Blame RoadworkUK

[mharrell]

how long did it take you? 4 days?

 

A little under four days each way. We didn't make the best of time going over the Rockies.

 

That cabin scooter thing, tell me more. That looks like a most excellent way to kill yourself. I want one.

 

It's one of about 700 made by High-Mileage Vehicles (HMV) between 1979 and 1982. Mine has the larger 16 hp Tecumseh engine. They were also offered with 12 hp engines (guaranteed to deliver 100 mpg at a steady 30 mph), electric motors (only a handful were made this way), and diesel engines (none actually produced, apparently). Mine will cruise comfortably at 55-60 mph. It has a fiberglass body, a tubular steel frame (square tubing), and many smaller bits and pieces that are repurposed trailer parts. I don't know of any in the UK. One potential issue is that its curved windshield is Lucite SAR; this works just fine but I believe it wouldn't pass your MOT. Despite their small size and reputation for iffy high-speed stability, I've been given to understand that nobody has yet been killed in one.

 

Here's a group photo for scale. Please overlook the Metro's deflated suspension, as I've since fixed that:

 

 

This is the Freeway's interior. I added the Johnson Messenger 130A CB radio myself, but it seems at home there:

 

 

It has a belt-driven CVT with no provision for reverse, so the two pedals [sic] are simply brake and throttle.

[mharrell]

By way of an update, I've sold the '37 Plymouth and, in an unrelated move, picked up this Maestro:

 

http://bringatrailer.com/2012/08/20/non-usa-1983-austin-maestro/

 

It has a digital dash! It talks! It's a Vanden Plas! It has quite possibly the only R-Series engine in North America! What could possibly go wrong?

 

Now I just need to install a trailer hitch....

[trigger]

You sir, are completely mad! It's worth clicking on that link to read some of the Yanks comments on the car, they really are clueless, one even goes on to blame that 1994 documentary A to B of modern motoring for the demise of the Montego and Maestro after the scene with the salesman who got downgraded to that Maestro Clubman.

[Alexg]

Mentalist. Excellent work!

[ashmicro]

Brilliant!

[AeroNautiCal]

Truly epic in every sense!

 

The Cabin Scooters Yahoo Forum is well worth joining.

[Micrashed]

There is so much WIN in this thred its untrue.

For extra shite points can you keep the English plates on it and hide the US plates somewhere less obvious?

[RoadworkUK]

Good man! Long may the madness continue.

 

Heres to a long and happy relationship with the "Oil Pressure Low" lady.

[richardthestag]

By way of an update, I've sold the '37 Plymouth and, in an unrelated move, picked up this Maestro:

 

http://bringatrailer.com/2012/08/20/non-usa-1983-austin-maestro/

 

It has a digital dash! It talks! It's a Vanden Plas! It has quite possibly the only R-Series engine in North America! What could possibly go wrong?

 

Now I just need to install a trailer hitch....

 

I am loving your style

 

We should have a shite New Years honours list and this man should be first on it

 

Brian m in the above link seems to have us stereotyped fairly accurately!

August 20, 2012 at 12:49 pm 3 or Flag as not constructive

They did paint them ‘Flame Red’ (among other colours) – maybe this one was Flame Red and the fire went out?

 

Bear in mind that Brits buy cars based on the strangest of criteria (colour being one) – they absolutely agonise over things that the rest of the world care not a whit about, can be fiercely loyal to a marque, even while admitting that said marque is a total effing disaster.

 

They will wait 6 months for delivery of the 1.41 litre version versus the 1.43 litre version of a car because the 1.41 gets 0.043% better mileage (at a constant 46.83mph, assuming tyres properly inflated and vehicle engine tuned to manufacturers specifications) and will insist on a cloth interior because it is lighter in weight than the leather, will go fron A to B via the B1645 because it saves them 0.12 miles on the trip – all in interests of saving on petrol money.

