'84 1.3L Maestro, 27,000 miles

[John S]

Potential classic on Ebay - looks absolutely mint, going for fifty quid currently:-

[Jonathan]

That looks unmarked! It should be worth more than £50 really, hopefully it'll attract the right buyer. I see one of those horrible new Micras has managed to sneak into the corner of the picture... how car design has progressed!

[Austin-Rover]

I thought it was one of those Citroen Picasso ugly-mobiles? Either way, you would have to pay alot of money me to even go near a Micra!

*Back to the original Topic* That Maestro looks absolutely superb. You dont seem to see many early models in that condition!

[D87 SMW]

That is a very nice example of an early Maestro. I hope it goes to an enthusiast, and be taken care of. I understand how few of these there are left now. :(

[D87 SMW]

You're right, Richard. That is a Citroen Picasso. I wondered why the car was not in proportion to the Maestro. If you look carefully, you can just see the Picasso sticker on the front wing. :laugh:

[Maria]

Ah, the Citroen Xsxsxsxsxsairship :D

[matthewsemple]

I would sell the Xsara Picasso and keep the Maestro!

http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/500side.jpg

[D87 SMW]

I wouldn't buy a Picasso in the first place, I would buy another Maestro instead. :laugh:

[Simon]

Who needs a Picasso when there's 7 seater Montego estates! Ebay never ceases to amaze me with the amount of Maestro/Montego stuff on offer. There must be more unmolested original condition Maestro/Montego's about languishing forgotton in OAP's garages.

[mtamin]

Its £100 now. I was doing some bidding but it has no MOT. Looks nice though.

[topgear]

Looks a bit "too" nice to me!

Could the paintwork be new? IE, accident damage?

[D87 SMW]

Hows this for a Maestro that has been rear/front ended?...

[John S]

No rust on the tailgate bottom either! I'd flood the inside with lots of waxoyl while it's still nice ditto with doors. :)

[Jonathan]

More than likely it's genuine. Seriously, you'd be surprised how many examples sit around in a garage for years doing hardly any work at all with their elderly owners, then when they give up driving there's a low mileage car in A1 condition surplus to requirements and because it's a Maestro, that's not enough to boost its value by much. The lack of an MOT will just be the fact it hasn't been used for months, although as I've discovered this in itself can potentially lead to all sorts of problems.

There are bargains to be had, but you're right to be careful.

[Maria]

We had a beautiful car with a genuine 9k on it turn up to the BL Rally last year - they are out there!

[E_T_V]

Found a Meastro in a scrap yard. Obviously well treated, not a mark on it except for a big dent down the driver and rear doors and onto the rear quater panel. It had 12,500 miles on it and even though it had most of the interior pilfered it still smelt new. Since then I've had the fuel tank, the engine and the radiator from it! All were in mint condition. Obviously an insurance write off from some pensioner who didn't want to drive a dented car. What a shame.... :(

Still a good source of pristine parts though!

[Austin-Rover]

Another interesting, but bit different car for sale on Autotrader at the moment is an Orange C-reg Montego Van, yes VAN!

Go to autotrader.co.uk and enter 'Austin Montego' in a national search to view the details. Its currently for sale at £1,395.00

[D87 SMW]

Montego van, is this possible? Or could it be a Maestro van with Montego front panels??? Is this possible either?

[Jonathan]

Now that is a strange sight. I've always known that such things have existed but this is the first time I've actually seen one. Almost certainly a Maestro van with Montego front end panels bolted on, although with the Montego having a slightly longer front end one does wonder how much the van's front end had to be modified to allow this. We know that Austin Rover did something similar years ago for testing purposes while developing the Rover 800 (because the front end running gear wouldn't fit under the Maestro skin) and nicknamed this strange hybrid 'Monstro'. Very interesting...

[Dave]

Monstro was nicknamed 'Black Dog'...

Also i've seen a similar style van/montego that was used as the Freelander development mule.

Dave

[Austin-Rover]

The as-new Maestro on Ebay finally sold for £156.00. Lets hope it went to a good home and hopefully, it may turn up at some shows in the future.

