89 replies to this topic

[pchilds1]

I did in fact have rust in on the Montego before it was 2 years old, but after the Beta debacle Lancias were pretty good for rust.

My friend bought the car off of me and had it for many years until the gearbox failed at around 160,000 miles.

...and considering this was the test car for the car magazines it lasted quite well.

Actual car and test:

https://www.flickr.c...157627233170130

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[sttwoton]

Fast car, but boy, it was ugly. 😆

[Madpig]

I had the Montego version.
Quick in its day because it didn’t weigh a lot, but absurdly unreliable in the 2 years I had it (and from brand new).
... traded that in and bought a Lancia Thema 16v Turbo which was rapid and would now still keep up with many a modern hatch...in a straight line !

I remember the silver Montego 2.0EFI I had way back in the eighties.....went like the proverbial off a shovel.

The only problems were a talking dash and a rusty body; did your Montego Turbo have that electronic type dash @pchilds1?

[pchilds1]

No, no a normal dash.

[Madpig]

Mine was a “B” reg but that’s about all I remember about it.

[pchilds1]

F903MHK...I’m one of the saddos who remembers all his number plates.

[sttwoton]

The turbo was a quick car, but being made of recycled baked bean tins and plastic bottles, it was very light, especially when they were full of rust holes, as the old bumpers sticker says, rust is lighter than carbon fibre . 😆

[pchilds1]

Maybe, but having an owned Anglia, Mark 1 Escort (without a doubt the biggest rusk bucket I owned) and two mark 3 Cortina's I was used to rusty cars.

The only early Ford I ever owned that never had a rust issue was a 2.8i Capri...that ate discs and head gaskets instead...

[Cfc blue]

Maybe, but having an owned Anglia, Mark 1 Escort (without a doubt the biggest rusk bucket I owned) and two mark 3 Cortina's I was used to rusty cars.
The only early Ford I ever owned that never had a rust issue was a 2.8i Capri...that ate discs and head gaskets instead...

my 2.8 used to eat discs! I thought it was me lol

[Alb]

Thought I'd add another interesting document......

 

 FIA5566.pdf   8.48MB   17 downloads

[sttwoton]

Wow that is interesting, very in-depth.

[Mart1976]

So back to Austin then ...lol

[NickFST3]

Sunbeam Tiger and Avenger Tiger, small cars with a Ford V8, great combination, worth an absolute fortune now.

And the Sunbeam Alpine being the first James Bond car! Won me a pint of beer in a pub quiz many years ago that little bit of car trivia!!

[NickFST3]

Drove a Maestro Turbo once .very quick car indeed in the day ..
Hated the dials in those things though..they remind me of some old style kitchen scales lol

 

Me & a mate at Trax many years ago were going round the circuit - not racing each other - obviously! I had my old twin turbo XR4x4 & he had a Saph Cossie. However on the straights we were both getting chased by this Maestro. At the corners though he was all over the track.

In the pits this hand painted - and I mean hand painted in what looked like Hammerite - Maestro pulled up with us thinking it must be the turbo one. Turns out though it was a knackered old 1.3 with drum brakes & skinny tyres - and a crazy Cossie engine in the front of it. The guy bought it as a very cheap & rusty runabout & blew the engine in a week. His neighbour had the Cossie, crashed it, & when it was finally recovered the engine was the only bit salvageable. So this guy stuck a tuned Cossie lump in the Maestro for a 'bit of fun' but left everything else standard 1.3 Austin.

In his words it went like a bat out of hell in a straight line but didn't do corners, handled like a pig, & didn't stop very well for some reason..............................................

[sttwoton]

I do love a sleeper, do you remember the royal nail escort van? 450bhp 4x4 cossie running gear, brilliant.