This British racing green fastback Rover Vitesse rolled off the Cowley production line in June 1994
Purchased by Barclays Bank Putney it was ordered with Recaro leather interior, climate control
and a 180hp 2 litre twin cam turbo engine

 Barclays owned the car for 2 years covering 30,500 miles, the next 4 years it was owned by a lady in Kent until I purchased the
car in 2000. Still in very good condition, that is how the car stayed for the next year or two other than regular servicing and
a few basic suspension and exhaust upgrades


The standard car has good performance acheiving 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and a top speed of 145mph. These misunderstood cars
have lots of potential with a 2 litre twin cam 16 valve turbo engine and long wheelbase independent suspension chassis.
It is not an easy car to modify, it is heavy, front wheel drive and no tuning parts are available so most are specially designed

The car is always evolving, in 2004 a new engine with forged pistons was fitted, along with a bigger turbo and modified cylinder
head. 2005 a race specification cylinder head and camshafts were fitted. 2006 four extra injectors were fitted, two per cylinder,
individual coils per cylinder replaced the HT leads and distributor cap along with DTA engine management. The turbo size was
increased further and front suspension and brakes uprated in 2008. 2010 an FIA spec full roll cage was welded in for safety and
to stiffen the bodyshell, most of the interior has been removed, replaced with two lightweight Recaro bucket seats and 4 point
harnesses, 2014 Willwood 6 piston brake calipers and larger front discs were fitted. 2016 the rear suspension was rebuilt and
converted to an adjustable coilover setup with uprated bushes, springs and shock absorbers.
Finally to today, a custom exhaust manifold and system has been fitted ready for 2019



This car competed in Redline TOTB3, held every year at Elvington airfield near York, a competition to find the fastest road legal
cars in the country, despite running problems on the day and against all the odds we were the fastest front wheel drive car
around the handing circuit

Redline magazine covered a rolling road shoot out at the G-Force Porsche tuning rolling road in 2003, the Vitesse topped the FWD
group at over 320hp. Quote "Jims Rover Vitesse looks like it should be driven by someones granddad but nitrous oxide and 322hp
means serious fun"

This website rovervitesse.com is dedicated to showing the maintenance and evolution of one particular Rover Vitesse as well as
information on other MG Rover models. Click on the menu at the top of this page for more images and information
updated November 2019