Wednesday 11th October 1989

The Rover Group, Britain’s largest independent carmaker, launched its new medium-sized hatchback, the 200 Series, (Mk 2) which replaced the small four-door saloon of the same name, and gave buyers a more modern and upmarket alternative to the ongoing Maestro range, which has declined in popularity recently. Essentially, the 200 series was a British built Honda Ballade. Engines employed were either the Honda Civic derived E series ‘EV2’ 71 PS (70 bhp) 1.3 litre 12 valve engine, or BL’s own S-Series engine in 1.6 litre format (both in 86 PS (85 bhp) carburettor and 103 PS (102 bhp) Lucas EFi form). The resulting cars were badged as either Rover 213 or Rover 216.