My *New* Maestro

[D87SMW]

As some of you may know I recently won the auction on eBay (Click here) for the unregistered, "Apple 2000" Rover Maestro 1.3 - Left hand drive. After one or two hiccups involving collection/delivery, the car arrived earlier today in sunny Manchester...

I don't really know where to start. There is absolutely *no* rust on the car anywhere and all the arches, sills and their joins are all obscenely mint. The interior is still mostly covered in clear plastic as fitted at the factory in around 1996 but appears to be mint also. The headlining is doing the usual trick of sagging at the back and there are some small cracks in the dashboard, but overall it is very much like sitting in a brand new car.

The engine needs a tune-up and some fresh fuel in, but even so it runs gorgeously smooth and the engine bay will come up nice and shiny and dry when I get to work on it. I did carry out the infamous 'death drive' to see how a left hand drive car works. Once I'd reached for the gear-stick in the door bin a few times I found that driving it was not too hard at all. The steering, despite the car having 14" wheels and no PAS, is incredibly light!

Anyway, I'll let the photos and your good selves do the rest of the talking. It's certainly the tidiest unrestored Maestro I've seen in a long time...

[Guest]

That looks stunning steve.

[D87SMW]

More photos

Thanks to RD and RS for washing the car after I had left - and I apologise for not telling you that the car would be dumped on your driveway today! Hope it was a *nice* surprise. :laugh:

Photos from RD:

[Guest]

If you ever decide to convert it to RHD..........

I would like to have first chance at all the LHD parts please.

( A friend in Canada is looking to import an MG Maestro at some point. )

Mal.

[G51 NAV]

Looks the dog's wotsits. Getting and keeping that soft black paint swirl-free will be fun though. There's a pro mobile detailer lives near you, posts on the Meguiar's forum. His work is first class. Might be worth hunting him down. He can do a much better job with his random-orbital than can ever be done by hand. Then it just needs polishing and waxing

[Guest]

Looks fantastic

[B18 GPC]

Nice one steve!

[Ed]

Looks great Steve!

[Guest]

Excellent stuff Steve!

[Austin-Rover]

Having seen and touched it and sat quietly inside it in a state of awe, I can vouch for its mintishness.

In many ways, it would be a shame to register it and use it, but then again, it would also be a shame to not register and use it. I think a life of limited summer use as a second car should be its future. It is on a par with the 'last' Maestro and deserves to remain the best example of its breed I reckon.

[D87SMW]

Well the idea is to hopefully register it and limit it's use to summer/shows only. That said, I might as well just use it as a normal car considering the amount (or lack) of interest there is. Would've expected a bit more of a stir within Maestro and Montego circles, with it being a practically brand new, unregistered and mint example.

Think I'll sweep up while I'm here...

[Wetfish]

I think what you’ve done is amazing Sport, you’ve saved a maestro from a fate worse than death from what I’ve read. It was destined to be either used as a car by a punter wanting cheap transport or re-shelled to be a , God forbid a Turbo or some kind hybrid T16 Q car. I think we should all applaud this selfless action, my personal opinion is you should keep it in the garage unused for future generations and charge at the gate of course (discount for members, goes without saying) viewing by appointment only.
Others I’ve heard say, is that you’ve bought a left-hand drive kit car of limited interest saved only by the fact that it’s unregistered and supposedly has about twenty miles on the clock (sic). Either way rest assured I myself am well stirred by your efforts on the MM community’s behalf and I think it’s very sad that only ten people have commented so far on your efforts but I’m sure you bought the car for your own pleasure and not the applause of the masses.
But for what it’s worth I give you

[Guest]

Looks in great shape considering its been outside for all those years. What are the plans for it ? Have you looked into registering it yet ?
I dont quite see why you expected a great stir ? Surely the reason for buying it has to be you wanted it. Everyone will look at it differently.

[D87SMW]

Looks in great shape considering its been outside for all those years. What are the plans for it ? Have you looked into registering it yet ?
I dont quite see why you expected a great stir ? Surely the reason for buying it has to be you wanted it. Everyone will look at it differently.

I know the auction stated it was stored on a driveway, but I'm not sure whether it was outside as such, or under a car port or something. Considering the condition of the car, I'd go with the latter. Plans for the car are as above - hopefully just a limited-use summer car.

Of course the reason I bought it was because I like the MK3 interior, the stance of these cars and the colour of this particular car. The mileage of course was another big attraction. Yeah, we've seen how people look at this differently, it's just not every day that an unregistered 'as new' Maestro pops up. I guess it's just pretty quiet on here these days.

[Simon]

Well the idea is to hopefully register it and limit it's use to summer/shows only. That said, I might as well just use it as a normal car considering the amount (or lack) of interest there is. Would've expected a bit more of a stir within Maestro and Montego circles, with it being a practically brand new, unregistered and mint example.

Think I'll sweep up while I'm here...

Oh dunna be like that, we are all in awe, honest. You have underlined what a true enthusiast you are by putting your money where your mouth is. Do me a favour will you? Let's have a write up for Monstro!