MG MAESTRO TURBO - FASTEST 90's HOT HATCH - REVIEW AND DRIVE - PART 11 

My dad owned a few over the years. He absolutely loved them. Only thing quicker than the 0-60 was how quickly they rusted.

Everyone is mad for Fast Fords (Guilty) But I think these Maestro’s are so underrated and you must have one of the nicest examples in the country.

Homie dressed like he just stole the hatch to scoop up Sick boy, Spud, and Begbie out of trainspotting. these are some hard 80s & 90s vibes here. Choose life boys!

The car is fucking gorgeous. I honestly had forgotten about these, till I saw the video. Makes we want one so bad!!!

I had an MG Montego Turbo. The torque steering was brutal.

Fantastic job on the is hot hatch classic. The work that you’ve put into it really shine’s through.

These were incredibly rare in the 90's, can't be many left at all

I'm not a car person, but stumbled upon this video. My parents bought me a formula 3 track day at thruxton many years ago (!) and the best part of the day was being driven round the track in one of these maestros by a presumably pro driver - absolutely terrifying for a 21 year old novice like me! the speed he went into the corners lives with me til this day. appreciate your skills & effort with a great car. cheers.

Fair play for sticking with it, that's a monumental amount of work & the finished product looks amazing. Top job.

Superb job on resto so far Chris it's a credit to you

That whoosh at 3000rpm sure brings back memories of my 1990 Montego Turbo. It whooshed quite a lot during my ownership😎 This rebuild looks really special, long may it bring you joy. Mine certainly did, apart from the constant battle against the rust...

My dad had one of these when I was a kid in the 90s. What a car👍

Thanks. Brought back some fond memories of the ones I owned in the 90's. Lost count of the hours I spent in that engine bay, wheel bearings they used to eat through and discs n' pads. Mine were dropped 2" with a kit from MotoBuild, not a massively exotic kit but made a big difference taking the torque steer. Anyways again, thanks.

This randomly popped up in my recommendations and I'm glad it did. You've done a cracking job on this restoration. I always liked these and they were rare back in the day. Always wanted a ride in one even as a passenger. I wouldn't worry it's taken as long as it has, life always gets in the way of important car stuff 😊

That's absolutely mint, love it. look forward to seeing a dyno run.

Outstanding work Chris. Im 48 and I've never seen one in the flesh. We didn't get these in Ireland. It was all fiat and opel here in recession times. Beautiful car tastefully done. The colour is fantastic. A real gem unique hot hatch Thanks for showing her.

Awesome Sheesh that's some job, but hats off to you. I had a B reg 1985 non turbo and non efi 1600 one as my second car (after a Dolly Sprint - dad was a real petrol head) So I had 2 twin choke Webber's (that's 4 carbs). Hours of fun with my dad and timing light gun getting those set up.... Mayonnaise cleaned up, it was sold after a couple of years. Fantastic visibility all round in these - I miss that in today's cars. PS, mine was in black as well!

Wow, I had one in the 90's - British Racing Green - The best colour in my opinion. But what a great video and fantastic to see a true classic back on the road - well done, and thanks for sharing.

Wow.. I'm impressed. It looks better than new

Seeing the old cars repainted with modern paint really does make them look even better than they ever did brand new. Lovey whip man!

Just watched this and wow....what a fantastic job. Absolutely loved it. I did the same thing to my Alfa 33 years ago and i know that doing it right the first time is the way. You really have a passion for this car and the restoration quality and effort really shows. Beautiful car.....

That was fun. A mate had one of these - it was like a spaceship compared to what we were all driving. Felt crazy fast. It went through a hedge backwards (I was told) and got totalled. He walked away with just shock. We all missed it.

Realy nice job mate looks amazing my grandad had a none turbo when I was younger

Enjoyed the review, and lovely job on the (almost) finished project! 😁 I always respected the performance, just never actually wanted one of these. Great to see one on the road, though...I would be over to chat if I saw you!

Well done lovely car, a credit to you.

I miss these days. Great job 👏

Brilliant work mate. Well done 👌

Got to say well done mate, very professional, great car, loved them in the 1980s your polite no bad language, can watch with my kids etc, very professional

Nice review of a cracking car. Great to see one preserved like that. Nice bit of nostalgia for older farts like me!

Fair play mate....thats looking great and a really lovely car to see on the road after all these years.

