Rover Montego 2.0 DLX - Aug 1995 (Sold)
grkonweb’s Team-BHP Garage
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Rover Montego 2.0 DLX - Aug 1995 (Sold)
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I was very proud to own this car for 2 years in Bangalore between 2005 and 2007...an used Rover Montego 2.0 DLX with an electric sunroof! Under the hood was the legendary Perkins Prima diesel engine, 2000 cc that gave 18 kmpl mileage in city. It was perhaps 3rd hand but fun to drive with a very peppy engine.
Originally from the UK called as Austin Montego. Came as CKD kits and assembled in Bangalore by defunct Sipani Automobiles...miss the car now :(
Back then I was 26, I was much young, brash and impulsive! Somewhere I read (I think in one of those Life's Little Instructions book - it was quite popular then), at least once in a lifetime you should buy a car with sunroof...I knew I cannot afford a Merc/BMW/Audi, so started looking around for a realistic alternative...my teenage crush called Rover Montego 2.0 DLX flashed before my mind. The idea of owning a sunroof car soon became an obssession and I went on to buy an used Rover Montego with all bells and whistles - power steering, power windows (front doors), A/c, central locking, sunroof, stereo, leather seats.
IMHO, the car was quite a looker (never fancied the Estate version called Countryman) among contemporary cars and it always made heads turn when I drove across Whitefield area and was kind of celebrity within ITPL (Tech Park) campus where absolute strangers (mostly techies) used to walk up to me with a smile enquiring about the car. I remember a colleague who had a more newer Opel Astra with sunroof was cut up that his sunroof doesn't work while mine was fit as a fiddle.
Believe it or not, thanks to the 18 kmpl mileage it offered, my monthly fuel bill was hardly Rs.400 pm as my commute to my office & back was just 4 kms a day!
What more can a young bachelor ask for - creature comforts + easy on pocket + a looker!
I also believe in one of my job interviews during that time, my prospective boss asked me what car I drive around. On hearing Rover Montego his eyes popped out and I have reasons to believe that the car too played its part in the job offer he made!!!
But on the flip side only I know what it takes to keep it running - spares which were invariably expensive, were a pain to get hold of coupled with dearth of reliable mechanics. As long as the car ran without issues it was absolute fun. You must feel the Turbo kicking in after 60 kms speed...pure bliss. It felt like the car was levitating, gliding over the road.
Finally, the passion wore off and I neither had the money nor the time/patience to maintain this car. Lessons learnt - when it comes to buying cars use your head not your heart! In hindsight no regrets, at least I have the experience (both good & bad) rather than living with an unfulfilled dream!
Sold after 2 years for a song :( and I felt "been there done that" specially for the sunroof aspect!
Rover Montego 2.0 DLX - Sweet memories, simply unforgettable!
These pics are for representational purpose only...I had the same color car. Copyright is with the respective owners!
| | | Click Thumbnail to Enlarge. | Full Size Image Pages | | | Gallery Statistics | Member: | grkonweb | Created: | 16th March 2016 20:22 | Last Modified: | 17th March 2016 10:05 | Views: | 450 | Images: | 4 |
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