After the MGB: the Eighties MGs
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The fat lady had sung her last song, and sadly Abingdon closed in 1980. Temporarily, the MG marque was in abeyence: plans to re-badge the Triumph Broadside came to nothing, and so, all throughout 1981, Austin Rover had no new MGs to sell.

Was the marque dead? In June 1982, and to the relief of octagon enthusiasts, the answer proved to be an emphatic "no". Following on from the rash of tuned Metros that had appeared on the market since the car's launch in October 1980, the official item was launched, the MG Metro 1300. Resplendent in its red MG badging and themed interior (including red seatbelts) the new small MG proved an instant success.

Thankfully MG was back, thanks to re-engineering, not badge-engineering.

The Metros

The Metro was the first Austin Rover car to be subjected to the MG treatment. Arguably, it was the most successful recipient of the octagon treatment, perhaps because the early versions were rather similar to the Mini-Cooper in spirit...

MG Metro 1300

The MG Metro 1300 was a welcome addition to the ranks of the sporting hatchback. Although comfortably outgunned by such cars as the Ford Fiesta XR2 and Renault 5 Gordini (Alpine in Europe), the 72bhp MG was nevertheless a pleasurable steed and it soon found a ready market. In the UK, the car was lauded by the motoring press, most notably, What Car? magazine, who voted it their Car of the Year for 1983. Performance: 0-60mph, 12.2 seconds, maximum speed, 100mph (source: Autocar)

MG Metro Turbo

It was inevitable that Austin Rover would go down the forced induction route to extract more performance from the vanilla MG Metro. Within six months of the first car's launch, the Turbo version duly appeared. The installation was a rather simple one, breathing through an SU carburettor, as opposed to the more complex EFi induction systems of its rivals. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the installation was not in doubt boasting an excellent maximum power output of 93bhp, giving the MG Metro Turbo a fair turn of speed.

Identifiable from its more humble normally aspirated brother by its plastic wheel arches, deeper front air dam and larger diameter alloy wheels.

Contemporary road tests complained of less civilised road manners than the standard MG Metro, notably a propensity to torque steer and bounce too much on less than billiard-smooth roads.

Performance: 0-60mph, 9.4seconds, maximum speed, 110mph (source: Autocar)

The Maestros

It has been said that the MG Maestro was never planned for during the LM10 development programme - certainly, early prototypes were badged as Austin Maestro EXPs. The MG badged versions came along as a result of the success of the MG Metro and as a result of this hasty development, the first MG Maestro 1600s were considered to be a rather patchy car...

MG Maestro 1600

Hastily developed and half cooked is a rather honest description of the MG Maestro 1600. In order to extract a competitive power output from the R-Series engine (up from 81bhp to 103bhp), the single electronically controlled SU carburettor was replaced by a throaty twin Weber set-up. The induction noise of this car sounded terrific, but the downside was the well-documented problem of excessive heat build-up under the bonnet leading to fuel starvation and hot-starting problems. Also, customers did not take too well to the solid state instrument pack, shared with the Vanden Plas version. Nevertheless, there were many appealing aspects to the package: the accomodation, like all Maestros was generous and airy, the seats were exceptionally comfortable and performance was on the rapid side of acceptable.

The R-Series version was replaced by an S-Series version of the MG Maestro 1600 in July 1984, but lived a very short life - 2722 S-series cars were produced in total.

Performance: 0-60mph, 9.6seconds, maximum speed, 110mph

MG Maestro EFi

From under-achiever to class leader in one fell swoop: the MG Maestro EFi was transformed by the addition of the injected version of the O-Series engine and Honda PG-1 gearbox. Performance was lifted by the new 115bhp engine, but not only that, the build quality of these 1985 model Maestros had improved in leaps and bounds over their earlier counterparts and as a result, the car soon became known as a viable Golf GTi/XR3i rival. Practicality was always on the side of the Maestro, but somehow glamour was - and it soon became criminally ignored by the image conscious drivers the company was targeting.

Without doubt the MG Maestro EFi (later badged MG Maestro 2.0i) was the finest mass-market car that Austin Rover offered during the 1980s.

Performance: 0-60mph, 8.4seconds, maximum speed, 114mph

MG Maestro Turbo

Covered in more detail in the Maestro development story, the Turbo version of the MG Maestro came about as a last hurrah for saloon MGs in the 'eighties and the Maestro itself, in particular. 505 were produced in total, the bodystyling was by Tickford and the road manners were good, if not class leading. 152bhp endowed the turbocharged Maestro with what can only be described as sensational acceleration. Of course, by the time of its launch in 1989, the car was already well past its prime - the rest of the industry (and Rover themselves in the Honda-derived range) was fast moving away from forced induction, embracing multi-valve technology.

Performance: 0-60mph, 6.6seconds, maximum speed, 129mph.

The Montegos

"Cowley's Cortina" also received the MG treatment in an attempt to give the upmarket versions a little bit more cachet than perhaps the Austin could manage. When the Montego was launched in July 1984, the MG version was seen by the company as a viable rival to such cars as the BMW 3-Series and Audi 80/90.

MG Montego EFi

Perhaps the least convincing of all the MG saloons of the Eighties because it was too soft to be an out-and-out performance car, but too low geared and noisy to be an effective luxury car. Like the Maestro EFi, the MG Montego was an effective car, but sadly underrated by the buying public, who by 1984 were smitten by the Cavalier SRis - and that is a shame, because the MG Montego was a superior car to its GM rival in many ways.

Not a bad car, but not terribly interesting, either.

MG Montego Turbo

Dull was never a descriptive word that could be used to describe the MG Montego Turbo: not with its under-cooked chassis and resultant torque steer. Quick and roomy the Montego Turbo was, but never a car that could be described as possessing finesse. Not that it mattered to the marketing department, "The fastest-ever production MG" was how it was none-too subtlely described in the car's advertising.

By 1987/1988 the back room boys had managed to reduce the torque steer to manageable levels, but the car's image as a serious drivers' tool had already been destroyed, more the pity. My one abiding memory of the MG Montego Turbo above all others was it's vivid acceleration.

Performance: 0-60mph, 7.2seconds, maximum speed, 126mph (source: Autocar)

Copyright © 2002 Keith Adams