I had a 2.0i EFI one in moonraker blue. I found it was a bit of a handful, I went round a corner on a backroad, straight into a hedge. The car took off and landed on the roof. Was a strong car, though. I got out unhurt. I replaced it with a montego 2.0i, and although near enough same as a maestro, the montego seemed a lot more planted.

As a dedicated Essex Boy Racer through the 90s I religiously read Max Power and Fast Car. I especially loved when the guys would set up timing gear and also do group tests. Out of all the massively tuned Red Top Novas, Turbo,d Novas, 205 gti turbo'd, Escort and Fiesta RS Turbos, Golf gti supercharged and turbo charged, Renault 5 GT turbo, Astra GTEs tuned Red Top, supercharged, turbocharged LET engines, Cavalier and Calibra Turbo etc. And, of course the much rarer Montego and especially Maestro Turbos. Out of ALL those timing gear tests throughout the decade THE fastest accelerating cars were the Maestro Turbos! They beat EVERYTHING being the only cars to hit 60mph in under 6 seconds! Even on paper the quoted figures were very impressive but they were clearly very rapid motors! My mate had a Montego and I did have a drive but really struggled with it due to those crazy light pedals. I could barely drive the car and soon returned it to him but I'm sure I'd have gotten used to it in the end. I was a Vauxhall guy through n through back then ending up with a lovely red launch Astra GTE 16 valve Coscast Red Top and loved it to bits.

Well done mate, great job lovely to see one done.Its a great car.

Great job, what a cool and interesting car👍

Love the MAESTRO (: Lovely car its a real credit to you Thank you for keeping her alive. I worked art an Austin Rover Dealer from 1982 to 1991 , never seen a Turbo in the flesh but many 1.6 R and S Series and O series EFI s (:

Great job restoring the car. The video brings back a lot of memories. I had a 1987 D reg MG Maestro 2.0 EFI in the mid 90's. It was the same colour as the one in the video. It was pretty quick for the time - I was able to easily beat the Nova 1.4 GSI fellow boy racers. But of course, it had the reputation as a granny wagon. It was pretty unreliable as well, the head gasket went followed by the engine itself. I also remember the terrible torque steer the car had even with the 2.0 engine, I can imagine it would be much worse with the turbo.

dont be so hard on yourself ! Respect to you mate , you have done a cracking job. Its nice to still see these on the road . respect. I love them , and id love to have one in that condition.

i had an mg metro turbo E reg all colour coded in white really tidy example back in the day, loved it wish i still had it tbh

Love it👍👍

Looks mint that, very well done.

An old friend of mine had an austin maestro vanden plas back in the late 80s, when we attended college together in Edinburgh. Such a good car. So quiet and so quick too. Would love to see that car again and have a wee shot myself this time as I was not a driver back then. Your car is a thing of beauty. Nice one. X

I loved these haha. Great vid

The Montego Turbo was insane too

Fantastic car and great video.

Hi Chris, I was at the show in bridge of Allan today and saw your cracking maestro it is a real credit to you! I got talking to a fella who's wife owned the green Baja bug next to your car he said you were about somewhere unfortunately I never got a chance to talk. All the best with your car it's an enjoyable watch.

Lovely car , the turbo era , I was there with my Starion which was known as the fastest 2.0 on the road at the time , also had metro turbo and a montego happy times

Amazing work man, saved the car and it is stunning 👍🙂

Nice car, I had an MG Maestro, not the turbo but it was a great car, well done yours looks spot on.

Nice work…a labour of love 👍

Very nice, my dad had a white one and boy did it shift. Nice to see one still on the road.

A great example well done. If I remember correctly from working on these back in the day we had a few warranty claims on the gearboxes due to an abundance of torque and enthusiastic driving. I think this was solved by turning down the boost a little. Never owned one , drove lots a fun car .

Top work 👌

I had a ride in one in 1992. It was a fab experience, quick for its day.

Lovely mate. 👍

Awesome. I had one of them in white. Mine was slightly upgraded and produced about 180 bhp and was certainly fast enough for some fun. Great video

Mate wanted a tickford.... scared himself silly, so no go! This brings so many hooligan memories 😅 cool ride man.

They were Rare even back in the day. I can’t believe there’s still one of these driving! In beauty nick n all!

