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Car of the Day: March 4, 2016; Gisima '80 Rover SD1 / 3500
Topic Started: Mar 4 2016, 09:36 AM (723 Views)
Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car

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Today's car of the day is Gisima's 1980 Rover SD1 / 3500.


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Wikipedia
 
Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. In "SD1", the "SD" refers to "Specialist Division" and "1" is the first car to come from the in-house design team. The SD1 can be considered as the last "true" Rover, being the final Rover-badged vehicle to be produced at Solihull, as well as being the last to be designed largely by ex-Rover Company engineers and also the final Rover car to be fitted with the Rover V8 engine. Future Rovers would be built at the former British Motor Corporation factories at Longbridge and Cowley; and were to rely largely on Honda engineering.



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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Rover SD1


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Gisima, from Spain, produced low quality, budget diecast pieces in the 1980's, with some castings being copies of other brands such as Matchbox. Such is the case with this Rover, which is a crude copy of the Matchbox Rover, and although many of the details were simplified, Gisima elected to keep the opening plastic sunroof panel from the Matchbox design. Speaking of copies, these wheels look like they were inspired by Majorette, don't they? While I added detailing to the front lights, the rear lights are part of the haphazardly applied rear sticker.


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Wikipedia
 
In 1980 Rover obtained US type approval for the SD1 and re-entered the American market after a ten-year absence. The car was only made available as a single variant, using a modified version of the V8 engine and badged simply as "Rover 3500". The equipment and trim levels were similar to that of the UK market's then top-of-the-range V8-S model. The main differences were a smaller steering wheel, the sunroof (moonroof) being a cost option and rear passenger head restraints were not available at all. Small Union Jack decals were fixed to the lower section of each front wing, just ahead of the doors, to promote the car's British origins. The five-speed manual gearbox was supplied as standard, with the three-speed automatic version being a cost option. US safety legislation (that first applied to the Citroen DS) demanded that the headlamp arrangement excluded the front glass panels. Also larger, heavier bumpers were required, increasing the overall length to 191 inches (4850 mm). Rover ceased the supply of American market SD1s at the end of 1981, although unsold cars remained available from dealers well into the following year.



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Hobie-wan
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SUV
Unlike the recent JLs that I poo-pood for being wonky, this has lower expectations, so ends up being charming instead. Interesting that they kept the sunroof, I guess retooling the glass was too much. :lol:
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zzziippyyy
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Drive it like you stole it!
Well, this is a first for me. Never heard of the 1:1 car and never heard of the Company that made this one. So like always this thread is truly one of the gems of the Diecast online communities!

Thanks for sharing it!
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
:toy: Knew of Gisima but don't have any and not sure I had seen any before. It is on the crude side but that is part of the charm of all the different brands out there - especially ones like this that tend to "copy" others. Thanks for the info on SD1 - never knew what that meant behind the Rover name. Again the educational benefits of the Garage! :thumbup:
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Ford1965
Microcar
Crude casting, but nice to see it in small scale!
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Guntownal
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Minivan
I have a few Gisima cars and even though they are all very crude castings I think that's the charm about them. The plastic display cases they come in are better quality than the cars!
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JeepXJLover
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Minivan
This reminds me I have been meaning to get a copy of Corgi's Rover SD1. Every I wish list one I end up finding someone else I would rather have.
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Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car
Same car in yellow:

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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
The yellow one looks better. CHARM?? LOL. :toofunny:
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