Happy 30th birthday to...

[AndyW201]

First experience I had with Montys were doing sales services on two or three year old ones, as a YTS trainee at Reg Vardy Stockton. I think most of them were ex British Car rental jobs, as they started renting out the recently launched R8 200/400 at that time. So Vardys were knocking out a lot of red 1.6 LXs at half decent prices as they were bringing them in in bulk. I also remember being mightily impressed with a white MG 2.0i while on a test drive once. A pretty rapid car for the time.

 

One of the taxi firms I worked for in the mid 90s had two nearly new Monty TurboDs when I joined, M440 and M441 EUS. The two bosses brought them down brand new from Glasgow. I was surprised to get a nearly brand new car straight away. Most of the other drivers preferred the older Sierras on the fleet because the Montys were seriously povo spec. A Philips radio cassette being the only luxury item. I liked them though, I liked the power and the noise from the blown Perkins lump and they were pretty much mega reliable. Ate CV joints and the odd driveshaft mind. Being on the road practically day and night and washed almost every day, rust was never a problem either really. Those two Montys did the full six years before being out of plate, no bother.

[Noel Tidybeard]

i had a 1.6 base in Henly blue F834UNP- electric nothing not even tinted windows!

ran it for a few years, i even treated it to a almost new interior out of a late ex-mod dizzler

it had something like 134,000 miles when i got it but it sounded like it had only done 13,400 miles- i still think this car had the best gearbox I have ever used

 

some time later i had a 2.0 GSi Stone grey over grey F176AOA- lots of electric goodies and pas - did like a drop of oil this one

 

i also had a Maestro 1.3 base and an MG 2.0EFi

[oman5]

I drove a 1.6L as a minicab a long time ago, the drivers all loved it. comfy, quite pokey, good handling.

. I was put off owning one long term by the one my sister had. it was a 2.0 Gti estate, bloody quick for what it was. however, she bought it at 12 months old and it was rotted out after about 3 years. bonnet, arches,sills, doors etc. they really were woeful for rust protection, even so far as metal being left bare untreated underneath plastic bodywork cladding.

[londonm]

My ex girlfriends folks had a Montego Countryman, which I had the misfortune to drive ten years ago. It was on a M plate if I recall currently. It handled horribly, not particularly great brakes and just felt antiquated. It was a anachronism, a not particularly great car from another era. They had bought the heap because it was badged as a Rover, and they knew nothing about cars. I think the only reason they kept on building it was because it was popular in Spain.

[Parky]

The Montego taught me to take Journalists with a pinch of salt. In 1989 my sisters friend Glen had a black MG Montego company car which was quick, well made, comfortable and actually quite desirable I thought. Being from Ford town where everyone had a Fiesta, Escort or Sierra and growing up where everyone believed the blue Oval was infallible, it was a huge surprise.

 

Even today I would happily roll in one, preferably an MG version in BRG. Considering the long gestation period of the car and the fact BL developed it during their dark days you have to realise what a great effort that car really was.

[mercrocker]

My only Monty encounter was with a company car.   I am afraid I cannot recall the number plate, spec (although it was dismal) but it was a 1.6.   I was of insufficient rank to warrant a car myself but if we needed one at work we took whatever was in the car park.   Normally that was an eclectic mix of Astra GTE, 1.8 Manta, Volvo 240GLE, Rover 2000 SD1 or one of the rep's Sierras.   We had just had a whizzy new manager sent down from head office and he brought the Monty with him.  I took it once and the only thing I remember about it was his tape player had one of those management-guru big-yourself-up seminar cassettes in it.  I switched that shit off pretty quickly!   The car failed to impress - it was just another crap modern back in 1985 - and I have never sampled another.   Probably would enjoy one now!  

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I can't recall having ever seen one in real life, so for me it's one of those elusive cars that only exist in catalogs, or trail the points count in a contemporary magazine comparison test.

Apart from being obviously shite, what could have been a reason to opt for one back in the day? I mean seriously.

As no one else seems prepared to leap to the Montego's defence, I'll give it a go.

You have to remember that in the late 80's the UK car market for anything bigger than a Metro/Fiesta was dominated by company cars,which meant fleet purchases. Transport managers were almost always middle aged men who had grown up with a 'Buy British' mentality, foreign cars were deemed too exotic for all but very senior management and even then the default choice were SD1's ,Garanadas ( yes everyone knew they were German,but pretended they weren't) and of course directors Jags.

This meant,in 1984,BL ,Ford or Vauxhall. Chrysler were just about hanging on by the skin of their teeth,but a lot of fleets never considered the Solara as a worthy Hunter replacement and when they started badging everything as Peugeots that put paid to all but the most progressive transport managers even considering them.

So the Montego didn't have too much work to do ,it's main competition was the Sierra,still only a hatch then,remember and the Cavalier which had taken over from the Cortina as the Repmobile of choice.

Compared to these two the Montego always seemed a bit better trimmed and the fancy body coloured bumpers and clear indicators made them look a lot more modern .

Fleets loved them and if they were getting rid of them at 60,000 miles or 3 years the running costs and reliability was identical to a Cavalier or Sierra.

Rover kept them competitive by always equipping them that bit better than the competition and user choosers will always be swayed by a sunroof or electric windows rather than the last tenth of driving pleasure.

For example a 1.6 GR 405 was obviously a much better car than a 2.0 SLX Montego but the Montego had electric mirrors and windows plus a sunroof and would do 115mph , where I worked in 1991, at management grade 10 (!) there were 30 Montegos and about 12 405s.

 

Personally I had a couple of estates because they had the extra seats in the back and as I worked in the transport dept had the pick of numerous pool cars and fleet demonstrators to use so the dynamic shortcomings weren't an issue , although to be fair I always found them a more refined cruiser than Cavaliers,BXs etc and only my juvenile predeliction for oversteer( before drifting had been invented) meant I preferred Sierras.

[Bren]

Many many moons ago (1985 I think) I went to a stunt show at Naughton park in Widnes - now the Halton stadium.

 

It was pretty good - Hall motors had let the stunt team borrow MG EFi montego's - they drove on two wheels, performed jumps etc.

 

Some of them ended up with damage - no doubt hastily repaired so the cars could be shoved on the forecourt ASAP.

[eddyramrod]

^I've seen Russ Swift do that kind of stuff a couple of times, great fun! I remember in September 1989 there was a stage of a rally at Albert Dock in Liverpool, consisting of an autotest course laid out in one of the brand new car parks. Russ was there in a standard 2.0 Montego and did a demo run of the course for the spectators, then they started sending the rally cars through. Proper stuff: Russell Brookes and all those Nordic consonants. About half-way down the list, they let Swifty have another go, in a showroom-stock car don't forget. He made the rally cars look like a bunch of L-drivers. He was the best advert BL could have wished for, for their mid-sized family saloon of all things!

[Pete-M]

One of the companies I do jobs for was built on the back of ten Montego TD Countryman estates. They still have fond memories of them.

 

They only run cars for a year or two but the Montego was cheap and reliable provided they kept them serviced.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

In answer to Junkman's question;

 

 

'Nuff said.

 

Apologies for small picture,tried to nick it off some bloke called Trigger's Retroroadtests but could only steal it off the thumbnails on Googlel

[RobT]

The MMOC are having a do at the Cowley plant tomorrow for the 30th, anyone on here going? I'll be there in the R8 as I'm also in Oxford visiting a mate, which is a happy coincidence!