Maestro Collection 'Adventure'

[barrett]

Been a while since I've added any actual car content here! I've just copy-pasta's this over from the other place as some of you will be interested.

As most of you already know, garycox's Allegro recently failed the MOT on emissions and a little welding and has been out of service for a couple of weeks whilst he decides what to do with. Unlike me he isn't a driving retard and actually needs a car to get about and that, and as the Allegro has proven to be so reliable* he decided to take the plunge and purchase another bit of A-Series powered BL chod (well, AR chod actually).

The car was the beige Maestro owned by AngryDicky and was located on the tip of Southend. I went along for the ride in my capacity as official observer, so this morning we got on the train at Brighton stn. and headed to London. All very uneventful and hassle free despite the OMG STRIKE CHAOS, we arrived in Southend at 1pm, where Rich was waiting for us in his incredibly lovely Austin 1100. I don't think I'd even seen pics of this one before, and for some stupid reason I didn't take a proper photo of it today, only this cheeky rubbish snap as we were leaving. Gary and I now both quite badly want an 1100, it was a very charming little thing in a great colour with some fab 'old giffer' touches.

 

Arriving back at the house we had a good look around the Maestro which was sharing drive space with one of Rich's A35s. After all the formalities were completed (and a sneaky look at the A55 resto project in the garage) it was time for the traditional hand-over photo. Gary is wearing his 'Maestro owners hat' which he brought along specially for the occasion.

 

After Gary finally worked out how to engage reverse, we were off, and managed a couple of spots on the way back to the main road. Rich had pointed this nice Allegro estate out so we stopped for a quick snap, which didn't quite work out as planned. It was wearing a set of Allegro Equipe alloys, but you'll have to take my word for that. Funnily enough we were talking later about how these door edge protector things have completely vanished, nice to see some on their natural home.

 

This Renault 11 Turbo was a welcome and unusual sight. Seemed to have been lightly stickerbombed and wearing some fancy alloys, are these 'cool' now?

 

Stopping to fill up the tank allowed some time for a few more photos

 

The interior is very brown but it's well laid out and mostly in very good condition. The seats are really comfortable too, much nicer than the ones in the Allegro. Overall condition is really great, a little bubbling on the front arches seems to be the only rust on the body, Rich and his dad have done a bit of work to bring the car up to a very nice usable standard and it has the aura of a car that's been pretty well looked after its whole life; Solid, tidy, honest but not mint. A very good buy, in my opinion.

On the road again, we managed to avoid getting too horribly lost and hit the M25 and cruised home. I can't speak for the driving experience, but as a passenger it seemed like a much more capable, modern car than the Allegro. Wind noise was minimal and the engine, the same size as the one in the older car but in A+ guise, seemed like it didn't have to work as hard to keep up. Really, it didn't feel particularly like an 'old' car at all, just 'a car' that you could jump in and drive anywhere in without thinking. The brilliantly '80s dash design and preponderance of chocolate coloured plastic on every surface meant you wouldn't forget you were driving something old, but it certainly didn't feel cheap or badly built. I get the impression that most others on the road didn't give it a second glance either, the shape is still pretty fresh in peoples minds despite this car being 26 years old and it doesn't really stand out as anything unusual. Not quite as noticeable as a primer grey Allegro belching black smoke, at least.

Forboding dark clouds filled the sky, which made for a nice image at the Dartford crossing, but the journey was utterly uneventful. Everything worked as it should, and nothing fell off or exploded as far as we could tell. The only bugbear was the M/W radio, which we eventually managed to tune in to a Dutch 'oldies' station playing Cliff Richard and Tom Jones and yapping about 'Sinterklaus'. I think Gary might be replacing this with the radio/tape player from his Mini.

 

Before we knew it we were almost home, just a quick stop at some services for an outrageously expensive fatburger and an opportunity for one final GRIM photo. A base spec Maestro, on an overcast winters day outside a Little Chef. Truly living the dream.

[Skizzer]

Yay!

 

That's just the perfect, perfect Autoshite day. 100% win 8)

[michiel]

^indeed^ + Allegro yum.

