How come....

[Guest]

There are loads of Eighties Saloon Montego's but Estates are very rare and then there are **** loads of 90's Montego Estates/countrymans but Saloons are few and far between. I Really wanted a 90's saloon and it took me ages of searching to get one (i dident want to use ebay), however when i did get one (just recently) it was worth the wait, its a White J reg Slxi 2.0i, 2 previous owners, 47k!! and in very good condition, all intact.

[Guest]

I think the simple answer is that more saloons were made than estates in the 80's and vice versa in the 90's! Anyone got a better answer? I love the early saloons, if I had an estate it would probably be a late TD that i could use as a work horse, so it suits me (and many others) just fine!

[Guest]

Oh dam you made me look like a right fool

sorry what i meant was i suppose, why did Rover decide to change things around in the 90's? (why did they cut down on the saloons and make more estates?) This is probably a stupid question as i presume it was all about sales, so ill shutup now.

[Guest]

I love the early saloons

Gotta agree with you there, the early ones with the austin branding are the best. I had a gorgous C reg Austin Montego 1.6 Mayfair edition but unfortunatly within a few months of owning it the engine decided to get every problem under the sun and eventually i ended up being towed home with oil spewing out the engine, which is why i decided to go for a newer one this time round.

[Austin-Rover]

I think in the 1980’s the Montego was still quite new and class competitive. The saloon would have been bought by businesses and businessmen. As time goes on though, that would change as newer models from other manufacturers were brought out, so I guess less Montego saloons would be bought. On the other hand the Montego Estate could be said to be more practical than the Montego saloon and has greater appeal, or appeal in different areas, like the private family buyer. I think towards the end of its life, the estate received a bit more attention from Rover – see the launch of the Countryman, it was a very well appointed car and Rover played on the fact (that in the 1990’s) the estate was a well loved car.

[Guest]

I'd agree with that.

When I bought my early style Montego saloon in 1988 from an auction there were 5 on sale, all about 4 months old coming from Kenning car hire. I remember the styling was generally thought to be old fashioned and there were much more swish cars about so car hire companies were moving away from them (and so were the general public). I liked it so I bought it.

However, talking to some people in business (small shopkeepers and builders), they looked at the estate version as being a very good load carrier vying with Volvo for size but cheaper. I suspect this was the reason for the continuation and strength of the estate production in later years.

Steve H

[Ed]

I imagine that the main reasons that Monty saloon sales slowed down (and probably Maestro too) around 1989/1990 was due to the launch of the Rover 200/400 (R8) range, most people were buying those so it made the Maestro and Montego saloon fairly redundant. By this time the MM models were getting much more bland, all the nice ones had long gone, VP, Mayfair, MG etc so you can see that Rover were concentrating on its new generation of cars which ofcourse was to be expected. The estate was the only estate in the whole range so I guess it was obvious it would still sell well. It was also not replaced when it was discontinued, unless you count the Rover 400 Tourer which in my opinion, was no more roomy than the hatch.

[G51 NAV]

Montego estate was a well-regarded load-lugger and the TD version, though considered by many a smoky unrefined hack, sold well to fleet buyers even in its later years. Ironically towards the end of the car's life the saloon version was available to fleet-buyers only, not to Joe Public, therefore M-reg Montego saloons will almost invariably have started off their lives as fleet cars.

[Austin-Rover]

The saloon may have been very much outshadowed by the estate at the end, but don't forget the last Montego ever assembled was infact a saloon.



Some good theories there, by the way!

[e692wtt]

Montego estate was a well-regarded load-lugger and the TD version, though considered by many a smoky unrefined hack, sold well to fleet buyers even in its later years. Ironically towards the end of the car's life the saloon version was available to fleet-buyers only, not to Joe Public, therefore M-reg Montego saloons will almost invariably have started off their lives as fleet cars.

Also the MoD purchased quite a few of the last saloons (they didn't necessarily use them though, so when the unused and unregistered ones were sold off from the MoD they were, for some reason, given P-registrations!), and many were sold specifically as Taxis.

Don't forget the quality of steel deteriorated as the production run went into the late 1980s... that meant the later cars lasted less well than the earlier ones as well .

Even now the Estates are highly regarded by smallbusinesses as load luggers - although natural wastage is now taking effect .

[Guest]

Montego estate was a well-regarded load-lugger and the TD version, though considered by many a smoky unrefined hack, sold well to fleet buyers even in its later years. Ironically towards the end of the car's life the saloon version was available to fleet-buyers only, not to Joe Public, therefore M-reg Montego saloons will almost invariably have started off their lives as fleet cars.

Never in my life have i seen a M reg saloon, anyone got any piccies?

just wondering which model was the last ever Montego? an SLXI? Its in a museum if im not mistaken.

[G51 NAV]

Never in my life have i seen a M reg saloon, anyone got any piccies?

Seen two round here for starters: both white, both used as taxis. Not seen either though for about 5 years.

There was a guy on here once who had a black ex-MOD Monty saloon on either a P or R plate; can't remember which. That's the lastest I've ever seen.

[Guest]

So, if BMW had not bought Rover out i wonder how long they would kept making Maestro's and Montego's?? It seems to me sales of both cars were quite strong even in the 90's since there are still plenty of H,J,K,L,M reg cars out and about and on Ebay etc. There's plenty around the area i live in.

My Stepdad, mother and other family members think i am crazy because i love these cars, I was recently driving a Mondeo just temp while i looked for a 90's saloon and when i got myself a lovely J reg slxi and they all cursed me for changing a mondeo for a montego. they all hate rover and love ford, *******s.

[Guest]

they all cursed me for changing a mondeo for a montego. they all hate rover and love ford, *******s.

It doesn't make sense to most people swapping a 'newer' car for an 'older' car. To those 'in the know', as they say, the second part is the bit that doesn't make sense!

[G51 NAV]

Many Maestros and Montegos are in the hands of like-minded enthusiasts these days, as people who only see a car as a tool to get them from A to B have moved on to more modern metal. Consequently anyone who chooses to own and drive these cars in preference to more modern metal will, by the masses, be perceived as quaint at best, bonkers at worst.

As the World Cup approaches I see the sudden re-appearance of England flags in car windows. However the irony is that they often seem to be erected in the windows of cars that are not of these shores. I saw a modern BMW the other day with two England flags merrily flapping out of the window. I've also seen the same flags in VWs, Pugs, Hondas etc. What strikes me every time is that if the owners' skin-deep, fairweather patriotism had just a little more substance - enough for them to have bought MGR products instead of buying products whose sales line the pockets of foreign fat-cats - we may well still have a British volume car manufacturer left in the UK .