The Rover 75 was the car that has probably ensured the survival of the Rover group. Launched in a whirl of interest at the 1998 Birmingham Motor Show at the NEC, it went on sale in June 1999. The 75 replaced the older Honda based 600 and 800 with a car that had been designed from the grond up by Rover themselves. The short to medium future of the Rover product range probably will depend on the 75, albeit indirectly. The models due to be launched in around 2004 to replace the 25 and 45 might be derived from the 75's design.

The 75 also introduced the now familiar quad headlamp arrangement which has been replicated on the 25 and 45 to form a family theme. The 75 has also won a string of awards, and rightly so in our opinion. Some of the 15 awards include What Car? magazine's "Car of the Year" for 1999, World Car 1999, Italy's "most beautiful car in the world" [Now, that's some award, only the Italians could come up with a car beauty award - ed] and Japan's Imported car of the Year.

The 75 comes in a number of trim levels, going up in price they are Classic, Classic SE, Club, Club SE, Connoisseur, Connoisseur SE, Connoisseur with High Line Navigation.