The MG Maestro and MG Montego remained on sale until 1991, when production of these models was pruned back in order for Rover to concentrate on the more modern 200 Series and 400 Series.

High performance Rover Metro, 200 and 400 GTi models had gone on sale in late 1989 and throughout 1990 as the MG version of the Metro was discontinued in 1990 and the versions of the Maestro and Montego were axed in 1991.

* 1990: The Rover 400 – saloon version of the Rover 200 – goes on sale.

* 1994: An estate version of the Rover 400 is launched, along with an updated Metro which sees the 14-year-old nameplate shelved and rebadged as the Rover 100.

* 1995: New versions of the Rover 200 and Rover 400 go on sale, though this time they are entirely different cars.

The Rover 400 is a reworked, upmarket version of the latest Honda Civic, despite the Rover-Honda collaboration finishing a year earlier.

* 1999: The Rover 200 and Rover 400 are facelifted to be re-badged as the Rover 25 and Rover 45 respectively.

Rover 400 ( 1995 – 1999 )

At the beginning of 1990, Rover launched the Rover 400 range.

The 1995 Rover 400 was a more substantial and popular alternative to other large family cars than its successor was, offering impressive equipment levels, but a relative shortage of interior space because it was nearer in size to cars in the next category down.

The Rover 400 was facelifted in 1999 to become the Rover 45, and at the same time the estate version of the original 400 was dropped.

Also, at various times, the Civic or Civic-derived models have been sold by marques other than Honda – for example, Rover sold the 200, 400 and 45, each of which were Civic-based at some point ( first 200s were the second generation Ballade ; from 1990 the 200 and 400 were based on the Concerto ; the 400 was the 1995 Domani ), as was their predecessor, the Triumph Acclaim, based on the first Honda Ballade.

By 1989 Vauxhall was on roughly equal terms with the Rover Group as Britain's second most popular car brand ( after Ford ).

The Group changed its name again in 1989 to Rover Group Holdings Limited.

* 1989: The new Rover 200 goes on sale, abandoning the four-door saloon bodystyle in favour of a three-and five-door hatchback.

Rover 200 ( 1989 – 1994 )

The Rover Group's first significant new car launch was the Rover 200, which was introduced in October 1989.

The 1989 Rover 200 was a strong seller throughout its life and its successor continued this trend, though its final year of production ( 1999 ) saw a significant dip in sales.

From 1985 to 1989, Austin Rover made upmarket Vanden Plas models within its Metro, Maestro, Montego and Rover SD1 ranges.

Other bright spots in this period included reaching the final of the Freight Rover Trophy at Wembley in 1985, where the team lost to Wigan, and a run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1989 which included wins over three higher-division sides and was only ended by the reigning league champions Liverpool.

Following the launch of the new Rover 200 in October 1989, production of the Maestro was pruned back to mostly the entry-level models ( with the MG variants being axed during 1991 ).

With the Rover Group only a few months away, the limited edition ( 500 + 5 press cars ) MG Maestro Turbo ( launched in early 1989 ) was the final car from ARG.

Production of the Maestro, which was already suffering from a decline in sales, was pruned back by autumn 1989 on the launch of the second generation Rover 200, which was aimed at the higher end of the small family car market, with the Maestro being kept on sale as a cheaper alternative with more basic versions available.

By 1988, it was merely the 14th best selling car in Britain, dipping further to 19th place in 1989, the year that the second generation Rover 200 was launched.

Simpson joined The Rover Group from its subsidiary Leyland-DAF in 1988 and took over as managing director in January 1989.

Unusual UK Rover 800 Sterling, c. 1989 / 90, with first-generation " sharp " body panels but later-style Rover " family " grille, applied as an after-market item by the owner

In 1989, ARG was rebranded as Rover Group, the name of its owner.

* 1989: Austin Rover Group is re-branded Rover Group.

From about 1989 onwards, a wider range of models were imported by a new company, Rover New Zealand ; this included sedan versions for the first time.

The third rally, held in April 2001, featured 106 cars, including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and Chris Pontius, the hosts of Jackass, driving a 1989 Jaguar XJ6 ; F1 World champion Damon Hill driving a Lamborghini ; comedian Vic Reeves in a Mercedes-AMG ; Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in a Blower Bentley, entrepreneurs Justin Etzin and Lord Edward Spencer Churchill in a Police Range Rover and Maximillion Cooper in an original Shelby Cobra.

The original 1989 Discovery's looks had been determined by limited funds and the consequent use of first-generation Range Rover components.

* 1862 – Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover are the first female nurses on a U. S. Navy hospital ship.

* 2003 – The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission.

* 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission – David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.

Jaguar Land Rover announced in October 2010 that they have scrapped plans to close one of the two facilities in the Midlands – Jaguar's Castle Bromwich Assembly and Land Rover's Solihull plant.

** World Scout Moot, a gathering of older Scouts, mainly Rover Scouts, ages 18 – 26 from all over the world

* the Mars Society Analogue Pressurized Rover – a competition to design a pressurized rover vehicle that could be used on Mars that was won by the Michigan Mars Rover Team.

* 1963 – Jolanda de Rover, Dutch swimmer

* April 30 – The Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show.

* Mars Exploration Rover – a Mars rover

* Mars Science Laboratory ( Curiosity Rover ) – 26 November 2011 – large Mars Rover ( 900 kg )

After an interval of barely one year, the MG marque was revived again, this time on the MG RV8 – an updated MGB Roadster with a Rover V8 engine, which was produced in low volumes.

* Lunokhod program — USSR Lunar Rover probes ( 1970 – 1973 ).

Rover engines span a power output of 110 – 250 bhp in the R500 Evolution, Vauxhall engines to in some factory built versions of the car.

On 14 July 2005, it was reported that Magma Holdings, a financial group including former Ford Motor Company and General Motors executives, working in conjunction with SAIC, would be making an offer for the assets of both MG Rover and engine maker Rover Powertrain which, if successful, would see at least some production being restarted at Longbridge, and that talks with the other two interested parties – China's Nanjing Automobile Group and Project Kimber ( a consortium of Birmingham businessmen led by David James ) – were still in progress.

* August 11 – A terrorist bomb explodes under a seat cushion on board the Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121 Clipper Ocean Rover, operating as Flight 830 from Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan, to Honolulu International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, with 274 people on board.

These portrayals of her parents, from the episode " A Rover Runs Through It ", are actually a retconned version noticeably different from the homemaker mother – and presumably equally suburban father – displayed in flashbacks in the earlier episodes " I Remember Mono " and " Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy's Magic Sex Feet ".