[@alisonmoutiq1578]

Smart lady goingfor the MB 260E ,probably still driving it..

[@GlossaME]

The man didn't show up, so....

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

@@GlossaME To be fair, that does sound like something a snobby german "premium" car salesman would do

[@doveronefoxtrot4417]

A Honda Legend. Totally bullet proof.

[@derriusbranch8620]

Hi Mr. Derrius Branch Checking in.

[@howard81]

This is like an episode of White Gold!

[@nervo6321]

I had the 800 vitesse turbo....went like a bloody rocket....but the door handles kept falling off...

[@andrewbaird7834]

The Younger Actor Playing The Salesman Is Gary Love Who Played Cpl/Sgt Tony Wilton In Soldier Soldier From Series 1 In 1991 Till Series 4 In 1994

[@stevevale2429]

Doors on the fast back were two different shades!

[@owensteele1274]

The shut gaps don't line up either.

[@rare6499]

Amazing 😂

[@richardclarke376]

is there a subtle message in one guy wears his badge high and another wears it low? Also the 'stephen ward' (lol) guy is played by Paul Raffield who was in Joking Apart.

[@MajorKlanga]

The White Helmets used this video as a template for their hilarious productions.

[@livingthroughtv]

Astonishing.

[@gimble8638]

lol, the actor sales guy (duncan), he used to be in alot of stuff, minder,brush strokes etc, musta had a real dry patch at that time lol my dad got rid of his 86 sd1 vitesse for an 800 vittesse in 89 and within a week knew it was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, made him realise how good the V8 was compared to that junk, so then he just went other extreme and got a range rover vogue and lost a fortune because he got rid of 800 after only 6 months lol :(

[@OverlandTT]

Nice car, I remember my boss having one... it was always in the workshop getting repaired! Ask the salesman, how much did they save on the cheap engine mount (engines dropping out) and how many times was there a strike during its build lol.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

why did they cut out the coke snorting??

[@guitarlover302]

Made by Alan Partridges production company ? 😂😂

[@newtonwhatevs]

It's that postman from Keeping Up Appearances, isn't it?

[@crumplezone1]

Yep it looks like his career went from strength to strength :)

[@neilmustow368]

Remember the 800 Fastback coming out in 1988 as a 14 year old

[@johnstairs]

The older salesman was in “Get some in”

[@craigstratford5086]

Poofhouse Richardson 😀

[@MrEdwardsg]

Simon Hopkins was in the Krays

[@FrightfulAccountant]

I always loved fastpacks, many people still do. Look at the Audi A5! If Honda would had made a EU spec Accord styled as a fasback, it would had sold so much, they wouldn't even been thinking about closing Swindon, Bexit or no Brexit.

[@andyb3666]

Nobody was much interested in Accords anymore by A5 time, doubt making a hatch would've changed that. Also those Accords were built in Japan, it wouldn't have saved Swindon.

[@doubledee9675]

The Rover 800 came on the market here under the name of Vitesse, at about the same time as the Honda Legend. The Rover's sales would have been far, far fewer than the Honda equivalent. By that time, the Rover name had been irrecoverably tarnished by the SDI.

[@andyb3666]

In the UK the 800 vastly outsold the Legend.

[@gerrardvomnachtflohmarkt9693]

After watching this a number of Rover salesmen must have changed the company they're working for. Creepy!

[@billy4072]

this is genuinely scary.

[@houktanhdanhi2352]

where are all these people now I wonder?

[@cajonesy]

Im sure the young salesman was in the krays ronnies boyfriend

[@cmartin_ok]

Thank goodness I bought my 820 used and not new from a salesman like one in this video ! And how an accountant could justify buying one new when they suffered from horrendous depreciation, I don't know - the only way I could afford a used one. 18 months old and around half the new list price.... comfortable, yes,,,, but not the most reliable car that I have owned

[@andyb3666]

The Merc would've been the smarter choice by far, but in those days you'd probably have to spend thousands in the options list to bring it up to the same spec as an 800.

[@stephenreeves-brown7219]

Is Duncan Mrs Bucket’s, i mean Bouquet’s postman?

[@DAVIDE-bk8by]

Actor who played Mr Ward looked a bit like the Major who cheated on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

[@Rossip00s]

The younger salesman was in soldier soldier....

