From HJ's Car by Car
What's Bad
Tin shed construction. 'Red Robbo' build quality. Antediluvian 'A' Series 1.3 litre engine. 1.3s are surprisingly horrible to drive - worse than you would ever have imagined.
Are you being a bit harsh HJ?
I learnt to drive in a Maestro, it was more "fun" to drive than the Pug 405 that replaced it.
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No he isn't being harsh. Yes is was horrendous. If by "fun" you mean the possibility that the car would fall to bits at 50mph* throwing you over the road then yes although it's not my idea of "fun".
Cheers
*That's if you had the rare models that could do 50.
Adam
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I only drove a brand new Maestro once (hire acr), and that was more than enough to convince me to stay well clear. A truly horrid beast, without any of the Allregro's redeeming virtues; the only worse car I have ever been in was a Wartburg, which appered to have been supplied without dampers.
Pity, really: the Maestro was a very nicely conceived car, but the execution was dire.
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Once worked for a local authority who ran Maestro vans. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, they were pigs. No two drove even remotely the same. I remember one where the offside headlight used to fill with water, tho' it still worked! It ended up with a plastic goldfish floating around inside it, no one would own up to putting it there.
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We've been here before!!
Wrong!! Wrong!! Wrong!! - Well lateer diesel vans, anyway!!
My yard would be overflowing with them, 5 years back! I was known as King of The Meastros at every auction, that had any!!They were the most fuel efficient & best load carrier of all the car derived vans - just ask any courier firm. Astras more refined, sure, but no loadspace, Escorts not refined & cambelt failure commonplace.We've NEVER had a belt go on the Perkins engine. Noisey, sure, but soooooo reliable!
Value for money, too. £500 less than same year/miles Escort - all the private owner drivers/small businesses, loved 'em - once they'd driven one.Before trying, they had all the usual anti-Rover attides, as most people did.
Mines 93K, but registration number reads VAN580Y & still trundles around, auction to auction, despite 318,416 miles!!It still looks pretty respectable, just the signwriting faded a bit, now! Engine was swapped for a turbo from a 100,000miler H plate Montego at 265,000 miles.
I could go on........
VB
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I couldn't agree mose about the deisel vans. My dad put 500,000 miles on three of them over the course of 9 years. Didn't have a problem with any of them.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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I think we are talking about car here.difference is engine gearbox diff and suspension are not the same as the van.if they were it wouldnt last five minutes.
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Was mech1
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I have driven three Maestros and I wasn't impressed by the first two, but the third was the most horrid car I have ever driven.
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Took an extended test drive in a 4spd 1300 c1989. Noise at 70 reminded of my Dad's 1966 Simca 1500. Bought a BX and never looked back.
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At the risk of being laughed out of the Backroom, I have to say that I quite liked the Maestro I used to drive when I was in my early 20s.
Mind you, the other cars I was using at the time were a Datsun Stanza and a Mark 2 Escort so maybe it was flattered by the comparison.
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Not sure if all Maestro's did it, but the Maestro van I used to occasionally drive at work would always spit fuel out while filling it up. Lost count of the number of times I had petrol pour into my shoes. No matter where I stood while filling up, I aways got a splashing.
On a similar note to the appauling Maestro, the Montego wasn't a lot better either, but it did seem more popular with people.
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Having posted about the horrors of council Maestros, however, I was once stationary at a set of lights on the A12 at Ilford in one of the said beasts when I was rear ended by a Polski Fiat. The van suffered no more than a dent in the rear doors and a slightly askew bumper but as I was out exchanging details the poor old Polski began to behave like a car from a Keystone Cops film. The bonnet was already folded in two with steam pouring from the rad when one of the headlights fell out and the bumper fell off.
As we were standing there the front of the Polski was disintegrating before our eyes, more and more bits either falling off or hanging loose. I'd swear even the owner was trying to supress a laugh in the end, I was nearly doubled up. The thing must have been put together with rubber bands and chewing gum.
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My wife had one of the last Maestro?s in 1993. Turbo diesel with PAS.
It?s the most reliable car I?ve known in 48 years of driving. Only replacements was the alternator a couple of years ago and part of the exhaust.
Was recommended to buy it by the mechanic at the Rover dealer who said he had never had to touch one of the Perkins diesel engines since they were fitted.
The battery was replaced under warranty and is now 10 years old
Only other items have been service parts such as brake pads, oil changes and filters.
Probably the first direct injection diesel car engine and a great favourite among the boating community.
Perhaps they had only got it right by the end of production but really I can?t fault it for reliability and service.
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On a similar note to the appauling Maestro, the Montego wasn\'t a lot better either, but it did seem more popular with people.
Well at least it held the road.more than can be said of Maestro.as I recall the fuel filler pipe was at a very sharp angle.gather some still are.causing slow fill up?