A lovely specimen of that era , not seen hardly at all these days, as for the rusty bolts heads under the bonnet I personally think it makes it look authentic rather than a museum piece. Great car

Absolute machines!!! My pal even took the engine from one of these and slapped it in a MK2 GOLF GTI that thing was crazy as hell

Great video, your a natural. Presenter!!! Fair play to you👍

It's a peach Chris well done.

Great car.Never got to own a turbo version but had a 1600 MG Maestro and two 2 litre efi MG Maestro great car s

Well done on the restore. Looks very well done. Hope your enjoying this classic.

My mate had one of these back in the day, it was a beast.

Nice looking car, good to see such cars saved. Back in the 1990's when I was selling such cars, a mate and I went in a Maestro Turbo to collect a Porsche 944 we had just bought. On the way back we were pushing it on a bit, I was in front in the 944 my mate following in the Maestro Turbo. The 944 cornered with no fuss at speed, but I will never forget the look of fear in my rear view mirror on my mates face as he battled to keep up on the twisty stuff in the Maestro. The Maestro was quick in a line but scary on the twisty bits !

Had one,loved it

I’m really really pleased for you. I think it looks great & before you even said anything I thought she sounded great. It wouldn’t be my thing. Of that era it’d be an m-tech 325i e30 all day. But I like your car & I love how proud of it you are! It’s also super rare & worth very strong money. Well done 👏

Nicely done video

In 96 my sister's bf had one with the digital speedo I was only 9 and loved sitting behind the driver as a kid watching the speedo it was quick as fk he still has it along with a metro turbo I prefer my Renault 5 gt turbo 80's and 90s cars are where my heart lies. Cars to me were just better none of this computerised everything. Great video well worth the sub

Nice car mate. Good watch 👍

Very impressive. You must be really proud of what you've achieved.

Well done 👍🏻

Brings back memories. The grey was always my favourite

I saw this car at a show over the weekend.... very nice indeed

Lovely car thanks 👍

Nice car buddy you've done a top job there!

Well done preserving this classic 👍 Always thought these were handsome looking hot hatches 😎🇬🇧

Loverly car I've always liked these

I really love that car, looks great in black with the red. Also love spotting some of the parts shared with other cars, the ashtray on the dash is the same as in the Discovery 1 and Discovery 2 😁

Well done

Story- GMP had at least one of these. It followed my xr2 for ages. I accelerated away easily but suddenly a sierra cosworth pulled alongside. I stopped immediately. MG pulled up behind. I said no way is that yours. Officer got out, laughed and both cops said take lead out foot. The 90s. Lucky GMP didn't beat me up or make charges up - traffic seemed not to be corrupt. Nice vid!

Really good video , well presented and a really great restoration. Congrats

Well done I had the blue Efi version always wanted the turbo but sold it and went for a 205 gti my boss had a 1600 mg which sounded amazing on twin Webber 45 oh yes old school

What a car,, even got a warning light for when your stuck behind a caravan

Beautiful car, mate 👍

Exceptional rebuild. The Turbo Lag was nightmare. Challenging car to drive fast. Oh and they broke a lot.

Owned one of these and it was a beast

Had a white MG metro turbo, LOVED IT TO PIECES. Had 2 x 12 inch rockford subs in the boot and 6 x 9's in the shelf and a portable DCC player up front for DIGITAL SOUND *tm*. Banging.

very nice,i had a white mg maestro years a go not a turbo but it was agood car

Nice example of a classic 👌

Love how it still used a carb when it was cool to go injection 👍🏻😎

Looks beautiful

Damn this is very much the inspiration for the ioniq 5... The front lights the wheels, even the shape of the dash.

I saw one of these the other day in Edinburgh. Guy driving it look pleased as punch. Looked mint too.

Nice job, can't be many that are in such a great condition these days! Styling has stood the test of time IMHO 👍

Wheels bearings ...struts and shockers.....and welded together like a sieve. Water leaks......but apart from....pretty nice drive for the day....

Very nice job. That took me back to my MG Montego. A far better car than the then motoring press would like to admit.😁👍

Nice car forgotten baby

You've done a great job, regarding your regret at only gloss painting underneath you should consider a product "Lanoguard " which can be easily sprayed all over the bottom to protect from salt etc and is not harmful to rubber or electrics and will stop any rust developing.

i used to have an MG Montego 2.0 EFI (not the turbo version) back in the days. It seemed like a really fast car back then and loved it for driving