The Rover 25, or 200 series is a small car which was originally produced by the Austin Rover Group, it was also produced by the Rover and MG Rover. Over the years of it's production it has seen three distinct variations of the car. The first two generations of the car were badge engineered Honda models, and were known as the '200 Series' also produced at the same time as was the Honda Concerto and were both built on the same production line at Rover's Longbridge factory.

The final revision of the 200 was developed independently by Rover and was at first sold under the classic Rover 200 name, after the sales of the Rover 200 in the year 2000 the car was given a facelift to improve it's looks it was renamed as the Rover 25 and MG ZR. The production soon ceased in 2005 when MG Rover went into administration. Originally built at a four door saloon, the Rover 200 was based on the Honda Ballade, but in it's second generation it was then available as a three or five door hatchback, coupe and cabriolet. The final redemption was again available as a three or 5 door. In it's 21 years of production there there was over 1,482,000 cars produced.

Production: 1984 - 1990

Body Styles: 4 Door Saloon

Engine Sizes: 1.3 L or 1.6 L

The original Rover 200 model, which is sometimes referred to by it's codename SD3, it was the replacement for the Triumph Acclaim, and was the second product of the alliance between British Leyland and Honda. It was only available in a four door model saloon and was intended to be a more upmarket than the companies Maestro model which came quite close to the 200 in it's size. However neither of these cars were produced to pose any threats to the other popular cars at the time such as the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Astra. It was however the 9th best selling car in Britain in it's future life with between 55 and 65,000 sales each year.

Realistically the 200 was a Honda Ballade which sported a Honda Civic derived 1.3L 12 valve engine, or BL's own S-Series in a 1.6 L format which came in both a 85bhp carburetor and 101 bhp Lucas EFi form, the resulting cars being badged as either a Rover 213 or a Rover 216. The Honda badged version was the first Honda to be built in the United Kingdom, but the Acclaim version was never actually sold in the UK. Ballade body panels were made in the Cowley plant alongside the Rover equivalent, which they all used Honda engines, apart from the Rover 216 which had a Montego S-Series 1600cc.

The first version of the 200 series, was only offered in a saloon format, this version of the Rover 213/216 competed against popular cars like the Ford Orion, Vauxhall Belmont, Volkswagen Jetta and Renault 9. Small family saloons were still popular throughout the 1980's in spite of the growing monopoly of hatchbacks in this sector.

The cars claim to fame was a 5 year stint in the popular television show Keeping up Appearances called Richard. Throughout the series it featured a 213S, 213SE and 216SE

Production: 1989 - 1999

Body Styles:
- 5-door hatchback
- 3-door hatchback
- 2-door coupe
- 2-door cabriolet

Engine Sizes:
- 1.4 L or 1.6 L K-Series Straight-4
- 1.6 L Honda D16A6
- 1.6 L Honda D16A8
- 2.0 L M-Series Straight-4
- 2.0 L T-Series Straight-4
- 1.7 L Turbo Diesel Straight-4
- 1.9 L NA Diesel Straight-4

Code named R8 the Mark 2, Rover 200 series was the first car introduced by the newly privatised Rover Group which occurred in 1988, and was a huge leap in terms of technology and images, putting it forward as an industry leader. Again the same with the 213/216 it was designed in partnership with Honda, sharing the production lines at Rover's Longbridge facility. It started life as only a 5 door hatchback, this was the start of the ground breaking K-Series engines appearing in a 1.4 L twin-cam 16 valve form.

The 1.6 version had either a Honda D16A6 SOHC or a D16A8 DOHC poweplant, while the 2 litre M-Series unit from the 800 series, followed in 1991 in the more sporty versions. Later versions used the sturdier Rover T-Series engine, with limited run tubrocharged Rover 220's in GTI and GSI-Turbo trims, which boasted as standard 200BHP. The Rover engined models drove the front wheels via Peugeot sourced R65 gearboxes (1.4 litre) and Honda designed PG1's for the 1.6 model and the 2 litre version.

There were also two PSA diesel engines available with the choice of a naturally aspirate 1.9 litre XUD9 or a turbo charged 1.7 XUD7T. These engines were installed instead of the Perkins Prima used in the Maestro and Montego because the engine had a very noisy combustion and was deemed to unrefined for the new 200.

On it's launch the R8 was in a sector in which many competing designs were at least if not older than 5 years old. Like the Ford Escort which had been in production since 1980 and the Vauxhall Astra had stayed unchanged from the date of it's launch in 1984. The only competition that it faced was from European cars such as the Peugeot 309, Fiat Tipo and the Renault 19.

In the early 1990's, the 400 series saloon appeared and by 1992 a cabriolet, three door and hatchback body styles were available. The range was finished off with a Coupe and Estate in 93. The coupe, cabriolet and estate continued after the rest of the range had been superseded, but was without the 200 and 400 tags and was instead known as the Rover Coupe, Cabriolet and Tourer, also without the Honda Power: the K series 1600 replacing the Honda engine until there production ceased in 1999. This model the 200 became the most successful Rover to ever be made, which greatly increased the number of sales compared to the ordinal 200. In December of 1991 the 200 model was Britain's most popular new car of the month, and was featured in the top 10 every year it was on sale. Typically Rover would sell anything up to 110,000 of the Rover 200 and 400 R8 models, every year.