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Was mech1
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Depends what you are used to and what you expect from a car I suppose - my parents thought their Marina was a good car, and also had a Maestro which they replaced with another (both 1300s I think). Between the Marina and the Maestro1 they had a Mirafiori (advertised by Graham Hill I think) which, although it had a great engine, rusted away before they had had it long. Never drove the Maestros myself but they seemed happy with them!
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I had a Miafiori from around 1982 (1.4 engine I think) which proved a surprising reliable and, what's more, rust free conveyance for three years - in fact I was so impressed I swapped it for a Regata 1.6S...:-)
That was also an above average Fiat for reliability except for one thing - the brakes were frankly not too clever. In fact trying to stop the thing was often akin to that of the older VW Polo without power assisted braking.
No mechanic was ever able to seriously improve the brakes, a common fault, it seemed, with most of the Regata variations.
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My one experience of a Montego was that it seemed a much better car. The engine was much better but it also had a much better ride and handling.
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My wife (girlfriend at the time) had a H reg Maestro 1.3 from 1994 to 1998. It had electric windows, a pretty basic stereo, very comfy seats, i think it was a HL.
I thought that it was a utter pig to drive, extremely heavy non assisted steering, fierce on/off clutch and vague gears (is that third?).
The engine was very noisy, almost as rattly as a Talbot Horizon, but it did go quite fast. It was good on petrol though, 35-40mpg. Sharon loved it, but she had two Metro's before. The bumpers were useless. The door handles felt like they were going to break when you pulled them.
It felt like driving a small car that had been extended, rather than a medium size car. It didn't have many redeeming features at all.
We PX'ed for an Almera because our first baby was due and the Maestro was showing its age. Otherwise, i don't think that we would have changed unless we had to.
At the time i had a company 1.1 Fiesta (55bhp - they were in there somethere...) and later a G reg Corolla. The Corolla was much much nicer than the Maestro.
Mind you the Maestro was designed in the 70's, so it couldn't really compare to an 80's Toyota or 90's Nissan.
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Never driven a Maestro, the car never appealed to me. I have driven a couple of its close cousin Montegos - one ordinary, one MG. I remeber them being quite nice.
Apparently some people have fitted Turbo Perkins Primas out of old Montegos into older Land Rovers, and report reasonable performance and good economy. What's more, because the Prima is listed as a 'Rover' part, the Land rover clubs allow Prima powered Land Rovers to enter their trials. An adaptor kit is/was available for anyone who wants to make the conversion.
cheers, Sa Spud
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one MG
My MG Montego was the one which talked to you.
"Bing, bong, all monitored systems functioning correctly".
I almost lost the will to live.
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I nearly bought a 2.0 MG EFI many years ago; I think I was seduced by the advertising ??the Golf GTi will be a long in a second or two??.
I was pretty impressed with the performance at the time; unfortunately it wasn?t good enough to overcome the looks of the thing (I have a similar feeling about the Honda Civic Type R now).
Incidentally if anybody wants a new one they are still being produced in China, rather bizarrely with a Montego front end on which doesn?t do much for the looks.
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i once stepped from my Honda Accord into a road test 'MG' Maestro and couldn't believe that anyone could possibly put up with this noisy, unrefined buzz box. I decided to carry on being just a bit bored and kept the Honda.
Incidentally, I once had a Wartburg and it went like the clappers and handled well also - it would corner on rails until the swing axle inevitably tucked the inside back wheel underneath...a bit disconcerting until you got used to it!
Am I one of a dwindling number of people who can actually remember owning and driving the cars that the younger generation slags off today because they read a third-hand experience piece in a magazine somewhere?
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One, of course, is a hatchback, the other a saloon. The hatchback might have been a bit of a pig in a poke but it did have a very useful load area with the rear seat down.
The Montego rode and handled better than most people seem to recall and was, in fact, a superior product to the Maestro.
Despite the criticism from some quarters above, the Montego did sell quite well, and was a popular used buy in the 1980-90s
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I seem to recall that my brother drove a Montego (which was used as a pool car) on a number of occasions. He did quite long journeys all over the UK and was always impressed by it.
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My MG Montego was the one which talked to you. "Bing, bong, all monitored systems functioning correctly". I almost lost the will to live.
You owned a Montego? Ha Ha Ha Ha.
And you had the cheek to say on the purchase of my Vectra "at least nobody will accuse you of buying a car as a style icon."
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Broadening the topic a bit, I once had a Hillman Hunter, a car that was maligned in its time like the later Austin Maestro and Montego.
Yet it bowled along quite nicely in a stodgy kind of way.
On reflection, despite its reputation, the old Hunter was one of the prettiest 'boring saloons' of its era. It had a plain but elegant shape compared to the boxier Mk 2 Cortinas and Victor 101's or the ungainly Austin 1800s and Renault 16s.
Cheers, Sofa Spud, on about old cars again!
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Goodness me, so did I. 1725cc and the only registration number I can remember of all the cars I've owned, including the present ones.
