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Club History

 

A Brief History of the Classic Rover Club (NI)

In 1990, following a good turnout of P6 Rovers at a number of classic car events, a meeting of some of these owners took place in the Stormont Hotel in Belfast.  At the meeting were Christopher Gillespie, Mervyn Pritchard, Brian McConnell, Neale Jeffery and Colin Jeffery.  Out of this meeting the P6 Rover Owners Club of Northern Ireland was born.

 

Although one of the smaller clubs, we soon gained a reputation as one of the more active clubs.  We took part in many events throughout Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland and made regular visits across to events on the UK mainland. 

 

In 1991 Colin Jeffery won the Northern Ireland round of the Benson & Hedges Classic Run and our other P6s were well placed in the event both in ‘91 and ‘92. 

 

In 1992 we organised our first of many trips to England.  On this occasion to take part in the P6 Rover Owners Club’s 10th Anniversary Celebrations at Chatsworth House on 14th June.

 

In 1993 we were invited to bring our P6 Rovers to take part in an open day for Classic cars at the MOT centre in Mallusk.  Our cars and members were photographed along with a helicopter for a newspaper article.

 

Around 1993 / 94 a local region of the P4 Drivers’ Guild had been formed by Ray McCready and Martin Donnelly had organised a small group of P5 owners.  We took part in a number of joint events and in 2006 we all agreed to combine our efforts and formed the Classic Rover Club (NI).  The club was open to all Rover cars up to the end of SD1 production.  The Committee of the new club consisted of Martin Donnelly as Chairman and P5 Rep. Colin Jeffery as Secretary and P6 Rep. Neale Jeffery as Treasurer, Joanne Fallis (now Jeffery) as Membership Secretary, Ray McCready as P4 Rep. and David Ritchie as SD1 Rep.

 

On the 15th June 1997 we were back to Chatsworth House for the P6 ROC 15th Anniversary

 

In 1999 we were contacted by Northern Ireland’s main Rover Dealer and were asked to provide a Rover P4 75 for their showroom at Knock and to provide a display of Classic Rover cars for the official launch of the new Rover 75.  This lead to a great club connection with the dealership, through their salesman Ronnie Livingstone, and a number of joint events including children’s Christmas parties, took place at their showrooms over the following years. 

 

In 2000 we held our first weekend event at Coleraine, called ‘Rove 2000’.  The weekend was organised by Peter Miskelly and James Clarke and was well attended by our club members and members of other clubs.  We repeated the weekend event in 2001 and 2002 until, sadly, the Bohill Hotel were the events were based closed down.

 

At the end of the year 2000, membership was widened to include owners of any Rover Car.  However, care was taken to preserve the original objectives of the club whilst allowing them to be appreciated on a wider basis.

 

Our Rover Heritage Days at the MG Rover Dealership showrooms in 2001 and 2002 were also very successful and resulted in some great local press coverage.

 

In 2002 we were approached by North Down Borough Council to put on a weeklong display of Rover cars from the past 50 years at Bloomfield Shopping Centre as part of their Golden Jubilee Celebrations.  We had six cars on display representing each decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. 

 

In 2003 we were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the P6 Rover.  A group of our members travelled over to Beamish to take part in the P6ROC national rally and 40th Anniversary celebrations.  A number of our cars were photographed for the P6ROC newsletter, P6 News, and a couple of our members, Brian Vennard and Martin Donnelly came home with some prizes.

 

2004 marked the 100th anniversary of Rover car production.  In May 2004 we held a special 100th celebration rally at the showrooms of the Main MG Rover dealership in Coleraine.  The biggest 100th year celebration rally was in July and was organised by the Rover Sports Register.  The long weekend began for us on the Thursday.  On Saturday we were at the Coventry Transport Museum followed by a tour of the Heritage Museum at Gaydon, where the evening finished with a special anniversary dinner.  On Sunday there was a massive display of Rovers of all ages at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire.  Classic Rover Club (NI) are proud to say that we had a number of members at this landmark event.

 

In April 2005 we were all stunned to learn of the demise of MG Rover.  Our club was contacted by Radio Ulster who wanted to put together a report on Rover cars for their ‘Good Morning Ulster’ programme.  Their reporter, Karen Atkinson, interviewed James Clarke and Colin Jeffery on Sunday 17th.  The programme was broadcast a number of times the following Tuesday.

 

In May 2005 we held another Rover Heritage event at the Coleraine MG Rover showroom, which was to close down after the event.

 

In March 2006 we were one of only six clubs to be invited to take part in the AOVC Classic Vehicles and Model Show at St. George’s Market in Belfast.  We put on one of the most impressive displays of Rover cars, Rover memorabilia and Rover models ever seen in the province.  Over the years we have put on a number of similar displays at the annual Bangor Elim Show and the Hillmount Nursery Fathers’ Day Vintage Show events

 

In 2007 we were one of a few clubs who were invited to take part in a new classic event in Larne – Larne Alive.  The show was repeated in 2008.

 

Since 2005 a small group of our members have been travelling over to take part in the NTPR events in Wales each July.  Each year they have come back with a prize (or two).  In 2005 Peter Miskelly won ‘Best Rover 800’, in 2006 Peter won ‘Best Late Rover’ for his 75, in 2007 Peter and Ronnie won the treasure hunt and Ronnie took ‘Best 75’ award, in 2008 they took 2nd and 3rd in the go-karting and in 2009 (the last ever NTPR Rally) they won the treasure hunt and Ronnie took 2nd in the go-karting.

 

In 2007 we had our first club stand at the annual Argory vintage show and this is another event now firmly placed on our annual events calendar.

 

In 2009 we were invited to bring some Rover cars to the inaugural Titanic Vintage Day in Belfast.  An excellent event at a superb historical location.

 

Over the years we have formed a close link with The Rover Enthusiast’s Club of Ireland and travel regularly to take part in and support their excellent events and shows.

 

While being one of the smaller clubs in Northern Ireland, we are still a very active club.  Our members take part in events on an individual basis almost every weekend during the season.  As a club we take part in approximately 16 events per year including static shows and road runs organised by other clubs and councils and ourselves.  The events above are therefore just a small snapshot of what we do.  We also never forget the children and focus on family friendly events.

 

The Classic Rover Club (NI) is affiliated to the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs.