Maestro/Montego
The Metro started BL on its road to recovery, but if it was going to be a long term thing, then it needed to be followed up by equally popular mid-sized counterparts. However, the Maestro and Montego failed to capitalise on the lead pulled out by the impressive new supermini.
The cars : Maestro/Montego development story
The Metro started BL on its road to recovery, but if it was going to be a long term thing, then it needed to be followed up by equally popular mid-sized counterparts. However, the Maestro and Montego failed to capitalise on the lead pulled out by the impressive new supermini. Back from the brink? IN [...]
August 7, 2011
· 
Keith Adams · 
37 Comments
Blog : 30 years of the Maestro
Keith Adams Last month, we celebrated the 30th birthday of the Peugeot 205, and most of us ended up marvelling at how the French got it right first time; how well the baby Pug has aged, and how quickly three decades seem to have passed. March 2013 sees the Maestro cross the same landmark, and [...]
March 1, 2013
· Keith Adams · 51 Comments
From the archive : January 1983
Thirty years ago, British Leyland was on the cusp of launching its most important car in a decade – the Austin Maestro. And the company management was already beginning the important task of briefing the press… The Times, January 1983 BL’s hopes riding on Maestro in the medium car market On the road special report [...]
January 21, 2013
· Keith Adams · 40 Comments
Buy parts with AROnline and Rimmer Bros
KEITH ADAMS Rimmer Bros sponsored AROnline‘s Polish SD1 restoration… Buying parts for your Jaguar, Rover, Lands Rover, Triumph or MG has never been easier through AROnline… HERE at AROnline, we receive a large numbers of emails from people all over the world looking for parts for their cars MGs, Rovers, Landies and all manner of [...]
August 20, 2012
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
Concepts : Montego ‘Lifestyle’ estate
Rover Special Products was one busy department during the early 1990s, and proof positive is this design sketch from Steve Harper. Keith Adams Jacked-up Monty As we know, Rover Special Products was a hot-house within the Rover Group, tasked with devising niche vehicles that could bring additional profit and glamour to the company’s model range [...]
July 27, 2012
· Keith Adams · 26 Comments
News : Yema F12 takes Maestro platform further…
Yema, the current owner of the long-lived Maestro/Montego platform and tooling in China, has released its third SUV model, the F12. It’s a facelift of a facelift of a facelift, and features body styling redolent of the early 2000s Subaru Forester, with a new nose that’s clearly inspired by the Kia Sportage. Currently, only one [...]
July 7, 2012
· Keith Adams · 26 Comments
Events : ‘Comps’ Maestro to Le Mans 24 Hour
Keith Adams Friend of AROnline and all-round good-egg, James Agger, is taking his latest purchase to this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour, and is hoping to raise some money for BEN, and a few smiles along the way. The car he’s picked up is an original ex-Rodacar Ledbury-built Maestro, with that ideal LHD set-up, and [...]
June 8, 2012
· Keith Adams · 2 Comments
Technician’s Update: Monte’s back from the dead!
Even small but reputable garages can muck up even the simple and routine tasks, but this one caused much head scratching for all involved… Words & Pictures Mike Humble / MMOC A great car just dying to get out? In the past, I may have made the odd pithy remark about the Maestro and Montego, [...]
April 27, 2012
· Mike Humble · 20 Comments
Unsung heroes : MG Maestro 2.0 EFi
Another view through rose tinted spectacles at some once common automotive sights here in the UK. This time, our very own Austin Rover features here with their own slant on the ‘Hot Hatch’ The MG Maestro EFi, but the car hardly made a flying start as Mike Humble explains. Gone but not forgotten Whatever people say [...]
March 22, 2012
· Mike Humble · 97 Comments
Chinese Maestro : Lubao CA6410
The aquisition of production rights for the Maestro by Etsong intended to signal the beginning of a new venture. However, it was the First Auto Works (FAW), who took over the Etsong project. This was not their first ex-BMC>Rover product… Etsong, first Following the ill-fated Bulgarian adventure, the Maestro/Montego found a new home in China. [...]
