Highlights Incredible time-warp ZR Fewer than 13,500 miles from new Advisory-free MOT Original bill of sale 17-inch ‘Straights’ wheels Overview Back in 2001, the newly formed MG Rover was on a mission.

A mission that may ultimately have led to failure, but a plucky one, nonetheless.

Having been famously sold for just £10 by BMW to the Phoenix Consortium, the company needed new cars to attract fresh buyers – and quickly.

But with no development money in the coffers, MG Rover needed to use creativity to bring those customers through the door.

A wholesale relaunch of the MG brand was its answer.

The MGF evolved into the coil-sprung TF, which was a fun open-top sports car, but the real masterstroke was the decision to transform the distinctly ordinary Rover 25, 45 and 75 into the Z-Cars – a range of sporting saloons that the company’s engineers had long wanted to produce, but were hamstrung by BMW not wanting any driver-focused Rovers, so as not to steal sales from its own range of sp...