Production: 1995 - 1999

Body Styles:
- 5-door hatchback
- 3-door hatchback

Engine Sizes:
- 1.1 L
- 1.4 L
- 1.6 L
- 1.8 L Rover K-Series Straight-4
- 2.0 L Diesel I4

Codenamed the R3, the Mark 3 Rover 25 was a smaller can than the previous models, this was down to Rovers desperate need to replace the ageing Metro which was 15 years old. Although some elements of the older 200-series were carried over, mostly the front structure, heater, steering and the front suspension. It was by and large an all new car which was developed by Rover. Honda did provide early body design support as a result of moving production of the Honda version of the second generation 200 from Longbridge to Swindon leaving a 60,000 unit gap and by this time the car had a cut down version of the previous car's rear floor and suspension which was codenamed SK3. The lack of boot space and other factors led to Rover re-engineering the rear end to take a modified form of the Maestro rear suspension and the product was renamed R3.

By the time the car was launched, Honda and Rover had been separated after the BMW takeover the previous year, and as a result the R3 only used Rover produced K-Series petrol engines, most notably the 1.8 L VVC version from the MGF, and L-series diesel engine.

It was launched with 1.4i 16v (105 bhp) and 1.6i 16v (111 bhp) petrol engines and 2.0 turbodiesel (86 bhp and intercooled 105 bhp (78 kW) versions) engines, the range grew later to include a 1.1i (60 bhp) and 1.4i 8v (75 bhp) engines and also 1.8 16v units in standard (120 bhp) and variable valve formats (145 bhp). A manual gearbox was also available across the range and a CVT option was available on the 1.6i 16v unit.

Despite reportedly disappointing interior quality, the interior of this Rover 200 still carried across the sense of luxury that Rover cars were notable for, especially with mid- and high-specification trim levels. The 1.8-litre models earned a certain amount of praise for their performance, whilst the inter cooled turbo diesel was actually one of the fastest-accelerating diesel hatchbacks on the market in the late 1990s.

In 1998 a limited edition model called the 200 BRM was offered, priced at just under £18,000, to celebrate Rover's history with British Racing Motors. Using the 200Vi as a basis, this model is noticeable by its orange lower front grille (sometimes sprayed silver by dealers)[citation needed] and quilted red leather interior with machined aluminum trim and switchgear. The car was limited to 795 UK examples and benefited from revised suspension, a limited-slip differential, larger wheels and close ratio gearbox.

The third generation 200 sold very well initially in the UK, with the model placed in the top 10 best selling list between 1996 and 1998, but it didn't sell as much as its predecessor. This could have been due to pricing above expected levels for the car. Essentially, due to the presence of the 100 range below it, the 200 became priced as an Vauxhall Astra/Ford Escort rival rather than a Ford Fiesta rival.

Production: 1999 - 2005

Body Styles:
- 5-door hatchback
- 3-door hatchback

Engine Sizes:
- 1.1 L
- 1.4 L
- 1.6 L
- 1.8 L Rover K-Series Straight-4
- 2.0 L Diesel I4

A face-lifted version, renamed the Rover 25 (internal codename Jewel) was launched in autumn 1999 for the 2000 model year. This version used similar frontal styling to the larger 75 model. The chassis had been uprated to give sportier handling (suspension setting from 200vi) and the front end had been restyled to give it the corporate Rover look first seen in the range-topping 75, a number of safety improvements and interior changes were made, but the 25 was instantly recognisable as a reworked 200 Series. The 1.4 L, 1.6 L and 1.8 L petrol engines as well as the 2.0 L diesel were all carried over from the previous range, but the gearbox was now sourced from Ford .From late 2000, there was also an economical but powerful 1.1 L 16V petrol engine available in the 25 range, offering higher than average performance levels than with equivalent 1.2 and 1.3 litre engines.

Less than a year after the Rover 25 was launched, BMW sold the Rover Group to the Phoenix consortium for a token £10. By the summer of 2001, the newly-named MG Rover Group had introduced a sporty version of the Rover 25: the MG ZR. It had modified interior and exterior styling, as well as sports suspension, to give the car the look of a "hot" hatchback. The largest engine in the range was the 1.8 VVC 160 hp (119 kW) unit which had a top speed of more than 130 mph (209 km/h). It was frequently Britain's best-selling "hot hatch".

In 2003, Rover made a version of the car with increased ride height and chunkier bumpers, called Streetwise. The car was marketed by Rover as an "urban on-roader". They also introduced a van version of the 25 called the Rover Commerce.

By 2004, the age of the Rover 25 / MG ZR's interior design in particular was showing, so MG Rover gave the cars an exterior restyle to make them look more modern. The majority of changes however were focussed on the interior, which featured a completely new layout and fascia design. Production of both cars was suspended in April 2005 when the company went into administration. In March 2005 the 25 won the 'bargain of the year award' at the prestigious Auto Express Used Car Honours: "The compact hatchback was recognised by the judges for the availability and affordability that help make five-year old examples an attractive purchase proposition.

Specifications for the Rover 25 design were purchased by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation in early 2005, though new MG Rover Group owner, Nanjing Automobile Group now owns the tooling for the car. Nanjing started building MGs again in May 2007, with the MG TF being built at Longbridge and the MG 7 (formerly MG ZT) being built in China, but the Rover 25 design is no longer being used by the new owners. Its successor, the MG 3, will be launched in 2008 and may also be sold as an Austin.

The Rover 25 was Britain's best selling car in April 2000, possibly due to a brief surge in sales among buyers wanting to support the company at the time of their sell-off by BMW. Sales of the Rover 25 actually continued into 2007 (though in tiny numbers), by which time Longbridge was being re-opened by Nanjing Automobile.

A Rover 25 commercial, featuring a casino spinning wheel, was soundtracked by Mono's "Life In Mono" track.