Tuesday 18th July 2017

Austin Maestro van: Would You Really Want To?

You Know You Want To has a slightly funny turn

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Nostalgia can do funny things to people, the power of the old rose tints seemingly able to cloud judgement that would otherwise tell you a beige 1.3-litre Maestro van should be precisely as exotic and desirable as it would have been when new back in 1985. Which is to say not especially.

I'm willing to be told I'm being unnecessarily harsh here. I've a good friend who's a passionate Maestro fan and, though not my cup of tea, I'll indulge his love for his MG version on the basis it does at least have some manner of eccentric cred. I'm still holding out for him to tell me why this van version should be worth eight grand though. Eight grand!

Now I realise everything has a value and rarity can do unexpected things to those of surviving examples of previously unloved machinery. And that someone decided they were going to preserve a machine of this nature does rather boggle my brain. One thing's for sure, you're very, very unlikely to come across another Maestro van as seemingly immaculate as this one. And you would hope you'd be able to recoup some of that price hiring it out to film companies requiring authentic set dressing for 80s street scenes. Enough to justify that incredible figure though? Someone tell me it does, because, hand on heart, I'm not out to give the car a kicking. I'm just mystified!

For some context, I put a search into the PH classifieds to see what else of this vintage £8K could get you. Well, you could have a rather nice looking Porsche 924 S for starters. OK, not considered one of the most desirable cars to ever leave Stuttgart. And pricey for one of these. But the history sounds appealingly detailed, the car looks nicely original and, well, it's not a beige Maestro van, is it?

Tell me I'm missing the point and it's worth every penny as a historical artefact worthy of a good home, whatever the cost. Part of me wants to believe!

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AUSTIN MAESTRO VAN
Price: £7,995
Why you should: You won't see another like it
Why you shouldn't: Possibly 7,995 reasons

See the original advert here.

[sortedcossie]

I was at a show last year and in my show class I was up against a late registered H plate one in white, it was spotless - just like the one in the advert.

It was time warp, but had to wonder why anyone would keep one like that - each to their own though.