Cheap "classic" - opinions, please!

[V6 Man]

Since when was a Maestro ever 'sexy as anything'?

I'm sorry Chris, but I'm old enough to remember the Maestro when it came out, it's reviews, it's reputation, friends/acquaintances ownership experiences etc. I also worked at a car auctions when they were common and remember the state they were in when they went for auction at the 5-10yr old stage. The 'Trade' wouldn't touch them, they were falling to bits at 60k miles, they smoked, rattled and rusted. The interiors were crap, the driveline atrocious, engines horrible and unreliable - in short they were a shed from new. They had a bad reputation and in my opinion it was totally justified.

The same goes for the Montego too, with the possible exception of the diesel 'Countryman' estate which at least had a reliable (perkins) engine.

[Speedy88]

...at least they looked cool though.

[SteveP]

Ah thankyou Rupert for restoring some sort of sense.

I cannot believe someone is genuinely recommending a piece of 80/90's British Leyland tat as an option for a daily driver in 2011 - is this what driving a Corsa does to you?

[magnumpi]

I'm not going to say they are a good car, nor have any real experience of them, but like Chris i was also going to suggest a Meastro, i think they are quirky in a sh*t way .

However i've got fond memorys of my familys old Monty estates.

Yes, plural, estates, we had 2 a white Mk1 one which was a D reg, i don't remember much else about it really. After that we had one of the quite late one's, possibly on a H or J plate?

I've got pictures of it somewhere from our rather memorable camping trip to the South of France. What i do recall about that holiday was the fact we had to stop on a fairly regular basis as it didn't cope with the hot climate too well. On one ocasion i remember we pulled over in Paris so my dad could go and find some water to fill up the rad. He returned accompanied by a big burly French butcher in his white apron covered from top to toe in blood
I recall they filled the rad then wrapped something under the bonnet with foil and we were on our way!

The other memorable thing was my dad engulfing himself and the rest of my family in a fireball from a full camping gas bottle !!!

[foggyjames]

K11 Micra was actually the number one choice. Felicia second because it's cheaper to buy (and bigger). This thread is about option three, as it occured to me that classic insurance *might* knock a big hole in my friend's insurance bill! I'm tempted to go snag the cheap mint vario I know of, manualise it, and use that...I know it's sacrilegious, but it's cheap, and I fear it'll get scrapped otherwise.

cheers

James

[mrsoundcraft]

I saw the word Classic but I wasnt so sure when you mensioned Micras. Anyway my advice is dont get one of these



too rusty

[foggyjames]

MGB? Very damn cool, though. My uncle has one...beautiful to look at, although I must say I didn't like the interior much

Plan A was not a classic...something lower maintenance. I'm not going classic here for the cool factor, just for the potentially cheaper insurance. If it happens to be cool (without being a trouble-magnet), that's a bonus...

cheers

James

[macplaxton]

I'm tempted to go snag the cheap mint vario I know of, manualise it, and use that...I know it's sacrilegious, but it's cheap, and I fear it'll get scrapped otherwise.

[SteveP]

It depends whether your friend 'likes' cars (I think it's a necessity running a classic!) and you could find that the difference in insurance would be offset by repair costs/hassle/finding spares against an older car compared to something 10 years newer.

[Chris_C]

Ah thankyou Rupert for restoring some sort of sense.

I cannot believe someone is genuinely recommending a piece of 80/90's British Leyland tat as an option for a daily driver in 2011 - is this what driving a Corsa does to you?

Says a Skoda boy

Maestro's have retro cool, and the mid year stuff doesn't rot anything like the early or super late. Same as 300's, you'd think people on this forum at the very least would be less "follow the mass opinion/burn it at the stake" opinionated than most and do some research.

Ruperts only mentioned the diesal countryman as he met a guy in Wessex who hammers one down the lanes and gets hilariously good results from it

[germ]

I have to agree with chris those mg maestros etc can be quite cool.. and i remember an issue of ppc with a 16v turbo it was lush and on the side there was an 8v turbo with su carb tuning guide thing, the power is quite incredible 280+ horsey s and reliable too if you sort the head gasket with the uprated solution.

but one defo to avoid is a samba (pug group) my farther was a car test driver 60's 70's 80's and finished in 91 he said the samba was a death trap handling wise and falling over that's why the pug 205 came about to "save face" a bit.
one of the last cars he test drove was the mazda mx-5 the first one in England drove it to Scotland and back to hertfordshire in a day basically had nothing but praise for it.

btw he also said the maestro's were rubbish and they put so much effort in trying to attract younger drivers but failed the rep was to uncool already, but if your gonna get one it has to be the mg variant. mg metro was a disappointment too .

[volvosneverdie]

I'm tempted to go snag the cheap mint vario I know of, manualise it, and use that...I know it's sacrilegious, but it's cheap, and I fear it'll get scrapped otherwise.

cheers

James

Why not snag it, and let your friend run it as a vario?

Theyre fun.

[Chris_C]

Tbf I've never driven the Maestro's and I imagine I woudn't get on with them at all.

However... this is for someone who doesn't sounds "car-y" therefore retro looks over nimbleness I imagine would be good. I'll try and find some pics of the two I'm thinking of later. I still reckon a 205 though

[Alanovich]

My Midget 1500 was a dog. Even getting a recon engine didn't help. Eventually got scrapped. Just couldn't keep up with the rust, nor put up with it constantly misfiring and overheating, despite ALL known attempts to sort it out, by myself and two seperate MG specialists. Pile. Of. Shit.

How about a Mk 2 Polo Coupe for the OP's friend?

[magnumpi]

The UK's ex fastest FWD car was, yep you guessed it a Maestro, this one in fact:

http://www.an-racing.co.uk/maestro.html

Had 500+bhp, but sadly none of the video links work and i can't find any footage of it on youtube either.