Originally founded as Starley & Sutton Co. in the English city of Coventry in 1878, The Rover Company is an ex British automaker which actually became defunct in 1967. Following on from there, it was sold to the Leyland Motor Corporation and it then became the Rover marque. British Leyland produced cars with the Rover marque branding, as did Austin Rover Group, then the Rover Group and also MG Rover, which was the company's final owner before it collapsed completely in 2005.
Before they started making cars, Rover's products were much more modest. Their first thing off the production line was a simple tricycle for example. However, J.K Starley, one of the founders of the company, cemented his place in history in 1885 when he made the Rover Safety Bicycle, which was the most stable bicycle around in a time when the only cycles available were the dangerous penny-farthings and high-wheel tricycles.
It wasn't until 1888 that Starley and his company made cars, and his first was perhaps a little before his time, as he made an electric car – something which is all the rage in 2014 – but it was never actually put into production. Starley passed away in 1901, meaning the company was taken over by H. J. Lawson, and it was then that Rover started making the automobiles that they were famous for.