MOTORING enthusiasts with a passion for Cowley-built cars have been given the chance to celebrate another of the plant’s iconic classics.

Many of the marques built there, such as the Mini and Morris Minor, already have owners’ clubs.

Now the Rover 800 is to get a club of its own and lovers of the car have been invited to the plant on Sunday to get things started.

Classic car fan and Rover 800 owner Tanya Field helped to organise the event, which she hopes will lead to a club being set up in time for the car’s 30th anniversary next year.

The Headington resident said: “The Rover 800 will be 30 in 2016 and it is just beginning to find its feet in the classic car world.

“They were all built at Cowley and that is why we are having the meeting at the plant. There are lots of people around who worked on the cars.”

Rover 800s were built until 1998 and were also marketed in the United States as Sterling 800s.

They replaced the Rover SD1 and were designed to help Rover expand its presence in the North American market.

The range was co-developed with Honda and was a close relative of that firm’s Legend.

Mrs Field said: “They look good and feel good. The style is good – a real kind of British styling. You look at it and it screams ‘Rover’ at you.

“Mine is great to drive because it is a two-litre turbo. It is a lot of fun. I have had it for two years and it is from 1991.

“They are fantastic cars on motorways but they do not cope so well around corners. Minis are the opposite.”

The 800 also harks back to a day when many cars in Britain were built by British-owned companies.

Rover went bust in 2005 and other traditional British car manufacturers, such as Jaguar, now have foreign owners.

A total of 317,000 Rover 800s were built, with a peak of 54,000 rolling out of the Cowley plant in 1987 alone.

Mrs Field said: “The Rover 800 is from a time when British cars being British-owned was coming to an end. It is a bit of nostalgia.

“Between 20 and 30 people are expected on Sunday but anyone with an interest is welcome. You do not need to have one to come.

“It will be great to have an owner’s club for that model of car.

“There is an online forum and a Facebook group and it would be great to have a dedicated society for the car.”

The event starts at 1pm.

* For more information, contact Mrs Field by emailing tanyafield123@sky.com or calling 07929 868284.