Rover (marque)

Rover was a British automotive marque used between 1904 and 2005. It was launched as a bicycle maker called Rover Company in 1878, before manufacturing cars in 1904. The brand used the iconic Viking longship as its logo.

Despite a state-controlled absorption by the Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC) in 1967 and subsequent mergers, nationalisation, and de-mergers, the Rover marque retained its identity first as an independent subsidiary division of LMC, then through variously named groups of British Leyland through the 1970s and into the 1980s.

The Rover marque became the primary brand of the then newly renamed Rover Group in 1988 as it passed first through the hands of British Aerospace and into the ownership of BMW Group. Sharing technology with Honda and financial investment during the BMW ownership led to a revival of the marque during the 1990s in its core midsize segment.

In 2000, BMW sold the Rover and related MG car activities of the Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium, who established the MG Rover Group at Longbridge. BMW retained ownership of the Rover marque, allowing MG Rover to use it under licence. In April 2005, Rover branded cars ceased to be produced when the MG Rover Group became insolvent.

Rover

Rover or rovers may refer to:

Automobiles and motorcycles

Locomotives

Rover (The Prisoner)

Rover is a fictional entity from the 1967 British television program The Prisoner, and was an integral part of the way 'prisoners' were kept within The Village. It was depicted as a floating white ball that could coerce, and, if necessary, disable inhabitants of The Village, primarily Number Six. In one incident, it even killed a person, but it is not clear whether the ability to kill was a normal feature of Rover or if this incident was a malfunction. Several aspects of the Rover device were not explained, presumably left to the imagination/speculation of the viewer.

In the novel The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel, based upon the series, the name Guardian was used instead of Rover.

Portrayal

Description

Rover was depicted as a large white inflatable balloon, not quite fully inflated, with a flexible skin. Rover would often produce a muffled roar sound when attacking. It would also sometimes emit a strange light display / luminescence from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long range and at high speed, faster than a vehicle or boat.

The Rover (story paper)

The Rover was a British boys' story paper which started in 1922. It absorbed Adventure in 1961 and The Wizard in 1963, and eventually folded in 1973.

It included characters such as Alf Tupper and Matt Braddock, early examples of the "working class hero".