150 bhp from the O series engine, blowing through a single SU carburettor. Quickest thing on the road at the time for the money .

I had one in black. Huge fun as mine had been modified with higher boost. It wasn't just the 0-60, it was the laughable mid range acceleration. Mine wasn't the best example, it was given to me by a mate after sitting in his garden for some time (he already had one, so did his brother).

Not sure how true, but the later ones didn't suffer torque steer due to Rover making some modifications to the engine position, suspension. Mine certainly didn't. I used to see the earlier versions crabbing up the road under power, it really was bad.

I had issues with the carburettor getting blocked from rust particles in the fuel tank. Strangely I couldn't find a fuel filter anywhere, but I fitted one. The worst issue were the unreliable Lucas ignition units causing misfires on boost.

I did a few long distance trips in it, and it was superb on those long climbing hills on motorways. Once on boost it was impervious to them. I think the turbo was a Garret T3, quite big.

BL were known for being poor quality, but I always liked their cabin designs, very spacious and comfortable.

Why do people get all excited by these pieces of carp. There were way better cars when they were new and 40 years will not have improved them.

The 8 valve Golf GTi was in a different league......

........as was the 16 valve Dolomite Sprint; a 1970s car but nearly as quick as a Montego Turbo and probably a lot more reliable. A better 'sporty' drive too, as RWD.

1.1 seconds may not be a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it represents quite a big gap when it comes to acceleration (certainly when comparing two 'sub 10 second' cars). I also suspect that the Montego having 35% more torque coming in 1000rpm lower is going to make it feel much faster.

Of course bbb. It was the sort of car that was fairly innocuous to look at, until you drove one.

As for reliability, the Dolomite Sprint does have a reputation for suffering much the same cooling issues as the Stag (unsurprisingly). So highly unlikely that either one would be a lot more reliable than the other.

Indeed - mine also suffered from the water pump problem. It was situated high up on the slanting block and would surreptitiously leak through an aperture in the block. I can't remember if there was a coolant level warning but if the level dropped too much the head would overheat with CHG failure and possible head warping. Fortunately this never happened to me as I caught it early and replaced the pump. Otherwise it was reliable mechanically - rust was its undoing.