 

After a month of ownership they will then drive flat out all day, every day, ignoring the bits which continue to fall off the vehicle, ignoring the leaking windshield and the grinding noise every time they apply the brakes, even when at a standstill, until the wife nags them, at which point they return to the dealership where they are informed that had they bought the 1.43 litre version, none of these issues would have occurred.

 

They repeat as needed while continuing to boast about the superb mileage they (theoretically can) obtain from their disintegrating daily driver.

 

Its all good…

 

Other than that there seems to be a whole load of hysterical nonsense

[carlo]

Loving the cars; and deadpan delivery.

[skattrd]

EPIC. That is all.

[mharrell]

It's worth clicking on that link to read some of the Yanks comments on the car, they really are clueless....

 

In fairness, we've only got perhaps two Maestros over here. This is the other one:

 

http://www.justacargeek.com/2011/02/1986-austin-maestro-vanden-plas-in-us.html

 

and nobody seems to know what's become of it since it was last for sale.

 

The Cabin Scooters Yahoo Forum is well worth joining.

 

I've been following it, along with the HMV Freeway group, the reverse trike group, the....

 

For extra shite points can you keep the English plates on it and hide the US plates somewhere less obvious?

 

Not as such. There's this option:

 

http://autoshite.commlm/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4720&p=345769&hilit=french#p345769

 

I've already requested a set of Washington A82 WHR plates, as it turns out my car is this car:

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/the-cars/maestromontego/car-of-the-month-january-2004/

 

so when they arrive I'll either affix them over the original plates or in lieu of them.

 

Heres to a long and happy relationship with the "Oil Pressure Low" lady.

 

I'm happy to report I haven't yet heard that message from Ms. McKenzie.

 

By the way, ashmicro, that's a handsome avatar.

[cort16]

Brilliant! Do you have any idea how it got over there in RHD with british plates? You'd have to be a right sadist to export it from the UK if you're moving to the US.

[mharrell]

Do you have any idea how it got over there in RHD with british plates?

 

The previous owner has a friend who helped him import something like five cars from GB over the years. He's been selling them off, however: I got my Metro from him a few years ago. The Maestro was the last to go. He's now collecting Ladas.

 

British plates generally have no more significance over here than would a set of bumper stickers, so they simply remained on the car as decoration. At some point the previous owner removed them, but kept them and gave them to me. It's been registered under a set of regular-issue state plates since shortly after it arrived in Washington, although I'm now putting on a set of vanity plates to match the British registration.

 

RHD doesn't matter. All that matters is that the car either (a) meets all EPA and NHTSA regulations in effect at the date of manufacture, which the Maestro does not, or ( is over 25 years old. At that point it's up to the individual states to decide whether to issue plates. California almost certainly would not register it for use on public roads, inasmuch as they conduct emissions testing on cars that old; Washington does not.

[cort16]

That's interesting. I wonder why he picked a Maestro to export? It's certainly different! Have you ever seen a Montego for sale over there?

[worldofceri]

California almost certainly would not register it for use on public roads...

 

Does that mean you can't drive it into California?

[mharrell]

I wonder why he picked a Maestro to export? It's certainly different! Have you ever seen a Montego for sale over there?

 

The other cars he's imported have been equally unconventional choices, including an '80 Princess and a '79 Ford Granada hearse (German, but converted into a hearse in the UK by Coleman Milne). I've never heard of a Montego over here, so far....

 

California almost certainly would not register it for use on public roads...

 

Does that mean you can't drive it into California?

 

Driving it there is not a problem, as all states recognize registrations from all other states. I just can't move to California and expect to take it there permanently for road use, nor would a California resident be in a position to purchase it and take it home for road use. Sufficiently wealthy and motivated Californians sometimes create their own corporations in other states for no other purpose than to circumvent this by registering their inappropriate cars elsewhere, but this can lead to awkward legal questions for vehicles that see a lot of use within California.