Rewind to 1977: Rover 3500
10th Jun 2013
In this week's addition of Rewind we go back 36 years to 1977. Quite a few of you may not have been born in '77, or too young to remember what happened, so let me shed some light on it for you. John Travolta's strutted his stuff when Saturday night fever hit the cinemas, the Eurovision song contest was staged in London, Bjorn Borg won his 2nd Wimbledon title, and most importantly, ITV launched The Krypton Factor!
As cars were still seen as a luxury at this time, the judging criteria for European Car of the Year was different than it is today. The Rover 3500 took advantage of this as it snook under the radar to win the award ahead of the Audi 100 and the Ford Fiesta. What Rover managed to do was lower their reduction costs thanks to an agreement with the unions and produce a car to compete with the likes of Jaguar and Mercedes models, but offered at much cheaper price. Rover was seen as the first manufacturer to make quality cars available to the general public. The 3500 was an attractive motor, with excellent performance. Therefore we see it as a worthy winner of the prestigious title, European Car of the Year.
As cars were still seen as a luxury at this time, the judging criteria for European Car of the Year was different than it is today. The Rover 3500 took advantage of this as it snook under the radar to win the award ahead of the Audi 100 and the Ford Fiesta. What Rover managed to do was lower their reduction costs thanks to an agreement with the unions and produce a car to compete with the likes of Jaguar and Mercedes models, but offered at much cheaper price. Rover was seen as the first manufacturer to make quality cars available to the general public. The 3500 was an attractive motor, with excellent performance. Therefore we see it as a worthy winner of the prestigious title, European Car of the Year.
