GTP Cool Wall: 1983-1995 Austin Maestro

[niky]

Wasn't made by communists.

Meh.

Or maybe it was.

Still meh.

 

[Liquid]

How bad were they?

I have a big soft spot for the Austin Montego but these both are from the heading-towards-privatisation "We Really Don't Give AF" period of the still-nationalised Austin-Rover Company. Whilst the Rover half had some help from Honda, the Austin half died on its arse with these two cars and the Metro.

Also, the A-series engine the Maestro came with was from the 1950s Austin Seven and the R-series engine was made especially for the car but still riddled with problems.

We all like to enjoy looking at the bits of British Leyland which weren't so bad or good on their day, the Triumph Dolomite and Rover SD1 for example, but this was them at some of their worst during Thatcher's apex.

 

[Katiegan]

My dad owned one when he first got with my mum, the only time he's strayed away from the Ford family. It was an absolute pile of 🤬, yet refused to die. I'm pretty sure at one point the door fell off when he got out of it at a petrol station.

 

[Wiegert]

My dad got rid of his beige Maestro shortly before I was born according to my mum. Considering he talks about a vast swathe of BL, Rootes, Vauxhall and Ford models he owned throughout the '70s and '80s and never once mentioned this particular Austin, it was probably the sourest of lemons.

Also, I really want to know how in the absolutely hell, if six hundred thousand of these were made, how can just 11 thousand can be still on the road? How bad were they?

Nearly half of those were built during the first three years of production. More than 100,000 were built in 1983 alone. Yet so very few of those early models remain due to things like corrosion, window leaks and ECU issues. Many of the survivors I see nowadays are among the minority that were built during the '90s. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a Maestro on G plates or older that wasn't either scrapped or in time-warp condition at a car show.

And if you're wondering about the number of taxed examples on UK roads today? No more than 666.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

A warning from history just how bad and behind the times BL were. Selling a car as late as the '90s with an engine that was 40 years old to begin with. And for it to look as bland as that? It amazes me how they managed to sell that many!

But admittedly I do like seeing them still around as I used to be taken to school in one.

 

[Liquid]

I was considering putting the Montego in the nomination queue but thought it would be too similar to this. Then a picture search clarifies, for those of you who were asking, why there are only 11,000 Maestroes left from 600,000, if the Montego is anything to go by:

And this was the state of your average Maestro:

 

[Tyger]

Akwaaba sucks (waits for Like)

 

[Akwaaba]

Akwaaba sucks (waits for Like)

<< cue jar jar binks impression>>
How Rude!
<</cue jar jar binks impression>>

Anyways, Akwaaba means you are welcome!

 

[Cano]

Dear god what the hell. Were they made of crust that turned brown from the get-go? That is an incredible ammount of rust for an 80s car.

 

[Roger the Horse]

Everything rusts faster in the UK. It rains for roughly 10 months a year here on average.

 

[Liquid]

I remember it being discussed once that cars do rust faster in the UK because they are exposed to more salt and rainwater than their continental counterparts.

 

[Wiegert]

Strange to think that they were among the more common sights on our roads even through to the early '00s. Seems like virtually no one other than the odd die-hard '80s-BL fan saw enough sentimental value in those things to keep them from rusting into the ground after that point.

That is an incredible ammount of rust for an 80s car.

Technically that's a 1990 Montego L. Which would have been rebadged as a Rover by that point.

20 of those left in the UK. Only 4 in working order.

 

[Stotty]

Virtually everything BL turned out was a POS.

Poorly designed, out of date before they launched and badly built by a lazy workforce (run by a communist union).

BL are a pretty good representation of what was wrong with Britain back in the 70's and early 80's before Maggie came in and sorted the whole mess out.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

BL are a pretty good representation of what was wrong with Britain back in the 70's and early 80's before Maggie came in and sorted the whole mess out.

If you mean sorted it out by fixing it then she hardly did that. The Metro was sort of a success but only because it was relatively cheap, but it was still a turd. Morris disappeared by 1984 with the Ital being the last turd they made. Austin disappeared into ranks of Rover and they didn't ever recover even with help from Honda. By the time the '90s rolled around BL were still far behind everyone else and everything was sold off to other companies. Probably a good thing that happened really as we wouldn't have the Jaguars, Astons, Bentleys, Rolls Royces etc that we have today.

But if you mean sorted it out by ending it all slowly then yes.

 

[Stotty]

My point was more social/political than directly applicable to BL... so by 'sorting the whole mess out' I meant selling off loss making public owned businesses and the reducing the unions impact on businesses in the UK.