Cars that just vanished. No.1: Montego.

[rwd]

2 hours ago, Steve79 said:

1984-1986 Vanden Plas efi saloon would be the one to have if you could find one. In JRG with Nicolette Mckenzie chatting shit from behind the dash about some imaginary fault.

Blue one in the side road opposite Bendix.    A guy in his 30s drives it.  And a green one ive see a few time around Filton

 

[Marsh]

Montys were ok, more so the 1988 onwards Rover ones. Although all three are now rare, it'd be easier to find a Cavalier MK2 or a Sierra than a Montego. Poor early reputation causing lower values at the time? An early brown 1.3 base would be my pick.

[Macscrooge]

The Montego was a nice car. I drove them (rentals) quite a bit in the mid-80s. Mostly 1.6L saloons. They went very well and were much nicer than the equivalent Sierras and Cavaliers. They were also a much better drive than the Opel Manta 1.8s on the same rental fleet. I was lucky enough to try a couple of 2.0i versions which were very brisk. The turbo must have been very lively! 

[Alfaisti]

Had the light blue coloured MG Montego with red piping on a B plate around 1990,  quite fast as I remember bugger to get tyres for as metric. Used to do the run from Newcastle upon Tyne home to Fife every weekend up the A1, well before the advent of speed cameras officer. Had 2 attempts at being stolen without success from Whitley Bay, 1st got the radio and my favourite U2 tapes, 2nd only managed to mangle ignition lock.

Died a death from the usual tin worm, and being uneconomical to repair.

[Rovorsche]

You can have the very last Montego if your pockets are deep and full.....

£7500 for an auto ?

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1176812

[Marsh]

47 minutes ago, The Mighty Quinn said:

They must have been desperate to drive though. The 1.3 Cavalier was surprisingly brisk because of that little OHC motor. 70 bhp weren't they?

Yeah 75 I think. Same as a 1.6 Sierra

[Marsh]

37 minutes ago, Rovorsche said:

You can have the very last Montego if your pockets are deep and full.....

£7500 for an auto ?

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1176812

Might offer £7450

[AnthonyG]

I think the higher Maestro survival rate is due to a much higher % of privately owned from new.  
Maestros were also marginally better on rust, possibly because of much simpler window/weather sealing - I always assumed Montego rear arches rotted really quickly because of poor sealing around the rear windows/screen, and all those trim panels (tacked on by Roy Axe at the last minute) to hide the joins.  
Maestros still got tatty, but didn’t seem to develop massive holes at about 7 years old. 

[adw1977]

75 bhp for the 1.3 Cavalier, 68 bhp for the 1.3 Montego.

Cavalier brochure

Montego brochure

[Marsh]

1 minute ago, adw1977 said:

75 bhp for the 1.3 Cavalier, 68 bhp for the 1.3 Montego.

Cavalier brochure

Montego brochure

Yes sounds about right. I doubt either were much cheaper/economical than the equivalent 1.6

[Isaac Hunt]

I had two of them.  One after the other as company cars, 1.6SL and then a 1.6SLX.  100k in both of them.  The 1.6SLX had a new head gasket at 200 miles,  new head at 300 miles and a new engine at 400 miles (cracked block it was ). Then one day I was OMG though a scrapyard looking for a Nissan Bluebird and there was my 1.6SL with two Sierra’s on its roof.  That was surreal.

[Timewaster]

My other Montego memory was a guy I worked with around 2002 did a 30 mile commute every day so economy was everything and a working  heater a close second. 

He bought an F reg Montego with the perkins diesel. An absolute shed of a car, moon miles, dents, rust, mis matched panels - the lot. I think he gave a couple of hundred quid for it and ran it into the ground for 6 months. 

Someone he knew wanted it so they could rob the engine for a Sherpa / LDV recovery truck (a few of his mates were banger racers). 

We went in search of a 306 TD with a working heater for as little money as possible and we found one a few miles up the road. 

306 bought, I drove it back to his, following what was now known as the mighty Montego across fen roads in the dark. 

I could barely keep up with him and he knew the roads better than me, but the image that will stay with me is this battered beige Montego spitting glowing orange ash out of the exhaust as he engine braked for the bends and then booted it on the straights. 

 

[jakebullet]

A m8 had an estate at uni in '95. I put 3 new lock sets in it following theft attempts. Good job the battery was fooked or it would have gone. We got bored and fitted a switch for ignition on. Weirdly no more theft attempts after that.

[Bren]

I actually saw one last summer either C or D reg parked outside a house in Llanberis.

[Skut]

My mate Andy has one that he's spending a fortune on, and he couldn't have bought a rougher one if he tried. I drove it briefly in our work car park and broke the handbrake. Not doing a Russ Swift, just trying to park it. 

 

 

[scdan4]

They have vanished.

as a yoof these were a weapon of choice for many friends parents. Grew up in Devon between farm and sea and spent many an hour in the back of one of these ....

Full of kids, full of wet dogs, full of tip run rubbish, full of firewood, sills filled with sea water dropping boats in and out.

