Trying to be. Having had so many leaky, roling cars makes it hard, though.

fatherpierre, as a further example of dnb's point about money:

Ford discovered that drivers of the Pinto in the 70's were being killed when the car was involved in a rear-end shunt due to the fuel tank exploding. A Ford internal document showed that a part to cure the problem would cost $11 per unit. This $11 part would have saved 180 lives, however the Ford accountants calculated that the cost of lawsuits from death and injuries would cost the company about $50m while fitting the part would cost $150m so the part was rejected.

An extreme example, perhaps, but shows how accountants think.

Notorious REV

... spot on .... surprising how many car buyers and drivers are not aware of such things. Bet if that had been a Rover with the exploding fuel tanks and had dealt with it in the same way, the Universe would know about it!!! That shameful episode, in a nutshell, is the main reason that I will NEVER buy another Ford no matter how good or bad their product. There are other reasons. It's the only way the lone voice can have a real say against the all powerful big boys who can always 'buy a result' irrespective of any legal considerations.. A lifetime abstaining from a product is very satisfying for the lone little guy which lets face it, when the chips are down, most of us are. Last one I had was a company car back in the 1970s.

I have an almost acute hatred of any company with 'always profit before people' or 'profit first, devil take the hindmost' attitudes and variations on that theme. I have nothing against earning or making a profit, having been in business on my own account for many years, but these profits uber alles attitudes lead to fatal train crashes, exploding fuel tanks, deformed babies, denial of faulty brakes, lethal tread shedding tyres, you name it and so on and on ad infi-wossname.....

Back on some of the tracks of this thread, yes, it is possible to make the humble Montego or Maestro Turbo (including the diesels but especially the Petrol and EFi cars) handle extremely well in most repects without needing a bank loan to do so. Don't believe me, attend some of the track days and RWYB events and observe for yourself. I get some pleasure seeing a 'loose change' Montego giving a good account of itself against high costing exotica. So why didn't the then ARG do likewise and obtain similar good handling? Possibly because help or funding of a "nationalised" outfit by a particular tight fisted Government mindset was the last thing to be given the go ahead. So cut, cut and more cuts. No way could such a concern and success be allowed to come to pass. You think I'm joking? ..... As discussed on previous threads, reality is sometimes less credible than fiction.

When Mr Soichiro Honda was knocking out piston rings from a shed all those years ago, do you think he was able to build up such a fine company as it is today with a Government having similar views ..... Wossat than then ... oink, oink .. flap flap .... Similarly when BMW and Auto-Union (now Audi) were financially struggling back in the 1970s ( Oh yes they were), did their respective Governments fail to effectively help them then.....

News to you? You think I'm making it up ..... check it out for yourselves .....

Modern Britain, with so much talent and resources, it still excells .... at getting it wrong .... we are all to blame .... Still, I'm alright so Yah boo sucks to you .....:(

Whats all this about Montegos/Maestros not handling, I have driven loads and thought they were a decent handling car, the Maestro MG does well in the Slick 50 cup and they get used as rally cars and as MG John has said there appears to be a few BMW blinkers in this country.

I had an 88 GTI Montego fitted with a turbo engine by my own fair hand (no mean feat given the electrics being fairly different) and it was a superb handler, it gripped well, was stable and predictable and would out corner any of its contempories, Cavalier, Sierra etc. I think its just easy to poke fun at British cars, I do agree that they had issues but they get blown out of all proportion compared to other makes, the seventies stuff was crap but they did get their act together with the Montegos (later Rover ones) etc, given how crap Fords and Vauxhalls were at this time it seems unfair to single MG/Rover out for criticism.

while the chattering classes contend with Bore Washed BMW's, Minis that fall apart (some things never change !) and Mercs with falling quality standards the rest of the population seems to be quite happy to buy Rover products in their droves.

I do chuckle when I see a BMW Mini sporting a Union Jack roof, thats just taking the p1ss, what kind of cretin falls for that on the options list, they should be made to change it for a German flag.

John, wait til later in the year when MG shoehorn a V8 into the 190, they will make them sit up and listen.
Cheers
Colin

Forgot to metion before i owned my Scoob I had an MG Maestro for 10 years and she never let me down, I lovbed that car if it was'nt for the bodywork I'd still have it now.
Cheers
Colin

And I still think the MG Maestro Turbo looks well wicked.

Scoob 99, exactly, the cars were okay, they just forgot to put any kind of protection on the bodywork, but Fords and Vauxhalls of the time rusted for fun as well, ask any Cossie owner !

From what I've gleaned MGR are having a few problems.
Everyone would seem to agree that they need replacements for the 25/45 but how? I read that TWR were doing some new car development for them but now TWR have gone, where does that leave MGR.

Even if they get new cars to the market, they need to ensure that they build a track record of making and maintaining a quality product.

Oh and the X80 or WTF is is called now has gone from something that looked OK to a m*x p*wer special. Have you seen the width of those front arch extensions.

I believe that we need a British car industry but I'm not sure if MGR in it's current form can deliver.

<nervously shuffling over to flamesuit...>

Vindaloo

MG Maestro Turbos: Very radical in appearance back in 1989 when it first appeared, but alongside mid 90s icons such as Imprezas and similar looks a bit tame now. I like them though. Of the 504 MG Maestro Turbos and one prototype (factory modified EFI) to escape captivity, over half still exist and many of those have current MoTs and go well, some very well. Not bad for a car with a short production run and that over 14 years ago. I have one, no. 234. Great fun. Still prefer the Montego Turbo though although a little slower as it's a slightly heavier car with the same powerplant and transmisson.

Like many Great Brits, "under-estimated from Day 1" .... Autocar's pink pages facts carried similar words to that during much of the Montegos production run. They at least must have known something, unlike many others I could mention .... ;)

Back in 1984, visiting my local dealership for some gaskets for my MGB GT, I chatted to the Sales Manager about the newly arrived Montego. He tossed the keys to his demonstrator and by the time I got down the road, knew that I liked driving this car ... suited me from just about every aspect for an everyday car. Been driving them ever since. Over the years since that first drive, whenever I give a lift to a relative, colleague or what have you, often they are surprised to be impressed with the cars. Some years back, one colleague was so impressed he immediately got one for his wife and later one for himself replacing his Volvos. He simply never gave one a thought because of what he had read about them. That is far from unusual.....