John Dalton penned the following for the programme for the MG Saloon Day in July 2003, an event that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the MG Maestro. John worked for ‘the company’ for more than twenty years, and his favourite motor remains the MG Maestro EFi, which he campaigned successfully in International Rallies. More recently [...]

Here’s a precious one – produced at the Proto-Build Shop at Canley in 1987, our MG Maestro Turbo is a one of a kind… Does that mean we’ve got trouble in store, or will our hand build AR pocket rocket be a lesson in hot hatch nirvana? Big boy’s toy IT came like a bolt [...]

Sometime in 1979, the Austin-Morris product planners would have met with BL’s upper management to explain the LM10 strategy. This model set perfectly demonstrates how the Montego saloon and estate were developed from the Maestro, and more intriguingly, how an upper middle market hatchback was also planned. The modular model is comprised of a centre [...]

You’ve seen the photoshops and the styling proposals, but here for the first time are the images that all Maestro and Montego fans have been waiting for. Thanks to Roy Axe, we get our first glimpse of the improved versions of the two cars that failed to sell in the numbers anticipated by their management. [...]

The industry norm for the mid-1980s was for a car design to last about three-to-four years before it received its first facelift. In the case of the Maestro, the first facelift was planned for even before the original hit the streets. With thanks to Stephen Harper we now know just how radically they were thinking [...]

Part of a three-pronged attack on the medium car sector, the LM11 was to be BL’s new mid-sized saloon, based heavily on the upcomng LM10 (nee LC10). LM11 was originally planned to sit closer to the LM10, performing a similar role to the hatchback that the VW Jetta does to the Golf, or the Orion [...]

Stephen Harper was responsible for this fascinating Maestro convertible sketch – here’s its story… Maestro cabriolet Looking back now, the Maestro seems like an unusual donor car for a chop-top, but this was more than a flight-of-fancy – there was a serious purpose behind its creation. During the early 1980s, there had been design upheaval [...]

LC10 was a conventional family hatchback in every sense of the word, and followed industry standard thinking in terms of mechanical layout. However, because of internal politics, lack of resources and the fact that the Metro had to come first, the Maestro seven years to get into production. LC10 in development

LC10 was a conventional family hatchback in every sense of the word, and followed industry standard thinking in terms of mechanical layout. However, because of internal politics, lack of resources and the fact that the Metro had to come first, the Maestro seven years to get into production. Longbridge proposal

LC10 was a conventional family hatchback in every sense of the word, and followed industry standard thinking in terms of mechanical layout. However, because of internal politics, lack of resources and the fact that the Metro had to come first, the Maestro seven years to get into production. Three-door LC10 Body in white Stephen Harper [...]

LC10 was a conventional family hatchback in every sense of the word, and followed industry standard thinking in terms of mechanical layout. However, because of internal politics, lack of resources and the fact that the Metro had to come first, the Maestro seven years to get into production. CAR magazine’s scoop photos

LC10 was a conventional family hatchback in every sense of the word, and followed industry standard thinking in terms of mechanical layout. However, because of internal politics, lack of resources and the fact that the Metro had to come first, the Maestro seven years to get into production. LC10 prototype THIS hand-built prototype was an [...]

NOT much has been written about the operation to build Maestros in Bulgaria, but at long last we’re able to put the record straight…. Thanks to an ex-Rover Group executive, we have been able to piece together the story of the Roadacar assembly operation in Bulgaria and conclude why it failed in the way it [...]

“Cowley’s Cortina” also received the MG treatment in an attempt to give the upmarket versions a little bit more cachet than perhaps the Austin could manage. When the Montego was launched in July 1984, the MG version was seen by the company as a viable rival to such cars as the BMW 3-Series and Audi [...]

It has been said that the MG Maestro was never planned for during the LM10 development programme – certainly, early prototypes were badged as Austin Maestro EXPs. The MG badged versions came along as a result of the success of the MG Metro and as a result of this hasty development, the first MG Maestro [...]

The MG Maestro: it could have been the ultimate success story, but instead, a quarter of a century on it’s almost become notable only for being largely forgettable. If ever there was a car that deserved more, this was it. Words and pictures: Jonathan Sellars King of the ’80s hot hatches? IF you could have [...]

Mike Humble stumbles upon an early Montego still in daily use and the memories come flooding back… Today, during one of my sales visits, I came upon two cars from the 1980s of which I was a fan – I have owned two and driven dozens of one of them. One was a neglected Lotus Excel and the [...]

Steven Ward The car Today, I visited a fair-sized barn in North Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro. I’m a former Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it was not without some sadness that I pondered on the decline and unrealised potential of the Maestro. BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a programme by Steven Punt [...]

Keith Adams WITH THE number of BMC/Leyland/Rover cars on our roads diminishing rapidly, we take stock of the successive companies’ ten most popular cars during the post-war years. Some of these numbers are going to shock you, simply because the cars are so rare on the road now. In fact, even the latest car on [...]

“Cowley’s Cortina” also received the MG treatment in an attempt to give the upmarket versions a little bit more cachet than perhaps the Austin could manage. When the Montego was launched in July 1984, the MG version was seen by the company as a viable rival to such cars as the BMW 3-Series and Audi [...]