Not surprised they didn’t last. 

As a young passenger the strongest memory is not liking the rev counter, as it was a stupid shape and size.

[xtriple]

A very good friend of mine worked for Wadham Stringer and then an independant BL/MG Rover dealer. He always had Montegos or Maestros as company cars... MG's naturally! I went to a closed auction with him once and he could tell which month a Maestro/Montego was built due to all the various tiny differences that they got month by month as suppliers changed, he really was the ultimate anorak! He also got a 1 month ban for a 110 just outside Plymouth in a Maestro Turbo, they really were flying machines.

The first MG Maestro I had was a 1600 with the twin  choke carbs and the annoying bird chatting away at you, great car, when it went. Not a great cold starter... The last was a  late MG Montego 2.0 efi which I bought off  a mate 'cos he was skint! I really didn;t want it but it had a towbar and I had a boat, a marriage made in heaven! That poor car used to get reversed right into the water (salt water...) to launch the boat and then again to get it out. We'd launched the boat one night after work at Kingsbridge quay and then got chatting to a lass that had bought another boat off someone I worked with (oops) and it was sat at quayside with a flat battery. My mate, ever gallant ofered to go and get jump leads, I presumed in the hopes of getting a jump himself later...

Anyhoo, trailer off and he shot off up through the carpark at a rate of knots and was back in double quick time with the jump leads, he was also absolutely soaked from the waist down! Er, why?

Because the car was FULL of water from the launching and he, being a mad twat, charged up to the junction at the end of the carpark, hit the brakes and he said, and I quote... 'the tidal wave that flooded through the car was like a fucking Tsunami!' Apparently, the water went right over the top of the front seat squabs...

amazingly, that was the least rusty Monty-no-go I had seen in years and we used to leave it soaked in salt water parked for weeks at a time and the bugger would always start and go no problem, apart from the brakes having stuck on due to rust! When we moved I ended up giving it back to the guy I'd bought it froma s we already had multiple cars and nowhere to park this one, also, the various people that helped us move needed a lift back t Kingsbridge so it was easier to give him the car if he would give them all a lift home... he did live in Kingsbridge as well so not really a chore!

I LIKE Montegos and Maestros, but then I also get a warm fuzzy feeling over Metros so there is little hope for me.

[Datsuncog]

As related last year...

A gripping* rollercoaster* narrative of why I didn't buy a deeply shonky diesel Montego estate back in 2013, which turned out to be the last one I ever encountered locally.

It was perplexing to finally discover a car which was functional, yet failed to meet even my extremely low standards for a conveyance.

Basically, while driving it everything that should have been tight felt loose, while everything that should have been loose felt tight...

Coupled with an extremely odd double-act duo selling it, and disappearing parts, I still count this one as a lucky escape...

[Asimo]

15 hours ago, vanmartinrooy said:

If that's in the Southampton area I've seen it! Otherwise, there's another one ?

Not Southampton, this is seen around  Hereford.

 

 

Shame that the sole 3.5 litre Montego is SORNed.

[Bobthebeard]

Years ago (obviously) I had a Montego turbo as a company car. It was great as far as I remember. Fast and good looking in the day. The tyres scrabbling for grip and the wheel spin is a memory.

[lesapandre]

58 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

As related last year...

A gripping* rollercoaster* narrative of why I didn't buy a deeply shonky diesel Montego estate back in 2013, which turned out to be the last one I ever encountered locally.

It was perplexing to finally discover a car which was functional, yet failed to meet even my extremely low standards for a conveyance.

Basically, while driving it everything that should have been tight felt loose, while everything that should have been loose felt tight...

Coupled with an extremely odd double-act duo selling it, and disappearing parts, I still count this one as a lucky escape...

You are right - sometimes something tells you not to go ahead with a car. 

[andyberg]

B411AMG 

This was my first fast * car after passing my test. A montego MG with the digital dash and full Janspeed exhaust? DVLA say its dead now. I still miss it, and, perversely, I think I would like another....... 

 

Stupidly I did a px on an early 320 BMW, I never liked that car, it lasted a couple of months before I sold it and got a vauxhall carlto, buts that's by the by. I would love a montego again, even through rose tinted glasses?

[wuvvum]

My dad had two Montego estates as company cars in the early '90s - he chose them because they were about the most economical car at the time and the BIK tax was low, so he paid out less and got to keep more of his mileage allowance.

First was a bright red DLX - H966GVU.  It was his first turbocharged car and he spent the first few trips we did in it slowing down so he could boot it and listen to the turbo spinning up.  It was a nice enough thing to travel in but it always had a funny smell inside from the trim.  I only drove it once, briefly - I remember the steering being very light and the brakes rather mushy, but that's about it. 

