62 replies to this topic

[lewBlew]

66 Austin Montegos on the road, 173 Rover Montegos on the road....

 

Anyone remember when these cars were ubiquitous? I remember my Uncle had one which was amazing. Green it was. Surely one of the better looking and most practical British cars of the 80s/90s? Huge load space in Countryman form. Amazing rear-facing seats in the boot for kids?

 

239 left taxed... WHY

 

 

[gazza82]

That late 1980's problem ... rust. I had an MG Montego in '88 and by '94, rusted through sills.

[AVV IT]

Because they're awful, hateful monstrosities that's why!!

We had some fantastic cars when I was a kid. A mk1 escort, a mk3 cortina, two classic minis! We also had a 1984 1.6L Montego saloon and it was without a doubt the worst car we ever had when I was growing up. Slow, underpowered, dull and uninspiring. It was also the most highly maintained, yet least the reliable car we ever owned too. The boot used to open itself at random despite having numerous replacement release cables and catches. The ECU had a life if it's own and would regularly detect a fire and shut the fuel off without warning, usually in the fast lane if the M1. The only time it didn't detect a fire was when the car was actually on fire! The engine was pulled out, stripped down and rebuilt more times than I can remember.

The "Montego years" of my childhood were just one long wait in a lay by for the AA man, with nothing to do but listen to my old man shouting, swearing, cursing and blaspheming about what an utter heap of crap the Montego was! So for me, 239 of them left is 238 too many in my opinion! There needs to be just one remaining, and that should be placed in a glass cabinet in a museum somewhere, so it can serve as a warning to future generations not to ever build such an awful car, ever again!

[lewBlew]

Because they're awful, hateful monstrosities that's why!!

We had some fantastic cars when I was a kid. A mk1 escort, a mk3 cortina, two classic minis! We also had a 1984 1.6L Montego saloon and it was without a doubt the worst car we ever had when I was growing up. Slow, underpowered, dull and uninspiring. It was also the most highly maintained, yet least the reliable car we ever owned too. The boot used to open itself at random despite having numerous replacement release cables and catches. The ECU had a life if it's own and would regularly detect a fire and shut the fuel off without warning, usually in the fast lane if the M1. The only time it didn't detect a fire was when the car was actually on fire! The engine was pulled out, stripped down and rebuilt more times than I can remember.

The "Montego years" of my childhood were just one long wait in a lay by for the AA man, with nothing to do but listen to my old man shouting, swearing, cursing and blaspheming about what an utter heap of crap the Montego was! So for me, 239 of them left is 238 too many in my opinion! There needs to be just one remaining, and that should be placed in a glass cabinet in a museum somewhere, so it can serve as a warning to future generations not to ever build such an awful car, ever again!

 

Shocked but enthralled by your message!

 

Could these have been problems ironed out by the 90s when my aunt and uncle had one?

[Tanya]

I love Montegos - great cars particularly the diesel Countrymans and I still have one . He's fantastic and I love him to bits

I organised the 30th Birthday celebrations for Montego which were held at MINI Plant Oxford at the end of April. For those of you who don't know, Montego (& Maestro) were made at Cowley. About 570,000 Montegos were produced.

For the 30th celebrations Nicolette McKenzie, the lady who gave her voice to the talking dash in MG & VP Maestros & Montegos in the early years came to help celebrate with us. We had a great day, with a fantastic Montego shaped cake. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Russ Swift has really fond memories of Montego - well it was the model that gave him his big break

[Tanya]

Here's my Montgomery thread - http://www.theminifo...192-montgomery/

We had the earliest known surviving Montego at the celebrations, built 23rd/24th February 1984 (launch was 25th April) and the only MG Montego with the talking dash that's still on the road.

I really must go to sleep now, but you've put my brain in Montego overdrive!

[lewBlew]

I love Montegos - great cars particularly the diesel Countrymans and I still have one . He's fantastic and I love him to bits

I organised the 30th Birthday celebrations for Montego which were held at MINI Plant Oxford at the end of April. For those of you who don't know, Montego (& Maestro) were made at Cowley. About 570,000 Montegos were produced.

For the 30th celebrations Nicolette McKenzie, the lady who gave her voice to the talking dash in MG & VP Maestros & Montegos in the early years came to help celebrate with us. We had a great day, with a fantastic Montego shaped cake. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Russ Swift has really fond memories of Montego - well it was the model that gave him his big break

 

Yes I read the article on aronline. I agree they are great cars. Absolutely amazing how they have dwindled to less than 250 when Minis are probably far more preserved.

 

What, 1.2% of Minis left and 0.04% of Montegos if my maths don't fail me?

[lewBlew]

Here's my Montgomery thread - http://www.theminifo...192-montgomery/

We had the earliest known surviving Montego at the celebrations, built 23rd/24th February 1984 (launch was 25th April) and the only MG Montego with the talking dash that's still on the road.

I really must go to sleep now, but you've put my brain in Montego overdrive!

 

Tanya. absolutely stunning Montego and very important because 20 years from now I worry many 80s/90s cars will be lost, compared to 60s/70s ones.

[Guess-Works.com]

I had one from nearly new, 1990.  front end was never older than 2 years... **** brakes...

 

Previous to this the pool car for the company I worked for was a MG Maestro, very fast, **** brakes...dreadful  handling.

[SuperDeLuxeNick]

its a montego guys

[henri1972]

i did have a MG montego stripped out capri headlights but could not bring myself to drive it my sister had a MG maestro 1600 with the quad carbs bloody quick but i had to tune it once a month because it would run like a dog

[The Matt]

Montegos are rare because they're just not that nice. How anyone can think they're one of the nicer cars of the era is just beyond me. They're a hideous design. Square, ugly, rubbish build. I've worked on enough of them to hate them with a passion.

[Chance]

I like them

Probably because I like things no one else does :)

That's why I gave my Rover 100...I love it and I very rarely see another which is what I like :)

Next might be a Rover 220 Gti/Gsi turbo :)

[(philip)]

My dad had a pale blue maestro. I remember when he got it thinking it was the mutts nuts and really futuristic.

[Tanya]

My diesel Countryman estate was the only daily that I ever regretted selling - it was fantastic and unbeatable in many ways.  I had it when it was a year old and kept it for 8 years, covering 132,000 cheap, trouble free miles.  Sadly, its body was dissolving and I was going to need to start putting money into it (it had only had standard maintenance while it was with me), so with my sensible 'daily head' on, I sold it

 

I hated the two Zafiras that followed it, and although their bodies didn't dissolve, they were far from the trouble free motoring I was used to with the Montego.  As time went on, I missed not having a Montego more and more so decided to search for a replacement.  Well over a year later, I found Montgomery, who is almost identical to my first one, same year, same spec, same reg (M plate), same colour and even like my first one, he too had been an MCP car (Rover management).  I think he was both my best and luckiest car find, being in remarkably good condition. 

 

I'm not mad on the saloon shape, it's ok, but just not really me.  However, I think the estate shape is just fantastic, not hugely beautiful, but handsome and at least it looks like an estate which most modern estates don't.  I would really love an early one (a friend has a gorgeous one), but I'm not supposed to be buying anymore cars

 

It's funny as I've always had Minis so never missed owning them.  My Montego has been the only car that I have missed owning so I'm dead chuffed to have another and I think I must be one of the most enthusiastic Montego owners - I can talk all day about them!