Two rovers - still running (albeit with one or two problems) some 20 times longer than the warranty period.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7808917.stm
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Well, if there are any Martians there and they base their attack ships on the Maestro Clubman D - we will have little to worry about as it will take them 3,000 years to build up enough speed to get out of Mars orbit...
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0-60 in 28 seconds or what it ever was ins't that bad!, the real problem with the Clubman Diesel is you your entire street would wake up as you try and start that Perkins engine which was probably better in a bus but luckily for the penny pinchers they seemed to last as long as one too.
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They were durable long lasting engines with sympathetic oil changes. Mine did 130,000 miles in 6 years and the engine ran like new.
I would have a new one tomorrow ;)
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And none of that dual mass flywheel or £1500 fuel pumps to worry about either :).
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Probably the Golden age - of simple diesel. Just the fuel cut off to the pump being electrical...
Don`t you just long for that today?
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>>Don`t you just long for that today?
My W124 diesel doesn't even have the electrical cut-off!
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I just found this as I recalled that a few Maestros were built from factory parts kits.
In 1997, Parkway Services of Ledbury, Herefordshire, purchased a batch of 621 Maestro cars and vans in CKD kit form. These had been stored at Cowley, Oxfordshire, since their production in mid-1996, when they became surplus to requirements. The company built up the cars and converted the majority of them to RHD form using up Rover's supply of parts.
A 'new' car built from a 31 year old kit of parts - no thanks!
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 03/01/2009 at 16:16
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31yr old kit of parts?
Edited by Pugugly on 03/01/2009 at 17:02
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Maths obviously not my strong suit! Sorry!
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 03/01/2009 at 17:00
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Maybe right the first time, AS.
You mention 'Rover's supply of parts' in the first quote - this could well have included some 1966 A-series engines....
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My information is that the UK factory production ceased in 1994 so these kits may have been that old and had older parts within them but not 31 years over all I must admit!
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I see a few of these about - iirc they were all A series engined and many were LHD.
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I've never seen one but I am aware they existed, seemed a bit mad that anybody would want to buy one in 1997. They were not that cheap I seem to remember either, around £6k but that said you could get a top notch Lada Samera for that money which was a worse car than the Meastro.
The ironic thing is the only cars I now ever see with an A series engine in it is the Morris Minor.
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ah so now i know why mars is called the red planet.... its caused by all that iron oxide (rust) covering it because its got rovers parked on it
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Old age affecting memories? I honestly thought the Maestro was an Austin. Have never seen a Rover one ;)
Edited by R40 on 04/01/2009 at 09:32
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Agreed - However according to what must be one of the best motoring websites around (apart from here of course) Austin Rover Online say:-
"By the time of the first serious facelift '88.5MY' (Model Year) pre-production process, build cars that were in S-Block, Cowley South Works, in August 1988 all had 'ROVER 400' badges on. The 1.3-, 1.6- and 2.0-litre variants were to be named 413, 416, 420 & 420i. This was, however, never adopted because of the R8 version the following year.""
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"By the time of the first serious facelift '88.5MY' (Model Year) pre-production process build cars that were in S-Block Cowley South Works in August 1988 all had 'ROVER 400' badges on. The 1.3- 1.6- and 2.0-litre variants were to be named 413 416 420 & 420i. This was however never adopted because of the R8 version the following year."
Cheers for the info PU. Thank goodness the new 200/400 models arrived just in time. I reckon the Maestro was well out of date by 1988 and was best left as an Austin!
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The re-badge was from the horizontal green/blue effort to the black shield type "Montego/Maestro" affair. If memory serves me right.
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I'd have one of the later MG Maestro 2.0is. Gutsy 8 valve engine with bags of midrange grunt, chuckable handling and I'll be honest, I don't think there has ever been a shape so transformed by a humble bodykit:
www.aronline.co.uk/images/mgrev1980s_04.jpg
I've driven a couple of these and they make the XR3i of the time look stupid in every respect.
I love hot hatches. Especially the proper ones we got in the 80's.
Cheers
DP
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I had a maestro. It had excelent handling, excelent ride, roomy, not bad looking (in HLS guise) and good performance and economy. It was better than the Golf in nearly every respect except........
It was the most unreliable and shoddily put together object I have ever seen. Trouble started with 100 miles on the clock when the rear shocks emptied all the oil.
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Agree with DP. The first MG Maestro (1.6 with carburettors) was a disaster, as were the first Austin Maestros, but I think the MG 2.0 EFI was a lot better. I'd have liked one but by then we had 4 children and were into 7-seater Renaults.
I looked on Autotrader out of interest and there are no MG Maestros: it's possible that the few of them that haven't rusted away could become minor modern classics. Pick one up for a few hundred and look after it, and it could hold its value rather better than shares have done in the past year.
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Just remembered - I test drove a Montego estate back in the 80s, had it for a day. I was given a proper Filofax (with Montego inscribed on it) as a gift - it is still doing sterling service alive and well and looks properly vintage - lasted better and probably worth more than the car though !
Edited by Pugugly on 04/01/2009 at 17:10
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I had the use of an MG Maestro for a few months a very long time ago. It was provided by my then employer after my company Cortina was buried under rubble following an explosion and was rendered too flat for practical use. That's altogether another story.
The Maestro, while no beauty queen, was surprisingly good to drive. It did have rather kitsch red seatbelts and a naggy woman in the dashboard though.
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I had a Montego 1.6 in 1986 for a company car. Apart from the front discs warping which cracked the windscreen, undid my watch and dropped the mirror on the floor during heavy braking, it was completely reliable and did 40+ mpg on the motorway. The discs were changed under warranty. It was changed for a Vauxhall Belmont (not my choice) after 60K comfortable miles.
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