Rover Streetwise
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The Rover Streetwise is a small car made by Rover. It is based on the Rover 25, but has an increased ride height and chunkier bumpers. The car was marketed by Rover as an "on-roader".
As of April 2005 it is no longer in production as all the other cars made by Rover
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The Rover Streetwise was an attempt by Rover to breathe life into the ageing models that had been the mainstay for the previous 10 years. BMW had modernised the existing models back in 1999 with a facelift for the 25, 45 & the newly Rover designed 75 models (these vehicles were not designed by BMW, against popluar belief) but Rover was looking at falling sales, and a tarnished brand, after the selling off of Rover to the Phoenix consortium in 2000. Although new models were in the pipeline, the current designs (namely the 25 & 45) would be 15 years old before the new models were launched. Phoenix had the rights to the MG Brand, and had marketed the ZR, ZS & ZT, with reasonable success, restyling the bumpers on the existing 25, 45 & 75 models, and tweaked suspension, as well as tuning to the seemingly limitless K-Series engine.
Into a New Market
With the MG brand proving popular, MG Rover Group turned their attention to the Rover brand. The Rover badged cars had a rather staid image and were commonly associated with elderly motorists, and this was an image that MG Rover desperately wanted to lose. To avoid costly mistakes, MG Rover decided to tinker in a market niche, and chose the ‘Urban on-roader’ look, similar to the Audi Allroad, Volvo XC70 & Renault Scenic RX4.
City Life
The tough looking Streetwise was designed as a 2 wheel drive urban car with 4x4 looks, the streetwise had a higher ride height than it’s cousin, the 25, and although shared many of the common characteristics of the 25, it was visually different with large impact absorbing chunky grey or black plastic bumpers – unlike the rest of the Rover and MG range, the Streetwise bumpers were not colour coded. The front indicator & fog lights were redesigned to compliment the circular headlamps, and most models came with chunky 16-inch wheels as standard, to help absorb impacts from potholes and speed restricting measures. To extend the load space, the Streetwise was fitted with multi-purpose roof bars, which also added to the Streetwise’ distinction against the ZR & 25.
‘In’ Style
The Streetwise offered a choice of sporty interiors, available in 4 or 5 seats (optional) the standard 4 seats had a separating centre console, therefore the two rear seats were individual, and were half leather body-hugging seats. All models came with standard front electric windows, driver’s airbag, PAS, and ABS. The S & SE Models came with leather steering wheel, gear knob and air con. The electric window switch had been relocated next to the handbrake on the three-door model, with new-style rocker switch, in a circular design with chrome effect plastic in the middle. Other subtle changes included a riveted chrome effect plastic loop round the base of the gear lever, and a restyled blue dash dials. All Streetwise’ came with trafficmaster, an early warning device to warn the drivers of congested routes, and CD player as standard. The Streetwise also came with Rear Parking sensors, as an option or as standard on higher models.
Going Places
The Streetwise engines were available as 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 stepspeed (Automatic), and a 2.0TD (The 1.6 & 1.8 are less common).
The End Of The Line
Although the Streetwise was a well-engineered car and had a proven engineering background, it was too little too late, and not even the MGF could turn around Rovers Flagging fortunes. The Streetwise did not have the chance to excel, but even if it had it would likely not have been enough to revive the fortunes of the MG Rover Group. Many blame management issues and failure to cut prices to survive; in any case, it was truly the end of the British Motor industry as a mass-market car producer, and a sad end to a long and sometimes tumultuous history
The Good the Bad, and the Gutted
Shortly after the demise of MG Rover, many people took advantage of near half price cuts on some models at the dealership. After April 2005, a second hand Streetwise 2.0TD SE with less than £10,000 miles, which would have cost £12,000 new, dropped down to between £6000 - £6500 (second hand values were around £9500 before the collapse). Even Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame was advising people to buy Rover, despite well publicised views to the contrary when they were in business. However, in the summer of 2005, there was confusion over whether Rover parts would be commonly available, confusion which has not yet been clarified, in the case of the streetwise, body panels may be hard to come by, as well as replacement switches and dials etc. Warranties could be a major issue, depending on the source of purchase, some dealers vowed to honour warranties despite MG Rover disavowing all current warranties, but it is down to individual dealers to determine how far the warranties they offer will go. Unfortunately for MG/Rover owners who purchased their vehicle just before the collapse, they are facing a large devaluation when they come to sell their car, particularly, if renewal is planned within the next year or so.
Sources: The Unofficial Austin Rover Website (Under MG ZR Development Story)http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/
MG Rover Group Website http://www.mg-rover.com/static/rover.html
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