I don't think it was pretty, but it did seem big and, at the time, the 1725 engine seemed pretty manful. White with red vinyl seats.
OGO 276 E where are you now ?
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Yes the car was rubbish, but in a likeable sort of way that will give it cult status maybe in a few years simular to the Allegro.
It's the Perkins diesel that done it for me, probably one of the finest diesel lumps i've driven (don't care what anyone else thinks!) and the quickest starting too.. just a flick of the key was all it needed to start it instantly. Not even any diesel i drive today does that.
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Was that the car or van?
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Was mech1
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Yes the car was rubbish, but in a likeable sort of way that will give it cult status maybe in a few years
I think I've heard people refer to the Maestro as a cult, but I may have misheard.
In it's favour, it was quite a roomy car for not much money, the same trick that Austin have been managing since the 1100 in the 60s.
Unfortunately, I don't remember them comparing very well with other cars of the 80s in dynamics, appearance, feeling of quality etc.
Gareth
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I had a Hillman Hunter as a company car for about a month, before they replaced it with a Marina. It wasn't a bad car to drive at all and, as you say Sofa Spud, not bad to look at.
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My late father had four Hillman Minx models (1300 through to the 1725) in the 1960s; the 1725cc engine was "tested" in the Minx before being used in the Hunter.
He then got the Hunter before eventually going on to the Austin 1800 (more room for his expanding waist!) and then the Princess. The first Minx covered 67,000 miles in its initial year and that, as my father pointed out, was between work..:-)
I was so impressed with his various Minx models that I bought the last of the range, the 1725cc, secondhand for £345. It proved a great buy and I was sorry to see it go after taking the mileage from 34,000 to just over 112,000.
There were, of course, variations such as the Singer Vogue, but noteworthy was the double-skinned body.
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Maestro/Montego Diesels were very good, the engines virtually unburstable.
I'd have one.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Sorry to say but I sit in the camp, not necessarily of fans but of Maestro tolerators. First experience was of my mum's 1.6 HLS which went pretty well when you're a 17 year old with no delusions of street cred.
Dad was a Rover agent so got to drive all the range at one time or another. Had a memorable blast back from mid wales in an MG Maestro, great torquey engine and good handling.
My first company car was a 1991 1.3LX. (It was that or a Hyundai at the time.) I did over 90k miles over 3 years, including a trip from Dorset to Inverness, 6oo miles in 10 hours. It was very reliable only needing a couple of drive shafts and an exhaust back box in the time I had it.
When I traded it in (for a Montego Countryman Estate) it went on to do another 100k miles as a rental car. Following that my father in law bought it as a runabout. It finally died with over 250k miles on it.
The chief virtues were it's spaciousness, good ride and handling, excellent visibilty and if it needed fixing you could almost stand in the engine bay next to the engine. Parts were plentiful and cheap and anyone who'd picked up a spanner since 1948 knew how to fix the engine.
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On September 26th 1983 i took delivery of a brand new 1.6HLS Maestro. On September the 27th on the A3, going round a bend the thing bounced it r/h side in the air over a manhole and shot me round in a spin because the r/h side rear shock absorber had leaked *all* its oil out overnight.
So began a two year, 66,000 mile relationship that was never boring or spoilt by the mundaneness of reliability.
It was a dog, pure and simple. An utter utter pile of excreta.
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My only experience of the Maestro was as a child. There were three possible patterns to any journey.
Pattern 1; it doesn't start, Dad fumes, we think of something else to do.
Pattern 2; it starts, and breaks down.
Pattern 3; it continues to work long enough to allow the suspension to work its magic. Cue multiple vomiting children in the rear.
I didn't like it.
The Montego was better; I bought one for my first car (DD - calm down). I did therefore appreciate its vertical depreciation, as I paid peanuts for a lot of car that glided smoothly along the long motorways that separated a lonely patently from the future Mrs P.
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Yes! Mine was a complete rust box!!!
It didn't go for scrap, it disintegrated!
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Well, I sold a 1990/H 1.6 automatic to a friends parents over 3 years ago. I never heard from them since and naturally assumed it was long dead. I was rather surprised when they phoned me a few weeks ago to say they were looking for a newer car and did I have anything? They turned up to collect their new car in the Maestro, still going strong, a lot rustier and leaking more oil. I was astonished, but they said it'd never let them down! Even the autobox still changed fine, which is more than I could say for most Renaults of the same age!
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I had the dubious pleasure of owning a Vanden Plas model for a year back in the mid 90's, complete with the irritating computerised voice. Always started and went but rust was eating it away before someone did me a favour and went into the back of it writing it off! (And I got alot more than it was worth from their insurers)
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You will find that with most cars, the later models were fine because all the faults had been fixed. I had an ex-demo Turbo diesel Maestro on a L plate and did 100K in three years with no problems. Body work was poorly painted though.
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