The Austin Maestro is a small family car which was produced in Oxford, England, from November 1982 to December 1994. There are two body styles, a five-door hatchback and a two-door van. It was introduced by British Leyland (BL) under the Austin marque, with the Rover Group (BL's successor from 1986 onwards) selling it simply as the Maestro starting from 1988. An MG-branded performance version was sold as the MG Maestro from 1983 until 1991.
The Maestro replaced the Austin Maxi and Austin Allegro, with the van version replacing the corresponding van derivative of the Morris Ital. Although later year models were sometimes informally referred to as the Rover Maestro, the car never wore the Rover badge. The Austin Montego saloon was a variant of the Maestro.
The Maestro was produced over a period of twelve years, with little change to its basic design, at Morris' former Oxford plant in Cowley, with 605,000 units sold in total. After production in the UK ended, knock-down kits were assembled in Varna, Bulgaria, from 1995 to 1996 under the Rodacar joint venture. Various derivatives were also made in China from 1998 to 2017.
Background
British Leyland was created in 1975 when the bankrupt British Leyland Motor Corporation was nationalized. In 1977, the South African-born corporate troubleshooter, Michael Edwardes, was recruited as chairman to sort out the troubled firm. Part of Edwardes' plan was to introduce a completely new range of mass-market models to replace the current offerings, designed and built using state-of-the-art technology. The new range eventually decided upon consisted of a new vehicle for each of the small, lower-medium and upper-medium market segments. The first of these cars to be launched was the Austin Metro in 1980.
Design and development The new cars for the lower and upper medium segments were to share a platform, with various trim and styling differences to distinguish the two different models. The two models would in effect replace four existing vehicles in the British Leyland range – the Maestro would simultaneously replace both the Austin Allegro and Maxi, whilst the Montego replaced the Austin Ambassador and Morris Ital, these latter two having been recent facelifts of the Princess and Morris Marina. Since all but the Allegro were made at the Cowley plant, this rationalization would give the cost benefits of production automation and flexibility. This common platform was given the project name LC10, using the Leyland Cars project sequence (LC8 became the Austin Mini Metro on its launch in 1980, LC9 became the Triumph Acclaim when it was launched in 1981). Preliminary design work for LC10 began in 1977, with production scheduled to begin around 1980 – which would have seen it go on sale around the same time as the Ford Escort MK3 and the original Vauxhall Astra.
LC10 was styled by Ian Beech under the direction of BL designer David Bache. Two main body variations were provided: a five-door hatchback and a four-door notchback. It was a departure from previous front-wheel drive cars from the company in dispensing with the famous Issigonis transmission-in-sump powertrain that had been pioneered in the Mini. Coupled to the A- and R-series powerplants was an end-on transmission (as pioneered by Fiat with the Autobianchi Primula), bought from Volkswagen. The sophisticated Hydragas suspension system used on previous BL models was sacrificed on cost grounds, with a conventional MacPherson strut system at the front and a Volkswagen Golf-style torsion beam at the rear being used instead – but with long travel rising rate springs. While easier to build, this suspension did compromise load space. Prototypes were even tested with actual Golf suspension components. This may have led to the early cars being prone to front wheel bearing issues. The Maestro was larger and heavier than the first VW Golf.
It was decided that the five-door hatchback version would be engineered first. It was given its own project designation, LM10, with this version to be launched as the Austin Maestro. The name "Maestro" had been a finalist when the Austin Metro was being named, with the third choice ("Match") never picked up. The booted notchback version was to follow and it was designated as LM11, although its development was to diverge from the original path, it was later launched as the Austin Montego on its launch in April 1984, following British Leyland's decision to discontinue the Morris marque.
The wheelbase was , and the length was .
The aerodynamic drag coefficient stood at 0.38 for most models, while the HLE and MG models had a coefficient of 0.36. The rear strakes on the tailgate of these models enabled a cleaner break away of the air flow round the back of the car. This is what largely contributed to this improved figure.
Novel features The Maestro incorporated many novel and pioneering features for its class. It had a bonded laminated windscreen, homofocal headlamps, body-coloured plastic bumpers, an electronic engine management system, adjustable front seat belt upper anchorage positions, an asymmetrically split rear seat, and a service interval. Another noteworthy point of interest at the time was the 'white lamp' indicators, rather than the traditional orange; the norm today. The MG and Vanden Plas versions had solid-state instrumentation with digital speedometer and vacuum fluorescent analogue displays for tachometer, fuel and temperature gauges, trip computer and a voice synthesis warning and information system. The voice came from New Zealand voice actress Nicolette McKenzie. The analogue instrument pod fitted to lower models was later used in the Range Rover from 1985 onwards.
