Shed Of The Week: Maestro 1.3

Shed's wandering itch could well be satisfied with this adventure prepped Maestro

Adventure vehicles aren't necessarily the same thing as vehicles in which you can have an adventure. This week's Shed falls fascinatingly into the latter category.

Yes, that's 'motorsport' written on a Maestro's bonnet

If you don't fancy sallying forth onto the world's back roads, meeting hordes of interesting people and having what could well be a life-changing experience, don't waste the next 10 minutes of your life. Stop reading now.

If, on the other hand, you have a basic toolkit, a hankering for some purpose in your life and the flexibility to do a Reggie Perrin and leave your metaphorical underpants on the beach, you might want to give some thought to this Shed.

The history of the Rodacar - which is what you're looking at here rather than a 'true' Maestro - is an adventure in itself. In the early 1990s, the Rover Group (under British Aerospace management) was looking to move Maestro production from Cowley to Bulgaria. A joint venture proposal between Rover and the Bulgarian engineering company Vammo was meant to produce up to 50,000 Maestros a year by 1994.

Tough as a pair of Bulgarian work boots

That deal foundered, but the Bulgarian connection was re-established when BMW bought Rover from BA in 1994. BMW's main dealer in Bulgaria, the Daru Group, went into a $20m deal with Rover to form Rodacar AD, building cars exclusively for the Bulgarian market.

From September 1995, Mk3 Maestro Clubman parts produced in the UK began to be assembled on a production line in Varna on Bulgaria's east coast. The plan was to build 1,700 vehicles in year one and 7,000 in year two, but political machinations and uncompetitive pricing stopped Rodacar production prematurely in April 1996 with just 2,000 cars built. Only 200 were actually sold in Bulgaria. About a thousand cars were shipped abroad, the remainder coming to the UK.

Which brings us to this little fellow. With the A+ series engine and the five-speed VW gearbox from the Maestro van, plus the suspension and 14-inch steel wheels from the 2.0 diesel Maestro, these LHD cars were designed to survive Bulgaria's tough motoring conditions. This 65,000-miler should therefore have plenty of life left in it. And what a life it could be for the next owner, trundling about the continent in pursuit of good causes, or venturing farther afield in pursuit of the meaning of life and/or the parts necessary to keep the thing going, a task that should prove less than arduous given the prosaic provenance of the oily bits.

Built for adventures - where would yours be?

That 1.3 petril-cheesoid motor (with no catalyst to fail) means easy running on dubious fuels and simple long-term maintenance. The Hopkirk pastiche means you'll never be short of an icebreaker when you arrive at Kazakhstan border control. And the Rodacar story means you'll still have plenty to talk about when you're chatting to the guard through the bars of the detention cell.

Once free, can't you just imagine yourself parked up outside a Moroccan garage munching on a lump of special fudge as yer man fabricates an exhaust bracket out of some old bits of angle iron and his oppo carves a new head gasket out of a slice of dried billygoat skin?

Ooh, the romance of it all. If only Shed wasn't contractually obliged to deliver food to Mrs Shed's table on a daily basis, he assures us he'd off to Dover in this like a rat up a drainpipe.

Here's the ad.

Austin Maestro 1.3 5dr LHD Maestro -BMC Rally Tribute 1996
Red, Upgrades include Rare Rodacar Built Left Hand Drive, Velour Upgraded Upholstery, Rear Wash Wipe, Intermittent Wash Wipe, Split Rear Seats, 6 wheel Upgrade, Extra Driving Lamps. Grey Velour Interior, 5 seats, Left hand-drive, VW 5 Speed Gearbox, Built to compete in European runs for charity, Thinly Disguised as a tribute to Paddy Hopkirk abd the BMC Rally Cars of the 1960's, Staples to Naples, Swiss Trip, Tour of France 2010/2011, Lemans Classic France 2012, Great Fun, £999

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BFleming

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