Gallery : MG Montego

“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 80/90.


MG Montego EFi

Perhaps the least convincing of all the MG saloons of the Eighties because it was too soft to be an out-and-out performance car, but too low geared and noisy to be an effective luxury car. Like the Maestro EFi, the MG Montego was an effective car, but sadly underrated by the buying public, who by 1984 were smitten by the Cavalier SRis - and that is a shame, because the MG Montego was a superior car to its GM rival in many ways.
Perhaps the least convincing of all the MG saloons of the Eighties because it was too soft to be an out-and-out performance car, but too low geared and noisy to be an effective luxury car. Like the Maestro EFi, the MG Montego was an effective car, but sadly underrated by the buying public, who by 1984 were smitten by the Cavalier SRis - and that is a shame, because the MG Montego was a superior car to its GM rival in many ways.

Not a bad car, but not terribly interesting, either.

MG Montego Turbo

Dull was never a word that could be used to describe the MG Montego Turbo: not with its under-cooked chassis and resultant torque steer. Quick and roomy the Montego Turbo was, but never a car that could be described as possessing finesse. Not that it mattered to the marketing department, "The fastest-ever production MG" was how it was none-too subtlely described in the car's advertising.
Dull was never a word that could be used to describe the MG Montego Turbo: not with its under-cooked chassis and resultant torque steer. Quick and roomy the Montego Turbo was, but never a car that could be described as possessing finesse. Not that it mattered to the marketing department, "The fastest-ever production MG" was how it was none-too subtlely described in the car's advertising.

By 1987/1988 the back room boys had managed to reduce the torque steer to manageable levels, but the car’s image as a serious driver’s tool had already been destroyed, more the pity. My one abiding memory of the MG Montego Turbo above all others was its vivid acceleration.

Performance: 0-60mph, 7.2seconds, maximum speed, 126mph (source: Autocar)

Keith Adams

5 Comments

  1. Great car, again, another AR underrated car, however i never really liked the alloys they had, but once they were replaced with the spoke effect ones, it really perked the car up quite a lot

  2. Cześć! Od 1997 roku mam samochód marki MG montego 2,0 efi.Jest do tej pory sprawny i i jest moim najlepszym autem.Mam udokumentowaną historię mojego MG wraz z fakturą kupna.Czy mogę przesłać kilka zdjęć,oraz opisać jego historię?
    Proszę o odpowiedz. -dolek-

    P.S. Pierwszy właściciel to “BRITISH EMBASSY 2100 KOBENHAVN”
    od dn.06.o3.1987 r.

  3. I remember taking a new one of these for a test drive in 1986. Looking back at this from a time when I now drive a front wheel drive with slightly more than twice the power of the MG Turbo (and even the pedestrian MG6 can muster another 10bhp), I have no idea how the 150bhp MG Turbo could have been quite so scary!

    Driving it along my favourite Hitchin to Codicote A road, while it was pretty quick in a straight line, the over riding memory was one of fighting to keep it out of the ditches. Don’t even think about using the power in the corners!!! The over light power steering certainly didn’t help.

    We placed an order for the Maestro EFi instead…

    The perverse thing is that, despite the turbo being next to useless, I’d quite like one now!

  4. Postaram się zmobilizować i przesłać parę fotek {zdjęć}mojego MG Montego efi.Vin -SAXXEYLU8AM250721-Rok produkcji 1987.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.