The Kent History Forum
Members Only Area => General Discussion => Topic started by: Stewie on January 24, 2020, 10:20:39 PM
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Dear All
Clearing out the shed recently, I came across a copy of an Austin Maestro Haynes manual which is still in a good condition. Before I dispose of it, would anyone on the board have a use for this or know of someone who might? Is there such a thing as a Kent Austin Maestro owners club?
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Could try these guys
https://maestro.org.uk/forums/ (https://maestro.org.uk/forums/)
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That brings back memories, I had one of those and the car to go with it back in the 80's.
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Leyland cars of this period don't generally have a sparkling reputation. What are your memories of it - good or bad?
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I owned two Maestros a 1300 four speed and then a 1300 five speed, and though they weren't a 'ball of flame' I found them spacious cars for a young family especially when off on holiday. You could pick up a good runner at a reasonable price relative to other makes and they were relatively easy to maintain, the worst fault I had was having to drive home from Croydon with only 1st & second gears as the linkage to third and fourth had become disconnected!
We took our second Maestro on holiday to the both the West Country and the Isle of Wight and had some fond memories of it. I think our next car was a Rover 200 which was admittedly a much better car than the Maestro. :)
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I had a Rover Sd1 Vanden Plas auto (second hand) from the same sort of period and I must say was quite disappointed with the overall build quality of what was their top of the range car. When it went it was a really lovely car to drive, but unfortunately the reliability was not very good. This was the only Leyland/BMC car I've ever owned, I'm sure others may have had a better experience.
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I think our next car was a Rover 200 which was admittedly a much better car than the Maestro. :)
The Rover 200 was actually a Honda (Honda Ballade, a variant of the Honda Civic), imported into the UK in kit form and assembled here. It was the same deal as the Triumph Acclaim, which was an earlier model of the same car, imported in kit form and assembled at the Triumph factory in Canley, in an attempt to keep that factory open, after Triumph's whole product line-up was discontinued.