[@a0r0a7]

Is it me or is the rear door a different shade 😮

[@ricardojacksono4242]

Fast back, or otherwise known by everyone else as the hatchback. Ooh look, we have used a door wedge for shape inspiration....what was Ford and Vauxhall doing.... using air tunnels......

[@rogerpritchard]

My father, Dennis Pritchard, an accountant and pilot had the later revised Rover 800 series. He had the Vitessse, a fastback and then two coupes, a sterling and a Honda powered 827. He thought very highly of the coupes. If fact it one of them saved his life! Incredibly strong car, very stylish and the leather Connolly interior was absolutely beautiful and as good as any Rolls Royce. The coupes didn't rust but the fastbacks did for some reason. They were both reliable.

[@leedstown]

Were car salesman like this in 1990s

[@bencrosbie]

😂😂😂😂 I want a rova now innit

[@stevejelly3161]

THE NEW ROVER 800 FASTBACK,,,,,,,,,,, A VERY SMOOTH CAR IN A VERY "WOBBLEY" WORLD !!!!!!

[@adriankingdon3055]

He should’ve mentioned the leaky sunroof and the dodgy window motors, he would’ve closed the sale immediately...

[@thedr.feelgood]

I had ... a Rover 800 Sterling.... Drove home late one night, stopped to talk to a neighbour - And the drivers window wouldn't go back up, it then started to rain. I wrapped clingfilm around the door, and left it on the drive . Sold the fucking thing that weekend , and got a BMW 320.

[@01322521959]

Hyacinth's postmans old job.

[@owensteele1274]

Indeed. He stayed in touch with her and Richard after selling them that 1987 Powder Blue 216SE.

[@Sdblahm67]

Is this a spoof paid for by BMW?

[@TregTube]

I love how they are pretending that a slight change to the shape of the boot entirely changes a mediocre car into some kind of raucous racing machine that appeals to entirely different people.

[@cambs0181]

1980s Rover launch party: Wine,local media, executive businessmen, young photographers talking about models, wondering if they could afford to upgrade from a granada. 2000s Rover launch party: Cardigans, murray mints, octogenarian's complaining about immigrants, wondering if they can upgrade from a honda jazz.

[@andyb3666]

The Zed cars were still managing to bring in younger people at that time though, on the MG side, in fairness 😉

[@valicourt]

Mercedes, rover, Mercedes, rover? That same evening she was wondering whether she would go to the ivy or to the local chippy..

[@bensmithkent22]

14:07 on is excruiciating

[@gimble8638]

young guy bangs on about saloon and wont see that guy in a fastback etc at first, the fastback was brought out because saloon sales wernt doing well at first because most buyers had just came out an sd1 and wanted another big hatchback lol

[@lewis72]

Ford's Mk3 Granada, launched in '85 was also a hatchback and then got a boot in late '89.

[@andrewdunn9307]

From selling Cars to joining the Army

[@5340robert]

I wonder if the writers of white gold got their inspiration from this ?

[@bEEBO178]

Should have gone for the saab 9000 turbo. What a divvy

[@silverfox9303]

beebo No-one who has driven both cars would ever have gone for a Rover, the Saab was superior in every respect compared to any BMC, BL, Rover ever built, in spite of the sales delusions, the Rover was in competition with the big Fords and Vauxhalls of the day, was never in the same class as Saab, Mercedes, BMW etc.

[@OverlandTT]

beebo oh yeah, they sold out the GM and then went bust too lol

[@znoop72]

@@silverfox9303 Dont put SAAB alongside BMW Merc or Audi. It was never so good, it was never so well put together and it never drove as good. The big reason they whent to shit was this awful projection they where a premium car. But i reality they where just a Saab.

[@silverfox9303]

I have in my time worked in, sold and driven, Saab, Audi and BMW, my only experience with Merc has been through trade ins, the first Saab 900 after the GM takeover was a piece of shit, the others stood up very well in comparison with the other brands, Saab's real problem was lack of funds to keep upgrading, when it came to driving, the Saab was very much my preferred car and I did have a choice, granted maintenance costs or ease of maintenance did not figure for me, but on the road particularly in winter conditions, the Saab was way above the BMW. In the UK winter conditions don't warrant fitting snow chains or studded tyres, but a bit of snow or ice on the roads and the BMW in particular was best left in the garage. Frankly I always found BMW overrated, the Merc a good car even if expensive, Audi a good car, but don't keep it too long, repair bills could be frightening particularly with 4 wheel drive.