Then we moved to France in '93 and he got a BRG GTD - which was basically a Countryman with aircon and the seats in the boot.  437ABN38 was the reg.  I remember it overheating once when we were driving up an Alp on a 35-degree day, 8 up and with the aircon running.  It was a bit quieter than the DLX (it had an EGR valve which the earlier car didn't), the trim was nicer and it had rear headrests and fake wood on the doors, but otherwise it was much the same - a bit noisy and tinny but quite a pleasant way to get around.

Then he lost his job (and the car with it) and bought a Volvo 240 estate which he kept for years.

[wuvvum]

18 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

The R3 200 series constantly outsold the Maestro/Montego range from about early 87 onwards. 

*SD3

/pedant

[Richard_FM]

A friend of a friend had an E reg one in 1997 which was already in banger territory after a decade on the road.  I remember it would overheat if waiting in traffic for too long.

[scdan4]

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

Not Southampton, this is seen around  Hereford.

 

 

Shame that the sole 3.5 litre Montego is SORNed.

Only 34 diesel montegos left, with only one of those taxed. They were highly prized once.

Fuck me that’s a complete annihilation. How many were there at peak? Every other car was a montego for a while.

I appreciate that that’s the whole point of this thread but that’s an order of magnitude or 2 worse than I would have guessed.

Maestros were owned by little old dears. Seems no one loved the tego. 

[sierraman]

Didn’t Joe Sugden in Emmerdale have one? 

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, lesapandre said:

You are right - sometimes something tells you not to go ahead with a car. 

Aye, I'm looking at the pics again and wondering why the hell I didn't go for it, at £300 with a year's MOT - but there was something not right about the whole set up, the car was only part of it.

I also couldn't find it anywhere on the DVLA database, although that was back when you had to add the manufacturer before you could carry out a search - and it wasn't clear whether it was listed under Austin, Austin Rover, Rover, Montego. Everything I tried returned a 'vehicle not found' message.

Looking at Cazana now, it seems to be listed as an Austin, and certainly the bootlid had an Austin badge...

…even though apparently the Austin name wasn't attached to the Montego following the 1988 facelift.

Curiouser and curiouser.

 

Loving the Cazana valuation, though!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

12 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Aye, I'm looking at the pics again and wondering why the hell I didn't go for it, at £300 with a year's MOT - but there was something not right about the whole set up, the car was only part of it.

I also couldn't find it anywhere on the DVLA database, although that was back when you had to add the manufacturer before you could carry out a search - and it wasn't clear whether it was listed under Austin, Austin Rover, Rover, Montego. Everything I tried returned a 'vehicle not found' message.

Looking at Cazana now, it seems to be listed as an Austin, and certainly the bootlid had an Austin badge...

…even though apparently the Austin name wasn't attached to the Montego following the 1988 facelift.

Curiouser and curiouser.

 

Loving the Cazana valuation, though!

Probably not any sinister reason for the Austin moniker, they were always known as such, probably a mistake filling a form in somewhere; manufacturer, dealer, local licensing office, etc and it just stayed on the logbook.

My Montego experiences range from fleet demos, company cars, wife's car, my taxis, a fleet of rented taxis and many to sell on( particularly profitable when an old red or white one that got a Hurricane Grey bottom half blow over and a set of £10 Rover trims off local kids).

The only one I've never driven is a Turbo although I did have a weird full factory bodykitted black MG that looked the part.

The best? M reg 2.0D Countryman in dark blue- it was my last company car, which show you how long it is since I've had a real job!

The worst? F reg 2.0 Si saloon I bought to cab, it was completely knackered , never even licensed it , just fired through an auction.

The fastest? D red 2.0i VdP estatethat had been a demo for Mototune , lowered, noisy exhaust, some sort of induction kit etc, Mrs hated it and I ripped a hole in the sump at Northampton balloon festival- got £500 out of council, bodged it and fired through an auction.

The last one? H95 VCP a white 2.0D LX- cabbed it for years, rented it out then sold to a taxi driver in Buckingham- must have done 300k miles- never let anyone down- although it had 3 different coloured door handles by the time I got rid.

One of life's funniest sights is watching a drunk grab the door handle so hard it comes off and hits him in the face.

[NorthernMonkey]

I bought one from M1 motor auctions back in 1990 for the grand total of £1650 if I remember correctly. It was 4 years old at the time and was half the cost of an equivalent Cavalier or Sierra...got it plated up as a minicab and hit the mean streets of Leeds.

One memorable night in early ‘92, some pissed up twat in a Escort cabby came out of a side street doing 50 with a police car on his tail, hit me head on whilst I was doing 30+ and finished up parked on my bonnet and windscreen. I had no belt on and bounced my head off the wheel and screen...I got out of the wreckage under my own steam and had the cut on my scalp glued shut at the LGI whereas my front seat customer who had his seatbelt on finished up in hospital for a week with four broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Poor sod was due to get married the following day too.

Anyway, the police reckoned that if I’d been in any other car, I’d have likely finished up with severe leg injuries at best but apparently the bulkheads on Montegos were remarkably strong so the engine and box stayed roughly where they were supposed to.

Always had a soft spot for them...rip D697NHL