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The Rover 200-series is an automobile produced by the Austin Rover Group, and latterly the Rover Group and MG Rover.
There have been three distinct generations of the car, culminating in the current vehicle, which is sold as both the Rover 25 and MG ZR.
1984
This version was the replacement for the earlier Triumph Acclaim, and was the second product of the alliance between British Leyland and Honda. Only available as a 4-door sedan, it was intended to be more upmarket than the company's Maestro, model which closely aped the 200 in size. Essentially, the 200 was a Honda Ballade which sported the Civic-derived 1.3 litre 12-valve engine, or BL's own S-Series in 1.6 litre format, the resulting cars being badged as either "Rover 213" or "Rover 216". The Honda badged version was the first Honda car to be built in the United Kingdom (the Honda version of the Acclaim was never sold in the UK); Ballade bodyshells were made in the Cowley plant alongside the Rover equivalent, although they all used Honda engines.
1989
This model, condenamed R8 and introduced following the privatisation of ARG into the Rover Group was a quantum leap forward for the company in terms of image. Once again, the model was Honda based, using the new designed-for-Europe Concerto model, which was initially only available as a 5-door hatchback. This was the first application of Rover's groundbreaking K-Series family of engines, appearing in 1.4 litre twin-cam 16-valve format. The 1.6 litre version used a Honda powerplant, whilst the 2-litre M-Series unit from the 800-series followed soon afterwards in the sporty versions. The Rover engined models drove the front wheels via Peugeot sourced gearboxes.
The R8 also sported a luxurious and well appointed interior, which was a cut above arch-rivals Ford and Vauxhall and allowed Rover to move upmarket, strengthening its image. In 1990, the 400-series saloon appeared, and by 1992 a cabriolet (convertible) and three-door bodystyles were available. The range was rounded off in 1993 by a coupe and estate ('Tourer'). The cabriolet and estate continued after the rest of the range had been superseded, but without the 200 and 400 tags.
1995
The third generation, codenamed R3, was in fact smaller than the previous two cars. This was due to Rover's desperate need to replace the ageing Metro, which by now was well past its sell-by date, although both cars continued in production simultaneously for several more years. Although some elements of the old 200-series were carried over (most notably the floorpan), it was by-and-large an all-new car which had been developed with no input from Honda at all. The two companies had already been "divorced" as after the BMW takeover the previous year, and as a result the R3 only used K-Series engines, most notably the 1.8 litre VVC version from the MGF. A facelifted version, known as the Rover 25 appeared in 2000 which used the same frontal styling as the larger 75 model, while the sporty MG ZR version appeared the following year. In 2004, MG Rover launched facelifted versions of both the Rover 25 and MG ZR for what is presumably its final production run.
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