Austin/MG Montego

The Austin-Rover Montego was another of the British cars of the time that seems destined to be wrote into history as a typical British Leyland failure. However if you scratch beneath the surface it really is significantly different this. As everyone can remember the British motor industry was in ruin in the late 70's and early 80's with the famous British Leyland (BL) 3 day week with strikes, lack of funding and some badly taken decisions by Leyland management. What BL needed to do was to produce some good selling cars and fast as the vultures approached. Luckily enough they came up with three winners in the Metro, Maestro and the Montego. These all sold ...  Read the complete review

I was a very happy owner of a 1985 Austin Montego until it clapped out on me during winter 2 years back. It lived a good long life. I had very little trouble with my Montego in the 3 years I owned it for. During the time I had my Montego I bought another spares or repairs so I was able to swap any parts over. What is an Austin Montego? An Austin Montego was produced to rival the likes of the Vauxhall Cavalier and the Ford Sierra. The Montego can be bought in Saloon and Estate form. The Montego is mainly aimed for a family, as it’s a very spacious car. Equipment. Radio Cassette Solid Paint. Sunroof. Cigarette lighter ...  Read the complete review

The seven seater 2.0 Montego Countryman estate variant is available on the 2nd hand market for very reasonable prices. An M reg 1994 with 55000 miles costs around £1500. Compare that to a Renault Espace of equivalent age and mileage, £5500. Now let me clarify my position. I do not for one minute suggest that they are equivalents, they are patently not. The Espace is a modern purpose built people carrier, with a large dose of style and panache. The Montego is an old design with absolutely no style or street cred and the bodywork and fittings are of poor quality. However, if you consider three things, a) what can I afford and b) What do I actually need, ...  Read the complete review

Can you remember the Austin Montego? I actually had one a few years ago, an F reg 1.6L model in white. I bought it because I needed a car and it was cheap. The operative word here is, cheap. You realised this when you climbed aboard, and just peroused the tacky cock-pit. Buttons on the dash that once had a purpose, now fell off when touched. The gear stick felt nobbly and crunchy. And those awful cloth seats showed every stain that had been spilt since it had been bought. There were annoying rattles inside when the car moved off. Although the Montego handled quite well, and the engine was very willing, everything else on the car seemed to be falling ...  Read the complete review