February 6, 2012
· Keith Adams · 21 Comments
Not their finest hour : Austin Maestro 1.3HLE
AROnline takes a look back at some of the memorable automotive blunders in more recent times from both our own, and rival makes. This time Mike Humble offers you a treat from our very own Austin Rover. Pray silence please for the Maestro HLE… The miracle Maestro? Now don’t get me wrong, but the Maestro is by no [...]
January 31, 2012
· Mike Humble · 91 Comments
Unsung Heroes : Austin Maestro 1.3
Anyone who knows Keith Adams might be a little surprised at this choice of Unsung Hero, especially considering the chequered history he has with A-Series Maestros. But despite the dramas, there’s no doubting that Spen King’s post-Allegro Volkswagen Golf remix was far more worthy than the sum of its parts. The unfulfilled symphony If we [...]
December 11, 2011
· Keith Adams · 76 Comments
Unsung Heroes: Montego Turbo Diesel
Mike Humble takes a sideways look at one of the sheds that littered the highways and by-ways of the UK. The Montego might have been a little tired by 1989, but the addition of a turbodiesel breathed new life into it. And for Mike Humble, that record breaking economy and unburstability should be celebrated. New [...]
December 1, 2011
· Mike Humble · 84 Comments
Video : MG Maestro Rallysprint 1983
Keith Adams The Austin Rover Rallysprint was a legendary annual motor sport event that ran throughout the early 1980s, and saw rally drivers pitched against their F1 counterparts to see which discipline bred the best drivers. In 1983, an all-star grid was assembled that included Nigel Mansell, Jimmy McRae, John Watson, Pentti Arikkala, Derek Warwick, [...]
October 24, 2011
· Keith Adams · 12 Comments
Yema SQJ6450
Yet another rebirth of the Maestro… It’s true what they say: you cannot keep a good one down. However, the current custodians of the Maestro/Montego line have seen fit to give the old girl a thorough going over. Words: Alexander Boucke Re-re-birth! The Chengdu-based Sichuan Auto Industry Group Company Ltd. has revived the old Maestro [...]
October 2, 2011
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
Jiefang (Liberation) CA 6440 UA
Erik van Ingen Schenau captured the van version of the Chinese Maestro in the wild. Somehow, the full-depth bumper really suits it… Erik found these Maestro vans, relating the tale thus: “In June 2004, at the Asia Village Auto Market in Beijing (this is the largest dealer exhibit of new cars in China), I found [...]
October 2, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Buying guide : Maestro/Montego
Fancy a Maestro or Montego? Here’s what to look out for… Availability Years produced: Maestro: 1983-1994 Montego: 1984-1994 Body styles: Maestro: 5-door hatchback, van Montego: 4-door saloon, five-door estate Engine options: 1275cc A-Plus inline-four 1598cc R-Series inline-four (Maestro only) 1598cc S-Series inline-four 1994cc O-Series inline-four (104, 115bhp atmo, and 150bhp turbo) 1994cc “Prima” diesel (atmo [...]
August 6, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Maestro-based Banham 200
The Ford RS200 was once a competitor to Austin-Rover’s own Group B rally car, the Metro 6R4. This modern-day reinterpretation of the RS200 uses one of the production Metro’s stablemates as its basis… Banham appears to have ceased trading in 2004, although we have yet to find out the full details… To find out more, [...]
August 6, 2011
· Keith Adams · One Comment
FAW Lubao CA6410
Ever wondered what a facelifted Maestro would look like? Well, now you know… The Chinese automotive group First Auto Works (FAW) acquired the production rights to the Maestro and Montego from Etsong (who had produced the Lubao QE6400 and derivatives) and developed the car into an interesting amalgamation of the two. On 11 May 2003, [...]
August 6, 2011
· Keith Adams · One Comment
Etsong Lubao QE6400/QE6440
The aquisition of production rights for the Maestro by Etsong was intended to signal the beginning of a new venture. Following the ill-fated Bulgarian adventure, the Maestro/Montego found a new home in China. Etsong is an important Chinese tobacco company, but they also have an industrial division, a construction group, a travel agency, and own [...]
August 6, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
