RE: MG Montego Turbo: Time For Tea?
Discussion
Dad test drove one for a company car and didn't like its tendency to change lane under accel. that said, they were pretty good in their day...I loved my one vicar owner Maestro Efi in white (pure as..) they were brilliant fun. Arguably a better drive than my mk 2 Gti Golfs that followed but perhaps without the looks. The Golf has aged much better.
Montego is still a sharp shape after all these years though
Montego is still a sharp shape after all these years though
alpha channel said:
I can still remember the one a neighbour had, I'm pretty sure it was the Turbo, in white with the red accents I thought it was a great looking car (still do frankly), especially in that colour combo.
How about a record? I've had 6 or was it 7 ...or 8?Used to get the 'oh gawd Montegos and the butt of a million rust jokes'.
Now they are like hen's teeth. Who's laughing now?
Had two GSi Executives (all leather and tons of extras) - a silver GSi that rotted, and a blue which was a modded GSi. Had one black Motobuild Montego, again rotted before my eyes.
I've still got my Turbo (white/red) but it's starting to go (only a little) on the rear arch - which is a miracle considering it's been outside for years! The blue one was written off by the guy who bought it (told him it would go!) and the green MG is about to be scrapped - rot again.
I'll find a pic in mo.
Funny (if not entirely surprising) that this is now rarer than the Ferrari 599 SA Aperta:
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/mg_montego_mg...
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/ferrari_sa_ap...
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/mg_montego_mg...
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/ferrari_sa_ap...
I also had one, F reg 89. Black with red details and looked rather smart I thought.
Was very fast for its time, being a family car after all.
Mine was very smooth and could pull high gear up steep hills without any problem.
Although 150bhp sounds low today, it was huge torque at fairly low revs and being very light, which made it so real world fast.
Seats were a bit too wide I thought.
So that is only thing about I'd change if I had one now.
Did lots of miles and never missed a beat.
Was very fast for its time, being a family car after all.
Mine was very smooth and could pull high gear up steep hills without any problem.
Although 150bhp sounds low today, it was huge torque at fairly low revs and being very light, which made it so real world fast.
Seats were a bit too wide I thought.
So that is only thing about I'd change if I had one now.
Did lots of miles and never missed a beat.
Absolutely nothing wrong with a good Montego - had both 2.0i and Perkins TD Countryman and for their time they were fine. Sobering that today my standard BMW 120D X Drive is quicker to 60 than the lauded Turbo - with a higher top speed and over 50 mpg! A shed near where I live houses a 'new' Montego shell that was bought to do a re-shell but never happened!
Horrible cars - could & should have been much better however as always with ARG they were cobbled together. IMO.
Axle tramp from what I recall & turbo lag on the cars I drove. Not good at all.
Worked for a dealer that sold these sodding things - along with MG Maestros & MG Metros. Troublesome card which were always in the workshop.
No doubt the MG fan boys will give me s
t for my comments but hey I don't care. I, that is me, didn't like them then & I don't like them now.
I did however have fun on a race track in Metro turbos......
Axle tramp from what I recall & turbo lag on the cars I drove. Not good at all.
Worked for a dealer that sold these sodding things - along with MG Maestros & MG Metros. Troublesome card which were always in the workshop.
No doubt the MG fan boys will give me s
t for my comments but hey I don't care. I, that is me, didn't like them then & I don't like them now.I did however have fun on a race track in Metro turbos......
loose cannon said:
Even the venerable old turbo diesel montego
Was a quick car for its time
Mmmmm. I had one in the mid 90s when I started work. A 1993 silver derv estate. Was a great car at the time, never let me down, comfy enough for all the motorway work the job required, cheap enough so that I made a profit and the car allowance etc and liberating to have a car that I really didn't care about that much. I don't think it was that fast though (that said someone did nick it). Was a quick car for its time
I had an MG Montego when I was 19, C278 RDP was the reg, shows as last taxed around 1997.
I enjoyed mine very much, it was a blast in the wet! I do remember the tyres were eye wateringly expensive being a continental rim size and I think you were limited to Michelin tyres only?
Mine was the same colour as the blue one above, Moonraker blue?
Stef
I enjoyed mine very much, it was a blast in the wet! I do remember the tyres were eye wateringly expensive being a continental rim size and I think you were limited to Michelin tyres only?
Mine was the same colour as the blue one above, Moonraker blue?
Stef
My first ever Pistonhead type memory was in my my mates dads Montego Turbo in the late 80's.
He was a mentalist and in an effort to impress/scare his passengers, drove over a hump back bridge on Barden Lane in Burnley at warp speed ten. I've never since been fully airborne in a motor, and never particularly want to again. It worked; I was scared stless, but my overriding memory of the car at the time was that it was quick. In some ways it made me have a fond spot for the Montego, although by modern standards it is most probably crap.
He was a mentalist and in an effort to impress/scare his passengers, drove over a hump back bridge on Barden Lane in Burnley at warp speed ten. I've never since been fully airborne in a motor, and never particularly want to again. It worked; I was scared s
tless, but my overriding memory of the car at the time was that it was quick. In some ways it made me have a fond spot for the Montego, although by modern standards it is most probably crap.I had an MG Montego back in the mid 80s. I can't honestly say it was a great car but it was fun for what it was...
It was stolen in Guildford and bits of it were found later on in a lock up where it was being broken up and sold for parts. I identified it from the superglue I used to try and stop the incessant rattling from the air vents.
Vauxhall Vectra Sri's were the competition if I recall..........
It was stolen in Guildford and bits of it were found later on in a lock up where it was being broken up and sold for parts. I identified it from the superglue I used to try and stop the incessant rattling from the air vents.
Vauxhall Vectra Sri's were the competition if I recall..........
fatboy69 said:
Horrible cars - could & should have been much better however as always with ARG they were cobbled together. IMO.
Axle tramp from what I recall & turbo lag on the cars I drove. Not good at all.
Worked for a dealer that sold these sodding things - along with MG Maestros & MG Metros. Troublesome card which were always in the workshop.
No doubt the MG fan boys will give me st for my comments but hey I don't care. I, that is me, didn't like them then & I don't like them now.
I did however have fun on a race track in Metro turbos......
Build quality was an issue, but then in the 80s most makes had issues. As for axle tramp? Really? Turbo lag, not if set up properly, and the car would handle really well and torque steer almost disappeared if lowered and had uprated shocks (KYBs) - the standard car sat miles too high. Rot was a problem but no different to Fords etc of that era and nothing compared to Alfas and Lancias, I remember watching an Alfasud disintegrate before my eyes! It's all relevant.Axle tramp from what I recall & turbo lag on the cars I drove. Not good at all.
Worked for a dealer that sold these sodding things - along with MG Maestros & MG Metros. Troublesome card which were always in the workshop.
No doubt the MG fan boys will give me s
t for my comments but hey I don't care. I, that is me, didn't like them then & I don't like them now.I did however have fun on a race track in Metro turbos......
Some didn't rot (very unusual, but down to your remark about build quality I guess). But it was the reason why I bought this one owner Montego Turbo just over 10 years ago.
Over 7500 Turbos were built, but now it's rarer than the Tickford MG Maestro Turbo of which only 501 were built.
Yeah, you either like 'em or like you, loathe 'em.
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