Home for all ROVERs from 1904 to 2005

What we stand for - Our goals

We, the Rover Freunde Deutschland e.V., have made it our mission to nurture and maintain ROVER - automobiles of all series, types and models and to continue to positively influence their reputation in the public eye. The name ROVER stands for quality, atmosphere and - despite all its tradition - technical progress, innovation and reliability. We are committed to maintaining this reputation.

Mutual support with advice and action, especially in the procurement of spare parts, are a matter of course for us. We meet several times a year, also in regional groups, to discuss and solve problems around our vehicles. The conviviality is not neglected.

We represent our association and its goals unobtrusively, but consistently, to the outside world. Contacts to other ROVER associations at home and abroad are expressly desired. This is a challenge for every single member. Agreements of a binding nature must always be agreed with the board of directors.

What we do - Our services

We hold large community meetings with the Rover Clubs from Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy, to which international guests are always cordially invited. These meetings take place in attractive tourist regions of the respective host country, whereby an interesting environment is ensured.

Another annual meeting is the General Assembly of Members. In particular, all matters relating to the club and its members are discussed here, including amendments to the bylaws. Only club members and possibly invited guests can participate in this forum.

Regional meetings are held at the suggestion of members. The chronological order, duration, place of assembly and frequency are determined by the members involved. Of course, any member who wishes to participate is entitled and invited to do so. Last but not least, the conviviality is cultivated.

Die Rover Freunde Deutschland e.V. are currently building up a literature and image archive that is available to every member. Therefore, each member is also obliged to provide the archive with missing brochures and graphical material for the purpose of providing the content.
The existing material will not be handed over in the original, but only in copy at cost price.

To support the procurement of spare parts, the association establishes contacts with workshops, suppliers and other members of the association who have the appropriate material and expertise.

The association publishes the member magazine ROVERdrive which reports on interesting topics around the club and ROVER vehicles of all years of construction. Since 2013, the magazine has also been reporting on events and events of the Austrian Rover Club and the Swiss Rover Club.

The most important thing - our members

Currently (as of 1 January 2015) we have over 200 members. This is an increase of 80% within 12 years - a great success for a brand club around vehicles, which always had only a small circle of friends in Germany and which are no longer produced.

On this page all members can present reports, pictures, hints and stories about their vehicles. Please send intended contributions, if possible as Word document (. doc), accompanying images with a resolution of at least 72 dpi, on CD or as email attachment to the Webmaster: M. P. Börsig, Berliner Strasse 14,74321 Bietigheim-Bissingen, Email roverinfo@gmx.net. Thematically fitting articles from our magazine ROVERdrive are also posted here.

The following articles are available so far:

Date	Report by	Theme
July 2004	Frank Schabert	Acquisition and first experiences with a P4 100
October 2004	Martin Blum	The celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire

You can also find further reports on vehicle repairs etc. in the various editions of our magazine ROVERdrive. If you are

About the Club - History

Originally, the Rover Friends were a community of interests (I. G.) based in Bonn, which mainly depended on the almost indescribable work of one man: Volkmar Brecke.
Because Volkmar Brecke was unable to advance the community because of his serious illness, the whole structure started to slide and the club life became more and more flattened. After many attempts, it was decided in 2000 to gather all activities in a registered association.
There were many reasons for this. It starts with details such as account management, collection of premiums, questions of insurance law, etc.

Unfortunately Volkmar Brecke was not allowed to experience the new beginning, he died in 2001, leaving a big gap, a dedicated rover friend is not so easy to replace
In the meantime, the club has consolidated. Not everything is not perfect yet, but all members pull together and everyone contributes to the best of their knowledge and ability for the common cause.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of the death of our unforgotten "Rover - Vaters" Volkmar Brecke in 2002, Rover Friend Horst Ballé wrote down his memories of his first encounter with him in our magazine ROVERdrive.
We do not want to withhold this article from you:

Volkmar Brecke, as we have him in our best memory: friendly, helpful, a bubbling source of knowledge and anecdotes. The photograph was taken in 1998 at the Techno Classica in Essen.

I didn't even know then that the car was called "P6". But I found this ROVER 3500 with its spare wheel on the boot fascinating for a long time and always looked after it when I saw one of these extraordinary cars on the road. This was in the mid-1980s and although the "P6" was never part of the street scene, as they say, it was an older used car from time to time. And as such, it was also interesting for me when I was very disappointed with my first new car and looked like something "solid" again.
One year earlier I had bought a Triumph Herald for the fun, so I had become a reader of the magazine Oldtimer Markt. In September 1987 I found a fascinating offer in the columns of the advertisements: a ROVER 3500 S with air conditioning and electric window regulators!

The seller praised the car as something very special, of which there were only very few copies in Germany, because it was a "U.S. - P6"! I noticed already on the phone that these were not empty sales arguments for the salesman, but that he is an enthusiast for whom these English cars were something very special. Soon I met him in Bonn, it was Volkmar Brecke.
His everyday car was also a "P6" and he knew many anecdotes about these cars and ROVER in general.
I finally bought the "U. S. - P6" after a petrol pump was installed quickly, because the desired piece already failed on the test drive his service. The car had previously been shut down for seven years and there were still many problems to be solved due to the long service life.
But Volkmar kept restoring my patience through his calm manner. This convincing affection for the vehicles and the Rover brand always gave me the feeling that it must really be something very special and this affection was indeed contagious.

Volkmar was anything but a car do-it-yourselfer, I even think he didn't have much to do with technology. But devotedly he took care of the procurement of parts, made contacts to helpful advisors, knew about sources for all kinds of things and never stopped until everything was in order again and the problem with the car was solved. He provided me with technical literature, gave tips for the care and immediately let me know every special opportunity when a rare part for my car appeared somewhere. He had this kind of friendly help and care for all rover owners.

He was the driving force behind the meeting of the Rover friends and put his spare time at the service of the common interest. I am sure that without him I would not have become a rover enthusiast, that there would not have been any Rover friends of Germany and that in the end this newspaper would not exist.
I'd have liked to get away from a position with the current Rover friends. But it was also a little bit the feeling of commitment to Volkmar that I am now, as far as my time allows, supporting the "Rover idea".
Volkmar has been dead for about a year now. One still feels very strongly that his driving and cohesive calm force, which kept our community of interests alive, is missing. But I have the feeling that we are getting back together and I am looking forward to new activities.
The creation of regional rovers is an important tool to give all the friends of Rover the opportunity to share our hobby with others and help each other with problems.

And the most important thing is that our ROVERs should be fun. As much fun as they've certainly made Volkmar Brecke.

Our Honorary Member

Manfred Hemmersbach led our club from the first day of foundation with a lot of verve and prudence. Under his leadership the number of members grew strongly. He organized the participation of our club in fairs and public events. He was always at everyone's side as a humorous advisor. His retirement as president was greatly regretted by our members. On October 25, 2008 he was appointed honorary member of the Rover Freunde Deutschland e.V.. Since we could not do without his talent for organization and communication, he was willing to continue in our club in the function of secretary. For age reasons he gave up this office with 28 February 2021. As we know him, he will continue to support us in word and deed.