[Jonathan]

Someone got a bargain! A couple more I'd be very tempted to take a look at if I had the space to keep them at the moment:

Black MG Maestro 1600 (A) (http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/CARS_popup.asp?modelexact=1&make=MG&min_pr=&postcode=gu27+3hu&source=0&model=MAESTRO&max_pr=&sort=3&variant=&mileage=&miles=1500&photo=1&keywords=&agerange=&max_records=50&search.x=31&search.y=13&start=2&distance=132&adcategory=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200320090276158)

Maestro Mayfair (D) (http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/CARS_popup.asp?modelexact=1&make=ROVER&min_pr=&postcode=gu27+3hu&source=0&model=MAESTRO&max_pr=&sort=3&variant=&mileage=&miles=1500&photo=1&keywords=&agerange=&max_records=50&search.x=63&search.y=11&start=5&distance=210&adcategory=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200320090093598) 15,000 miles

[Maria]

That van's quite something! And those 2 cars are amazing, Jonathan! Shame you can't find a garage for extra storage :(

[matthewsemple]

That MG1600 looks amazing - someone must buy it! I am so tempted but I already have two MG Maestros and one parking space outside my flat. £995 is a bit steep but it looks a million dollars so maybe worth it.

Has anyone contacted the owner to get some more pictures of the car?

Cheers, Matthew.

[Maria]

I'd love the MG1600 too. Admittedly our 1600 is a race car with a straight-thru exhaust, but the noise it makes is out of this world! Every time Chris fires it up it brings an enormous grin to my face. The thought of having something that sounds like that as a road car would be out of this world :)

[matthewsemple]

I thought I would post up the picture of the MG1600 as it looks so good. It would be great if an enthusiast bought it as it has been advertised and re-advertised so I expect the owner will accept an offer.

[John S]

There is also a 50,000 miler Y reg Vanden Plas for sale in Manchester with talking computer which looks very good.

[Austin-Rover]

Yes, i was just looking at that - its only 3 miles from my house. Please somebody stop me from going to look at it! - I have just bought a maestro and i havent even passed my test yet!




:eek:

[D87 SMW]

If I had the money, and no F170 GGT, I would jump at that! In fact, if i had the space, I would have it as well as my F170 GGT!

[mikeno monti]

What did the 1.3 maestro sel for on e bay? Does any body know?

[BIGLAD]

Not long before they closed Cowley down there were loads of these "Montego Vans" running around down there on site. They were mainly 1300cc petrol with 14" wheels on. There were 2000cc Diesels a, few 1600cc petrols and we even saw one with the 2700cc 24v Honda engine in it! ( a la Rover 827)

[mikeno monti]

What did the car sell for in the end.

[D87 SMW]

I think it sold for £156.

[mikeno monti]

Some lucky begger got a bargin.The black MG looks minted. Shame the seller is having trouble selling. Even bigger shame that it is not for sale up here!.

[matthewsemple]

The black MG1600 is being sold in Devon. Yes it looks amazing but the seller will be having trouble selling it because he wants nearly £1000 for it and it isn't really worth any more than £400.

I bought my MG1600 for £295 with 52K, one owner, totally original features, 6 months MOT, original handbook and virtually no rust. Since then it has passed two MOTs without needing any work so it has saved me tonnes of cash in MOT repairs.

http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/BIG1600.jpg

My MG 1600 cost me £295 - this photo was taken the day I bought it before I cleaned it up.

[John S]

£295...Is that all? Still, most traders just seem to want rid of Maestros as quickly as possible regardless.

PS: Did 2.0 MGs ever have the 1600 style grilles with 'clip-on' badges?

[matthewsemple]

Originally posted by M170 RFA
£295...Is that all? Still, most traders just seem to want rid of Maestros as quickly as possible regardless.