Product launch
Production began in November 1982, and the Maestro was officially launched on 1 March 1983. In its summing up of the new car the Consumers' Association, in the June edition of its Which? journal, described it as roomy, comfortable, and nice to drive, and said "If you are considering buying one now, our advice, based on our first impressions, is to go ahead". In January 1984, after testing the car, they concluded: "In comparison with opposition of a similar price and body size, the Maestro has a clear advantage on room for passengers, with few cars equalling it for comfort either in the front or back". They also considered it to be a serious rival to the higher-segment Vauxhall Cavalier and Ford Sierra, apart from its smaller boot space.
The original lineup consisted of the 1.3-litre base, L, and HLE models, the 1.6-litre L, HLS, and Vanden Plas, and the sporty MG Maestro.Renaux, pp. 7–9 The HLE model had a somewhat downtuned engine and received Volkswagen's "monstrously long-geared" 3+E transmission to maximize fuel economy, at the cost of severe performance loss. To further improve the HLE's economy, it was fitted with an econometer and the same black rubber fins along the sides of the rear windshield as was the MG Maestro.Renaux, p. 10 The base model forwent the other versions' plastic bumpers, instead being fitted with black-painted steel units. The plastic bumpers were the first of their kind, being made from polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), allowing them to be painted and then oven cured at the same high temperature as the car's steel body. The 1.6 HLS and Vanden Plas received a 4+E gearbox (a five-speed with a particularly long top gear), while the MG's closer ratio five-speed box derived from that of the Golf GTi. A trip computer with a voice synthesizer was standard on the MG and Vanden Plas models, with the Vanden Plas also benefitting from bronze-tinted windows, power locks, and power windows for the front doors.
The car was a reasonable success, but not as much as beleaguered BL had hoped. It was Britain's sixth best selling car in 1983 and 1984, with more than 80,000 sales in its second year.
Later developments and engines An early reputation for poor build quality and unreliability did not help the product's situation. The biggest problems centred around the 1.6-litre R-series engine, which was a hurriedly modified BMC E-series engine from the Austin Maxi because the under-developed S-series unit was not yet ready for production. R-series units suffered from hot starting problems and premature crankshaft failure. This was particularly evident in the MG Maestro 1600, which was included in the original 1983 model range but discontinued the following year.
The new S-series engine eventually appeared in July 1984, and was fitted to all existing 1.6-litre Maestros. The new S-series engine also came fitted with electronic ignition. At the same time, some minor equipment upgrades were made across the range. The 1.3-litre base model gained head restraints, a passenger door mirror and a radio. The 1.3-litre HLE, 1.6-litre automatic and 1.6 HLS all gained a radio-cassette player.
In October 1984, there were more equipment upgrades made across the range. The 1.3 base models gained reclining front seats, door bins, locking fuel filler caps and clocks. The L models gained cloth door trim, upgraded upholstery, and remote-adjustable driver's side door mirrors; the 1.6 Ls gained five-speed gearboxes. The 1.3 HLEs gained five-speed "4+E" gearboxes with overdrive fifth gear ratios, side mouldings, tweed cloth upholstery and remotely adjustable passenger's side door mirrors. The HLS and 1.6 automatics gained tinted glass, central locking, electric front windows, velour upholstery and upgraded radio-cassette players. The MG Maestros gained electronic fuel-injected versions of the 2-litre O-series engine, uprated suspension and ventilated front disc brakes, colour-keyed exterior trim, tinted glass, central locking and leather-trimmed steering wheels. The new MG Maestro offered much better performance and refinement than its predecessor.
Also in October 1984, the existing Maestro line-up was joined by the 1.3 HL and 1.6 HL. These models fitted between the L and HLE models.
August 1985 saw the arrival of the 1.3 City and 1.3 City X. The 1.3 City was similar to the previous 1.3 base model. The 1.3 City X added full carpeting, cloth upholstery, head restraints, a rear parcel shelf, a radio and a manually operated choke. These models also did without the plastic bumpers, having more conventional steel bumpers with plastic end caps similar to the Maestro van.
The original dashboard was of a multi-piece construction, and gained a reputation for being flimsy and prone to squeaks and rattles, so in February 1986, this was replaced with the more conventional dashboard from the Montego and in the change the voice synthesis unit (prone to reliability issues) was dropped. At the same time more minor equipment upgrades were made across the range. The City X gained door bins and rear wash-wipe. The L and LE gained tweed trim. The HL and automatic gained velour trim and additional brightwork. The Vanden Plas gained leather trim and uprated electronic stereo system. After the "boom" years of 1986 and 1987, Maestro sales went into decline.
BL was sold to British Aerospace in 1988, when the Austin badges were discontinued. The range was sustained by the noisy but economical direct injection naturally aspirated Perkins diesel unit launched the previous year. However, without a turbo this model was rather slow. The diesel had already been available in the Maestro van since 1986.
The MG Maestro Turbo, fitted with a turbocharged version of the 2.0 fuel-injected engine from the MG Maestro EFi, was unveiled at the Motor Show in October 1988 and went on sale on 17 March 1989. It was one of the fastest production hatchbacks in the world with a top speed of , making it faster than the Ford Escort XR3i and RS Turbo, as well as the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
1990s