Craig's Rover 114 Cabriolet

Craig's Rover 114 is a rare little beast indeed. Starting life as a Rover 114 Cabriolet which was originally sold to the Jersey Islands as many were, this Cabriolet found just two previous owners within the same family when it returned back to the roads of Great Britain. Craig tells us of how he always wanted a Cabriolet, and watched many come and go in the classifieds over his years looking for one. When this Amaranth purple example showed up on an enthusiast club website, he made a call straight away and went to collect the car that evening. He ran the car around for a while, and it was used daily. It wasn't long before the modifying bug bit however, and he replaced the 1.4 8v SPI powerplant for a 1.6 16v MPI unit from a Rover 200. He says the power is adequate for now, but one day he would love to VVC the car.

Wheels from a Caterham 7, wrapped in 175/50/13 tyres finish things off nicely on the outside. In the spring of 2017, the car was treated to a new roof from 'Car-hood.com'. Craig had a friend from the Netherlands who also owns a Rover Metro cabriolet in need of a new roof, so they ordered a pair of black mohair items which he hopes will last a lot longer than the vinyl roofs fitted by Rover, all of the seals were also replaced so now the car is (almost!) watertight. Craig says the car will be in daily use over the summer months but will come off the road in winter. 

Engine

• Rover 200 1.6 MPI engine
• 52mm throttle body
• Walbro fuel pump

Gearbox

• Standard R65 with 1.4 Flywheel

Suspension, brakes and steering

• Suspension is standard all round

External

• Caterham 7 Minilites with Yokohama 175/50/13 tyres
• New mohair roof in black

Interior

• JBL Bass Pro 2 Subwoofer
• Rover 114 GSI leather seats