MG Maestro EFi

[pete8tch]

i had an early 2 ltr and loved it, several mates had them and i used to sell austin rover cars so have driven dozens of them , very good car , loads of room decent handling , the turbo montego was woeful for torque steer tho, the turbo had the su carb , the body kit was a bit pants and the interior was totally std, the 1 you pictured is the kast of them with the 15 inch wheels and the much better interior trim , they had dropped the nylon check stuff by this time and the red seatbelts , rust will be the biggest worry tho i would think.

[fordfan]

I drove a few rental 2.0 EFi ones back in 1987/1988. I thought that they were quite nice and and comparable to the XR3i and MK 2 Golf GTi that were in the same car rental group.

I recall picking up a black one from another branch one Friday night in 1987 and it seemed quite quick.

[RobinSLXi]

Would

The way I see it, any car that's had its own one-make race series can't be that terrible. Shame you can't cure rust with a Banham 200 body conversion any more, though.

[The Ors]

A friend had one; same as in the original post (but in black).

I remember being surprised by how good it was. My memory of it is of a nice smooth, quiet and quick car with really comfortable seats. That's by the standards of the time of course; really difficult to say how it compares to a modern car without driving them side by side.

Do it...

[loskie]

Would

The way I see it, any car that's had its own one-make race series can't be that terrible. Shame you can't cure rust with a Banham 200 body conversion any more, though.

I was just thinking that I seemed to remember an MG Maestro Rally Challenge.

[Jim H]

The only brand new car that my dad has bought is an D reg MG Maestro EFI in 1987. He loved it, and kept it until 1998 when he bought his 96 Impreza Turbo. The car is a under-rated hot hatch.

BTW, The Turbo Maestro did have a carb. You can see the SU dash-pot from this pic.

Pic taken from http://www.maestroturbo.org.uk/gallery.php

Also, If you want to any mods to it, then Moto-Build is the best place to go.

Edited 25 January, 2011 by Jim H

[FellyMagic]

I owned a black 1985 2.0 EFi Maestro in my youth, and it went like soas..And handled surprisingly well, plus had bags of room for the mates in. Had it re-sprayed, but less than a year later, the dreaded BL tinworm started to show on the door bottoms & arches. If it had been screwed together properly, and better rust protected, it would have been a class leader..

Speedometer was wildly out on it, as flat out in 5th it would be off the clock at an indicated 130 + (2.0, 115 bhp, so perhaps it wasnt that out..)...One day I do hope to own one again as a weekend toy...I loved it to bits, with its red seatbelts & carpet....It also had the optional PAS thankfully..

[FellyMagic]

Do you have real eyes ......or are they marbles.

Are there any of these left alive ??

I see a non MG one at the old fella across the road from me now then, it's on a reallly late plate like T plate which is odd.

That's a Ledbury Maestro, built from a kit of parts that were supposed to go to Bulgaria. Based on the 1.3 base.

[mannyo]

I learnt to drive in a B reg 1.3 litre maestro, back then they didnt look to bad compared to some cars on the market and it drove quiet well. When I passed my test I wanted to get a maestro but couldnt afford the insurance, so instead bought a metro.

[fordfan]

The car rental company that I was working for in the 1980s had a falling out with Vauxhall over vehicle pricing. Vauxhall said something along the lines of:

'You try running a national fleet without our products'

The car rental company said:

'OK, we will'

They didn't have any Vauxhalls from the end of the B registration until F registration when the mark 3 Cavalier came out.

To make up the fleet they had a lot of Austins and Rovers and as they were such good customers they got given, free of charge 50 MG Maestros.

[Fab Estate]

I had two Maestro diesels and they have been the most reliable cars I have ever owned. Both covered 250,000 miles, they had a great Perkins engine but was very smokey which was good when overtaking groups of cyclists who thought it good to hog half the road.

[Rob.]

I'm loving the love for the Maestro in this thread!

I know I asked for people not to go down the "it's rubbish" comment route... but REALLY didn't expect so many people to rave about it.

You all need to be quiet now though, lol... or a certain 04 plate vRS might pop up for sale..

It's a matter of timing with the Maestro though, You've gotta wait until one worth having pops up.

A few have already been restored, which I guess is another option. At least it'd look like the pic in the opening thread.. That car with Red belts and carpet would be awesome!

There is one turbo which doesn't have the body kit. It was an EFi taken of the production line when Austin rover took the Montego's engine and popped it in, to test it.

Might not come truly under the sleeper title.. but it'd still surprise a few people.

[jlwah]

I'm loving the love for the Maestro in this thread!

I know I asked for people not to go down the "it's rubbish" comment route... but REALLY didn't expect so many people to rave about it.

You all need to be quiet now though, lol... or a certain 04 plate vRS might pop up for sale..

I'm guessing that all the positive (nostalgic?) gushings for the MG Maestro might filter their way through to the second hand values

The 80's are definitely having a come back though - I've even been downloading some Kenny Everett Show episodes!

[Rob.]

Oh dear...

Whilst picture surfing Maestros I found this picture on FlickR...

Is it a sign?

[David 8]

Slightly OT but an MG metro literally bounced past me the other day. Looked in in pretty good shape as well, one of the later ones in that dark green (maybe, I'm colourblind) with the same wheels as the above Maestro.

We used to "borrow" two of these back in the day and me and my mate would race around the closed industrial estate where he worked. Until his boss caught us one night He wasn't happy but my mate kept his job.

[Rob.]

A good MG Maestro EFi / 2.0i still fetch £1200

Didn't expect that.

[matt_theforce]

When I was in my Rover days I used to spend alot of time at Moto-Build and they were currently racing their own Maestro Turbo and they took me for a quick spin around Hounslow (whilst having a 1.8vvc dropped into my 214sli ) and my god it was quick

I personally like cars that are the underdogs, it just makes them more special

[Hedge]

I think the conversion that is worth looking at is the 2.0L from the 820 into either Maestro or Montego.

I'm just trying to remember who sold it, might have been Avonbar or Moto Build.