02.04.2020Forgotten hero: The Rover Vitesse of the DTM 1986

It has not been a great success, the Rover Vitesse. The sedan of the upper middle class was a joint production by the British Leyland and the Austin Rover Group, which had been built from mid 1976 to autumn 1986. In its last production year, the Dane Kurt Thiim conquered the win of the the original DTM at that time, the German Touring Car Championship, which he then contested on the motorsport verison of the Rover Vitesse. With his 130 points, Thiim was ahead of the Mercedes-Benz 190 2.3-16 by Marko RSM as well as the private BMW 635 CSi by Kurt König. The racing season inlcuded a total of nine races, of which Thiim won three: The Bergischen Löwen in Zolder, the airfield race Wunstorf as well as the Grand Prix of the touring cars at the Nürburgring. Minichamps delivers the model to the winning car and more. 

The Rover Vitesse was an initially celebrated solution: It should adress the interested parties of the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz W 123 as well as the Citroën CX. In contrast to the two German leaders in this segment, Rover as well as the French from Citroën decided for a hatchback with a large flap. As modern it is today with the Audi A7 / S7 for example, it was less in demand on the more expansive vehicle classes back in the days. Also the Renault 30 decided for the concept of the small car class as the VW Golf, could not prevail against the BMW 5 Series or Audi 100 either. But under the bonnet, the Rover had drivesets ready with the four-cylinder or six-cylinder in-line engines and the V8 that developed an corresponding power of 75 kW / 103 hp to 142 kW / 193 hp, to compete against the sales stars in this segment. With one exception, however.

Because the quality was a problem: Not only with the engines, but in general. The press quickly assembled the bad materials in the interior; the processing could also not keep up with the French. Kurt Thiim had luck, because his Vitesse with the 3.6 liter big eight-cylinder with 141 kW / 193 hp building racing car held up. In the civil version it was 217 kilometers per hour fast. Minichamps produced the modelcar, which perfectly matches the design of the prototype, from the high-quality polyurethane resin under the item number 107861322. Further the brand new novelty, the winner of the RAC Tourist Trophy 1986 (107861309) and the racing car of Olaf Manthey from the DTM 1984 (107841302) appeared and is available and result in a great collection theme. 

Here: Click to the Rover Vitesse by Minichamps