[@znoop72]

@@silverfox9303 I have worked with cars for many years.I live in Norway and i experience snow and poor driving condition anualy. I do understand why most people would prefer a front wheel driven car for daily use.For me its just a matter of taste, and the car would just be driven diffrently with rear wheel drive. Today i drive an old bmw e39. Not the best winter car, but i think its aliright. We do however install firction or studded tyre in winder time, mandatory. I do agree that parts for the Saab are generally cheaper than BMW, Audi and MB. But the overall feel in SAAB is just not that of the other brands mentioned. If we disregard the later models with ESP installed, the SAAB understeers , and is too front heavy. The audi is too, but it makes up with it with excellent traction uphill, and the cars feel like there is some balance to it. But in general its about taste. Saab is by far not bad car, but it was just too overpriced for what it was. In my opinion

[@richsan4923]

Ah the long lost secret Minder pilot😂

[@nudisco300]

These weren't real Rovers anyway. The very last Rover was the SD1. These 800s were partially designed by Honda and Austin workers and then built in Austin & Morris factories by Austin & Morris workers, Proper Rover (the one that the Wilkes brothers ran) got renamed Land Rover and was sectioned off in 1977 away from the rest of the business and stil exists today in the guise of the 'LR' in JLR Jaguars current XE could quite easily sit with Rover branding and it would be as close to a proper Rover as possible even being built in the Solihull factory . The 'Rover' company that died in 2005 was essentially Austin Morris.

[@truff1999]

Gareth Hale had a nice little sideline at Rover as a sales boss. What a passive aggressive tw@t the bald chap was.. The young curly haired lad was in the 90s Krays film I think.

[@Blue-moon12]

827 coupe looked sleek

[@alexger85]

How could Rover ever vanish?

[@nudisco300]

It hasn't - The original Rover company came from Solihull and makes Land Rovers there today as part of Jaguar Land Rover. What went broke was a mash up of different British Leyland businesses and factories which over time had become called 'The Rover Group or MG Rover'

[@danielheathcote5625]

Really they just need to look up Swiss tony!

[@benccollins]

excruciatingly sphincter reducing, cringe on!

[@Inthemixmedia]

Germans must have pissed themselves laughing when initially perusing the Longbridge factory.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

"factory"? -- you mean "ye olde metal shoppe"

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

Well our stupid government sold them out in 96. And they never properly invested in Rover. Because it would compete with their own models.

[@fasthracing]

Schnell. British architect

[@mikeballinger1258]

Is that Gary Webster from Minder?

[@bensmithkent22]

No

[@avslope8963]

Is this for real? No wonder they went bust 😂😉

[@Blue-moon12]

E reg. 1988

[@5340robert]

This is abit like white gold lol

[@neilmartin5341]

I'd buy the Mercedes love 🤣

[@doveronefoxtrot4417]

Mercedes over Honda ? Really ?

[@Inthemixmedia]

Ones with Honda engines were great. Well the engine was

[@charlesmacgilchrist3648]

Funny the highest power engine was also in the 200.

[@andyb3666]

And 400, long time after this period though.

[@budsmoker60]

Is this a real training video or some sort on in joke?

[@bensmithkent22]

Its the cringiest thing ive seen. Truly awful. The young cocky salesman is hugely irritating.

[@biggusdickus6861]

Is that sweat on his face ?

[@rover416si8]

9:06

[@hoodwinker7932]

Above all, its a Japanese car

[@davidscottnoble303]

What a load of cringe. love it.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

The 800 is a Honda in drag

[@owensteele1274]

VTEC YO!!!!!!!!!!! ...sorry.

[@Althekeys]

cook pass babtridge I’ll leave that with you....

[@bensmithkent22]

Cavalier CD injection 😂😂😂😂

[@370DatsunZed]

Hovercrafts????

[@bobgorman9481]

Two words, Swiss Toni ,😂😂😂

[@guitarlover302]

Ray from Minder 😂😂😂