[Vin]

Well done and good reportage Barrett

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That is a lovely looking Maestro. Nice trip report, great pix, A+

[DSdriver]

Erm... plastic door protectors are alive and well and living on Mrs DSdrivers pug206 which she inherited from her mum.

[dollywobbler]

Great stuff. Nice to see this find a new home 'in-house' so to speak!

[Negative Creep]

I tihnk I need a Maestro in my life. They're insanely cheap and all stupidly low ex giffer spec mileage

[Angrydicky]

Nice write up Barrett. Great to see you and Gary again, and pleased the ol' Maestro got you home ok!

[coalnotdole]

Great write up cheers for posting it up, The Mud flaps are great!

[eddyramrod]

Well done to all concerned. A Maestro is a totally logical successor to an Allegro, and having heard about this one for some time now, I'm sure it'll be ideal for its new life. Best of luck fellas!

[garycox]

I drove this thing just over 100 miles today and it seems great! Much livelier than the Allegro (obviously) but also seems quicker than the Metros and Minis I've had too. The gearbox isn't as 'direct' though and takes a little getting used to, and pushing down for reverse rather than lifting is a bit wierd.

 

It's pretty tidy, and seems to be rust free apart from slightly scabby arches. It came with some 'full face' Montego wheel trims too, I might put those on, then reinstate the centre caps once I've cleaned and painted the wheels. Also if the MW/LW GR8 4 DUTCH RADIO thing gets tiresome it might be replaced by the FM radio cassette from my old Mini Mayfair.

 

It was a bargain, and just what I need at the moment, it's economical, drives like a 'normal' car and should be reliable, but it's also basic, old and beige so I won't get bored with it in 5 minutes like I did with the Astra. And I managed to get the insurance cheap in the end.

 

Thanks to Autoshite roving reporter Barrett for coming along, taking pics and generally making the trip slightly less boring! And for starting this thread because I'm way too lazy to have done that myself.

 

Nice to see you again Dicky! And thanks for lending me the gas tester thing! Also I'm not sure if you intended to leave me with the whole V5 but I appear to have ended up with it... I'll post it off tomorrow.

[dollywobbler]

It must be one of the Autoshite holy grails really - a beige povo spec Maestro. I f*cked up and got a posh one with plastic bumpers. Maybe that's why I failed to bond with it. Couldn't live with such pretensious add-ons.

[loserone]

It must be one of the Autoshite holy grails really - a beige povo spec Maestro. I f*cked up and got a posh one with plastic bumpers. Maybe that's why I failed to bond with it. Couldn't live with such pretensious add-ons.

Aren't they steel? I'm sure I remember replacing one on El_One_Senior's some time ago because it was rusty.

 

Great car, a credit to both of you and I'm almost jealous.

 

Almost.

[Edit - I suck, I see what you mean DW. +1 on plastic bumpers being inappropriate for the car.]

[Felly Magic]

I loved my old Maestro. It was fast, and quite comfy, and had loads of room in. I am tempted next year to hunt another down, but I don't think it will be the 2.0 EFI that I had before. The steel bumpered base looks sound, and suits the car better than the plastic ones in my view. I'm sure I've seen a Ledbury in Stowmarket..Hmmm

[eddyramrod]

To my unending amazement, I loved mine too! I drove my sister's once, a 1.3L, and thought it was numb. Some years later I got my hands on an MG 2.0i, and kept it nearly three years, which was unheard of at the time. So if I ever have another, the spec I had will be top of the shopping list.

[Felly Magic]

The speedo on mine was hopelessly optimistic..Trying to go off the clock at an indicated 130! Would be fun to put the turbo running gear on a 1275 base though!

[Cavcraft]

Enjoyed reading that and the ADO16 content was a nice bonus.

Maestros are nowehere near as bad as some people would say, had about three or four over the years and whilst they wouldn't set the world on fire I found them pretty good to drive and quite reliable.

[boobydoo]

An excellent read! With a beige boggo Maestro, Little Chef, Austin 1100 and Renault 11 you are really spoiling us!

 

I think a nice set of beaded seat covers would certainly enhance the overall look of the car and definately keep the plain wheels and mudflaps.

 

I assume a basic Maestro wasn't given a trim level name e.g L, GL? I'm not familiar with BL nomenclature of that period. I guess the City came later?