PS: Did 2.0 MGs ever have the 1600 style grilles with 'clip-on' badges?
Pricing is always a difficult one. Most people are amazed that I only paid £295 for the car because it is in such good condition. The seats are unmarked and MG1600s are really rare now. A few people and this is a minority seem to think that was a lot for a 17-year old Maestro. However the MG1600 has got to be worth more than a base model because they were only built for 18 months and they are full of goodies (digital dash, voice, trip computer, two twin choke Webers, red carpets and belts and of course the MG badge complete with 103bhp and 0-60 in 9.6 secs)

When I was looking for mine I saw about 6 advertised in the paper and on the internet and they were all £295 and most were Silverleaf wheras Zircon Blue looks a bit better and is more unusual. I went to see one car with 174,000 miles, lots of rust and dodgy boy-racer additions and that one was £295 as well!
http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/MG1600Kent.JPG
MG1600 which was stolen/recovered had 174K and lots of dodgy styling - being sold by a scrapyard for £295 (complete with factory fitted sunroof and electric windows)

All 2.0 litre MG Maestros had the wider slatted grilles with the built in badge holder and colour-coding.
http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/EFiB150YHU.JPG
Very early EFi with digital dash but colour-coded grille

[mikeno monti]

Maybe the owner thinks the car is worth 1ooo quid or he his trying 2 get money back that he has spent on the car.Either way i think a large bump down 2 earth is about 2 happen.Hope the car goes 2 an appricative owner though,and not a boy racer,just passed his/her test who wreck the car.

[mikeno monti]

I have not long shown my better halfs mum the photo of the 1,3 that was on ebay.Apparantly it looks from the back ,just like our Tipo. Ithen showed her the red MG futher down the page.This looks a bit like her pld fiesta ???.!!!!!.What can i say. What can anyone say.?

[D87 SMW]

Was the Fiesta the same colour as the Maestro? :laugh:

[matthewsemple]

Gosh my MG Maestro Turbo looks like a Fiesta! That's not much of a compliment!:confused:

On a better note - I took my car round to my friend's house the other day and his mum came out to look at the car and she said "wow, an MG - that's posh, is it new?" she couldn't believe that it was 13 years old.

Just to confirm that no 500 is not a Fiesta take a look at these engine shots:

http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/500bonnetup.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/home/mat99v/500enginebay.jpg

Never seen a Fiesta with anything like this under the bonnet
:D

[BIGLAD]

Before Cowley closed down there were quite a lot of those "Montego Vans" running around there. They were mainly 1300cc petrol versions and some 2000cc Diesels.There were a few 1600cc "S" series petrols as well (we had a((maestro)) one at work)We also saw one with a Honda 2700cc V6 (from the 827/Sterling) shoehorned into the front!, in the technical training college but unfortunately it wasn't running. None of the above "Montego Vans" were registered at the time and i presume they were used as on site transport vehicles.

[D87 SMW]

Just thought I'd say that as women usually go by the colour as to what the car is. :laugh:

[matthewsemple]

I had heard of these Montego vans and presumed they were Montego Estates with no rear windows. That picture is great

Originally posted by BIGLAD
We also saw one with a Honda 2700cc V6 (from the 827/Sterling) shoehorned into the front!

These cars with different engines sound like the "mules" where an engine is tested in an old model to avoid press attention. The Metro Pizza van for the MGF and the Montegos that had the K-series engine fitted are good examples of these.

However it puzzles me why there were Montego Vans used for this purpose as they would have attracted attention and not really made effective mules, so why not use Montego saloons or estates?

Does anyone have an insiders view/explanation?

[mikeno monti]

Yes the Fiesta was red. I think the engine was a tad different though. Nice car.The maestro not the Fiesta i mean

[BIGLAD]

Anyone got any pictures of these "mules" and their starnge running gear/engine configuration? Sadly i have not.
Biglad

[matthewsemple]

Originally posted by BIGLAD
Anyone got any pictures of these "mules" and their starnge running gear/engine configuration? Sadly i have not.
Biglad

I have a picture of the Metro that was used for the MGF development. I'll post it up sometime. It looks like a Metro Van but the whole back section flips up to reveal a mid-engined mounting of the K-series unit. Of course the MGF has teh Metro's suspension as well.

It was nicknamed the Pizza Van!

[tony]

like in the 6r4 way?

[matthewsemple]

Originally posted by tony
like in the 6r4 way?

I suppose it is similar to the engine layout of a 6R4 but the 6R4 is actually based on a bespoke platform with a fake Metro bodyshell grafted on top.

Also the 6R4 had conventional suspension wheras the MGF and Metro have hydrogas from the ADO16