I’ve wanted a Rover 600 for a long time. In fact, I test drove one over two years ago. This one in fact.

Too crap even for me, though not because it was a 600

Before that, I’d extolled the virtues of them in this post. It’s fair to say, I’ve long been a fan. It shows you how poor an example the above was (or rather, how dodgy the folk were selling it) that I managed to turn it down.

As it happens, I then got horribly sidetracked by the XM, so that put my 600 desires on hold. But, I really need a comfortable cruiser to cover distance at the moment, so the 600 was firmly back on the radar. That was especially urgent because in a few years’ time, I reckon the 600 will be very hard to find. Corrosion is fast claiming them, and values are stupendously low, so it’s not really work getting one welded up.

I found a likely target on Ebay at £199 with no bids. Had an email conversation with the owner, and liked the tone of his advert and the subsequent conversation. There was no use of the word ‘m8’ at any point. I felt confident. With less than an hour to go, there were still no bids. At seven minutes to go, a bid finally came in. Not from me. I pondered what to do next. Did I bid my full amount straight off or drop a cheeky bid in to see if it provoked a response? I went cheeky, offering £224. As I did, another bid came in, but I was still highest bidder. There followed a nervous few minutes, in which I decided to chuck a larger bid in. I’m glad I did, as the price rose to £231.52. My heartbeat rose. Excitement built.

Yes! My second sub-£300 car purchase in a fortnight had occurred. Contact was established, and trains were booked. I now have another car to collect, and it’ll be heading straight into another mega-mile roadtrip as I visit friends in London. Mind you, that’s just the start. On Wednesday, my new steed will be transporting us 600 miles to Normandy. I hope it’s ok…

It should be. At 174,000 miles, it’s hardly fresh from the showroom, but the current owner has been using it heavily. I find that’s a good thing. It seems to have a fair chunk of history, because this owner needed it to get him to where he wanted to go. The rear arches look a little problematic, but they all do these days. It’s a classic Honda rot-spot. And, of course, this is pretty much a Honda under that styling Rover suit. Not the engine though, that’s Rover’s own L-series turbo diesel. It should deliver 45-50mpg. That’ll be nice! Especially on the cheap diesel of France.

Amusingly, the registration number of my new car is part of the same series as the Rover at the start of this feature. So far, that red one is the only 600 I have ever driven, and only then a short distance around Coventry. However, I have high hopes for my £230 motor car.

Seller’s pic, stolen from Ebay. Another S…SRD!

I’ll be live reporting progress on Twitter tomorrow (@Dollywobbler) and other social media if I have chance. I’d better give my beleaguered insurance company another call…