You've done a sterling job (unintended Rover reference there) and a great service to British motoring heritage. I can see those panel gaps properly now you've eliminated the rust.
I was working at Cowley when they were building these cars. They were a great car and I remember borrowing them for all sorts of tasks. Really well done to you on rescuing this gem. It looks stunning.
I have fond memories of being a kid in the rearward-facing boot compartment seats of Dad's Montego Countryman, what a funny experience at the time (which would be strongly frowned-upon by modern safety standards!) So thank you for restoring this family car of my childhood - my old Dad would be very pleased to see one still on the roads in 2023.
Whenever I go to a car meet, I am regularly drawn to the owners who display prosaic models like the Montego that have now become rare. You know the owner is a true car person and a generally much nicer than the owners of “investment” cars. The car enthusiast community should value them more just like I value your saving this piece of motoring history. Well done. 👍🏼
Well done Classics World and everyone who helped save this gorgeous Montego estate car. Would be lovely to see videos of the actual further work on the Montego (headlining/radio/etc).
I know beige became a frequently ridiculed colour as the '80s progressed, but it's always been one of my favourite car colours. My mum owned a gorgeous little Y reg Mini Mayfair in the exact same colour as this Montego. It was Champagne Beige, code LMK. Got to be one of the very first Mini Mayfairs ever made! It was a very pretty car and she was always fond of it. She bought it brand new on 7th October 1982, and kept it right up until February 1999 when, with 94,000 miles, it was a bit tired and getting quite rusty, before replacing it with a Rover-Approved-Used Flame Red 1995 1.3 Cooper SPi. The Beige Mayfair was scrapped about 2 years later sadly. R.I.P UHB126Y.
Back in the day I bought one of these when it was about 3-4 years old cause it was so cheap. All my mates thought I was brave or daft, and that it’d have nothing but trouble. I owned it for about 3 years driving around London and had no issues at all, it never let me down once. Not everything the BL Rover group was bad, people I think just get into the habit of hating on things, and these cars were a prime example of that.
You know my Montego snapped its valve / cam belt on the Great West Road (A40), coasted into a layby, checked electrics and fuel delivery before taking cam belt cover off to see damage. AA guy towed me to a motor factors, swapped the belt in car park, redid valve timing, and I was off. My boss in his Ford Sierra had cam belt fail on his way into work, his pistons met open valves, required an expensive engine rebuild.
This is why I love this channel. Being a self confessed Rover/BL/Austin fan boy, my Dad had many Montego saloon's as hire cars for work and I loved them. As ever one else has also commented - very well done chaps.
Brilliant job, guys! This could have been a long forgotten gem and its now looking absolutely resplendent in its 80s beige paint job! I love it....reminds me of being a kid 👍🏻
Wow looks so much better than when myself and 2 friends rescued it from a shed in the parish of Torteval in Guernsey 5 years ago, got it running but too bigger project for me to tackle, The reg when I had it was 64169. The owner had passed away and the son was going to scrap the car so it wouldn't get banger raced, if memory serves me correct I paid £200 for it.
I had an 87 D plate 2.0 Mayfair in gold when I was 20. All my friends were buying Fiesta's or Nova's and I was the butt of many a jibe, though not as much as my friend that bought a Yugo Zastava 🤪. However, I cared not a jot as I loved my Montego. Was a comfy big cruiser.
Thank you for saving that car! I had a Montego Countryman Estate for nearly 20 years. I still miss it. My Wife convinced me to sell the Montego after I bought a Rover 75 Tourer. Should have said No!
I bought an 18 month old Montego back in the day, probably fleet, really cheap as no-one trusted them. It was two tone blue, grey under the rubber trim, which itself had red highlighting as did the bumpers; looked really sporty and smart. The seats were comfy armchairs, very plush fully lined interior, sunroof, loads of legroom for four people, nice ride. It was a driver's car too, only beaten in its class by the rear wheel drive Sierra which turned in sharply and had unadulterated steering. A steady 90 mph cruiser we toured France and Belgium with the car, it learned London's streets, pubs and gig venues like it found its own way, never a bump or scratch. An 80 mile daily commute did for it, got a bit rough, but it made it to 160,000 miles without as much as a new clutch. I to this day regret ditching it for my parent's cast-off VW Jetta with half the mileage, half the car ... The Montego was the most under appreciated British car ever !
Great job, worth doing for all the reasons you gave. The everyday anonymity of such vehicles is why they aren't around any more as people just got rid. Well done.
Well done for saving it, many would have broken for parts. Didn’t realise those tyres for those small wheels were such a challenge, my Merc has 15’ and I think the choice is limited as well.
Brilliant job...i tip my hat to you lads...oh and the 3D print on the window clip was awesome...fair play to the men who reached out and helped...10/10
Well done gents. The Montego looks brilliant 👏. Why wouldn't you save a car like this? It's exactly the kind of car seen everywhere in the 80's, now almost gone.
Lovely job. I had the later version of the wagon for a couple of years, was a joy to potter around in. Simple, pretty rugged and super practical. Would take one of those over a new Nissan Qashqai any day.
Great stuff. My Grandad had a beige Montego saloon when I was a kid. Many fond memories of days out and even being dropped off and picked up from school are acosiated with that car.
Used to own a taxi company and ran a fleet of Maestros and Montegos. Absolutely bulletproof particularly with the 2.0 Diesel. Apart from head gaskets which seemed to fail at EXACTLY 152k, they were easily good for 250k miles. Probably would have gone further but were so cheap to replace.
Fair Play for saving an endangered car and well done 👏 ✔️ I hope that this goes to an Austin Rover Collector. it looks in amazing time warp condition! Well Done
I'd forgotten about the Metric wheels. We had a saloon 1.6L Montego, same year, same colour. It had many plus points, but ultimately it was not a car we remember with much fondness. Late Montegos were far better made and had hundreds of modifications. Anyway, very well done with this one you've done a great job and the metal work and 3d printing just shows what can be done.
Great job! Back in the late 80s I hired a Montego estate for a family holiday. A hard braking episode going downhill in Wales caused the 2 front wheel trims to detach and overtake me as I came to a stop! Apart from that the car performed very well indeed.
I had one of these in the same colour. Mine was a saloon. It did have it's problems, but it was extremely comfortable. I've not driven a car with seats that good since.
Fantastic, love seeing this age of classic restored and back on the road. I remember them well from my childhood, lots of good memories. Great work Joe and all the team!
A friend of mine used to work for austin rover warranty claims in Birmingham, He told me most maestro and montego cars were stored in a field or a bombsite type yard in cowley before sale, and most had a lot of surface rust underneath when new, in winters the cars were stood in some inches of water.
Nice save! Almost everyone my age (40) will have been in the back of one of these at some point. Either there family owned one (ours didn't and bought VWs at the time) or there will be a family friend who had one. I do remember being impressed with both the space and the ride at the time. Less so the build quality when their child leant on the car and it put a dent on it!
The Montego Estate was a better car than many think. Fit a tow bar? No problem. The boot floor was already reinforced due to the possible 7 seat option so a tow bar was cheap to buy and a simple bolt job to fit. The rear light harness already had connections in place for the electrics. The 1600 could even break its timing belt without damaging the engine. Of course the interior space with the rear seats folded was enoumous. If you were lucky to have the roof rails fitted then there were the simple "clip fit" cross bars to make a fully functional roof rack. Just a pity BL did not pay more attention to rust prevention.
Food for thought - considering how simple these cars are (relatively) I wonder if there would be a market if a company offered a complete parts kit including a shell? Mini's get that kind of support even though there are still loads of them left so if the parts could be made and stored cheaply for multiple car brands (remember a lot of parts were shared back then anyway) I'm sure more of this kind of thing would be about. Its annoying that one minute there were loads of servicable cars knocking about then the scrappage scheme came along and within a few years they had all but gone.
I can remember renting a base model saloon Montego in the same beige colour many moons ago. It was quite a good car from what I can remember, mind you anything would be good compared to the clapped out bangers I drove at the time!
What a beautiful car and remember my uncle having one and his was a reliable old thing but the metric wheels and rot finished his early 80s example off in the late 90s but those S series engines were far better than the rattling old CVH that Ford offered. I also remember back in the early 90s the Montego estate seemed to get a new lease of life in upmarket trim levels with the good old Perkins diesel and seven seats and the wax jacket green welly brigade lapped them up. At 7.50 Joe it’s worth stopping off and seeing the lovely old pill box that was uncovered the other year on the right hand side.
Owning both a Maestro 1.6 and an Escort 1.3, I am in complete agreement with you. The S series engine is smooth and quiet all the way to the redline and a joy to drive hard, whereas the CVH is thrashy and coarse certainly in its upper rev range and feels like it wants to explode.
You did a great job. I never got why Rover didn't just restyle these and the Maestro rather than go in with Honda and do the 200 and 400. These were much better cars.
This Sure is a Fantastic Restoration job Indeed. How could you not watch this Superb video. Like you said most people would have thought it was stupid to work on this car. As a young Guy in the 80s i still remember reading the auto magazines of the day and how much i was hopefull of BL Rover Dominating the Auto Industry agian. But Sadly it was never ment to be. 🙄 Really enjoyed your video. 👍
I remember seeing it for sale at the time. I thought then, and still do, this car is worth saving. Should make a loving owner a really practical classic, economical too.
I had a 2ltr Rover Montego Countryman back in the 90s and although the engine was er...shall we say temperamental, you felt that if you were in a collision with a Challenger tank, the tank would come off worse. I loved the comfort and practicality of it though and with the fold down seat in the back, it could hold 7 along with luggage.
Great cars 48 mpg all day long we had them as pool cats, recall photographing the speedo, 100 mph as the odometer clicked over 100,000 miles in Germany.
The Montego is now FOR SALE! If you fancy owning this fully restored beige bus, give us a bell at Joe.miller@kelsey.co.uk 🙂
you are joking sir you would have to pay somone to take this away !
Thanks for saving Monty, once a cab drivers favourite where I’m from, they seemed to disappear around year 2000.
You've done a sterling job (unintended Rover reference there) and a great service to British motoring heritage. I can see those panel gaps properly now you've eliminated the rust.
I have very fond memories of Montego's back in the day and will always remember how well they drove.
Great job.
I was working at Cowley when they were building these cars. They were a great car and I remember borrowing them for all sorts of tasks. Really well done to you on rescuing this gem. It looks stunning.
I have fond memories of being a kid in the rearward-facing boot compartment seats of Dad's Montego Countryman, what a funny experience at the time (which would be strongly frowned-upon by modern safety standards!) So thank you for restoring this family car of my childhood - my old Dad would be very pleased to see one still on the roads in 2023.
Whenever I go to a car meet, I am regularly drawn to the owners who display prosaic models like the Montego that have now become rare. You know the owner is a true car person and a generally much nicer than the owners of “investment” cars. The car enthusiast community should value them more just like I value your saving this piece of motoring history. Well done. 👍🏼
Well done Classics World and everyone who helped save this gorgeous Montego estate car. Would be lovely to see videos of the actual further work on the Montego (headlining/radio/etc).
Gorgeous? Are you having a laugh???
I know beige became a frequently ridiculed colour as the '80s progressed, but it's always been one of my favourite car colours. My mum owned a gorgeous little Y reg Mini Mayfair in the exact same colour as this Montego. It was Champagne Beige, code LMK. Got to be one of the very first Mini Mayfairs ever made! It was a very pretty car and she was always fond of it. She bought it brand new on 7th October 1982, and kept it right up until February 1999 when, with 94,000 miles, it was a bit tired and getting quite rusty, before replacing it with a Rover-Approved-Used Flame Red 1995 1.3 Cooper SPi. The Beige Mayfair was scrapped about 2 years later sadly. R.I.P UHB126Y.
Back in the day I bought one of these when it was about 3-4 years old cause it was so cheap. All my mates thought I was brave or daft, and that it’d have nothing but trouble. I owned it for about 3 years driving around London and had no issues at all, it never let me down once. Not everything the BL Rover group was bad, people I think just get into the habit of hating on things, and these cars were a prime example of that.
You know my Montego snapped its valve / cam belt on the Great West Road (A40), coasted into a layby, checked electrics and fuel delivery before taking cam belt cover off to see damage. AA guy towed me to a motor factors, swapped the belt in car park, redid valve timing, and I was off.
My boss in his Ford Sierra had cam belt fail on his way into work, his pistons met open valves, required an expensive engine rebuild.
Wow Joe the Montego looks fabulous. Well done to everyone involved in saving the beige bus. Wonderful.
Thanks for the kind words 😁
This is why I love this channel. Being a self confessed Rover/BL/Austin fan boy, my Dad had many Montego saloon's as hire cars for work and I loved them. As ever one else has also commented - very well done chaps.
Thanks Neil! Glad you've enjoyed the Montego series!
Brilliant job, guys! This could have been a long forgotten gem and its now looking absolutely resplendent in its 80s beige paint job! I love it....reminds me of being a kid 👍🏻
Sometimes project cars doesn't make sense. They are all about emotions and how they make you feel. This Montego is fine example of that.
Well done!! these cars deserve to be saved they are part of British motoring history. (:
Wow looks so much better than when myself and 2 friends rescued it from a shed in the parish of Torteval in Guernsey 5 years ago, got it running but too bigger project for me to tackle, The reg when I had it was 64169. The owner had passed away and the son was going to scrap the car so it wouldn't get banger raced, if memory serves me correct I paid £200 for it.
I had an 87 D plate 2.0 Mayfair in gold when I was 20. All my friends were buying Fiesta's or Nova's and I was the butt of many a jibe, though not as much as my friend that bought a Yugo Zastava 🤪. However, I cared not a jot as I loved my Montego. Was a comfy big cruiser.
Thank you for saving that car! I had a Montego Countryman Estate for nearly 20 years. I still miss it. My Wife convinced me to sell the Montego after I bought a Rover 75 Tourer. Should have said No!
I bought an 18 month old Montego back in the day, probably fleet, really cheap as no-one trusted them.
It was two tone blue, grey under the rubber trim, which itself had red highlighting as did the bumpers; looked really sporty and smart.
The seats were comfy armchairs, very plush fully lined interior, sunroof, loads of legroom for four people, nice ride.
It was a driver's car too, only beaten in its class by the rear wheel drive Sierra which turned in sharply and had unadulterated steering.
A steady 90 mph cruiser we toured France and Belgium with the car, it learned London's streets, pubs and gig venues like it found its own way, never a bump or scratch.
An 80 mile daily commute did for it, got a bit rough, but it made it to 160,000 miles without as much as a new clutch.
I to this day regret ditching it for my parent's cast-off VW Jetta with half the mileage, half the car ...
The Montego was the most under appreciated British car ever !
Great job, worth doing for all the reasons you gave. The everyday anonymity of such vehicles is why they aren't around any more as people just got rid. Well done.
What a fantastic achievement - what a wonderful vehicle! ♥
Thanks for keeping us updated, so great to see! A very worthwhile piece of BL history preserved for future generations to enjoy.
How incredible everyone has been in making this restoration possible!
Well done for saving it, many would have broken for parts. Didn’t realise those tyres for those small wheels were such a challenge, my Merc has 15’ and I think the choice is limited as well.
Brilliant job...i tip my hat to you lads...oh and the 3D print on the window clip was awesome...fair play to the men who reached out and helped...10/10
Well done gents. The Montego looks brilliant 👏. Why wouldn't you save a car like this? It's exactly the kind of car seen everywhere in the 80's, now almost gone.
Lovely job. I had the later version of the wagon for a couple of years, was a joy to potter around in. Simple, pretty rugged and super practical. Would take one of those over a new Nissan Qashqai any day.
Great stuff. My Grandad had a beige Montego saloon when I was a kid. Many fond memories of days out and even being dropped off and picked up from school are acosiated with that car.
Used to own a taxi company and ran a fleet of Maestros and Montegos. Absolutely bulletproof particularly with the 2.0 Diesel. Apart from head gaskets which seemed to fail at EXACTLY 152k, they were easily good for 250k miles. Probably would have gone further but were so cheap to replace.
Class! Car design still looks fresh and practical.
I have had six montego cars ALL were fantastic, WISH I STILL HAD THEM
Fair Play for saving an endangered car and well done 👏 ✔️ I hope that this goes to an Austin Rover Collector. it looks in amazing time warp condition! Well Done
What a jolly old thing. Totally worth the effort.
I'd forgotten about the Metric wheels. We had a saloon 1.6L Montego, same year, same colour. It had many plus points, but ultimately it was not a car we remember with much fondness. Late Montegos were far better made and had hundreds of modifications. Anyway, very well done with this one you've done a great job and the metal work and 3d printing just shows what can be done.
Great job!
Back in the late 80s I hired a Montego estate for a family holiday. A hard braking episode going downhill in Wales caused the 2 front wheel trims to detach and overtake me as I came to a stop! Apart from that the car performed very well indeed.
So glad it's saved I drove a couple many years ago including a 2 litre mg and quite enjoyed them 😊
Nice work lads. So nice to see an 'unfashionable' car being returned to its former glory.
Nice job. Love seeing the lower and regular spec cars saved.
I had one of these in the same colour. Mine was a saloon. It did have it's problems, but it was extremely comfortable. I've not driven a car with seats that good since.
They're superbly comfy, aren't they?
Fantastic, love seeing this age of classic restored and back on the road. I remember them well from my childhood, lots of good memories. Great work Joe and all the team!
Thanks James!
This is precisely what 3D printing is best used for. I once saw a video where an air filter casing for an obscure car was printed.
Nice to see someone trying to keep Montego on the road, By the way I was at the start of production.
Great job of this early Montego estate👍👍👍
Looks lush. The Austins loved the bubble rust more than ford's. Hope you undersealed that too. Well done.
Well done. Thank you for saving it for the future.
Nice to see this car working again!
Great job, it looks like new!👍
A friend of mine used to work for austin rover warranty claims in Birmingham,
He told me most maestro and montego cars were stored in a field or a bombsite type yard in cowley before sale, and most had a lot of surface rust underneath when new, in winters the cars were stood in some inches of water.
Bravo! Great job you've done there. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these...
Lovely looking practical estate, I’m quite fond of the colour too. Really great work 👍🏻
Nice save! Almost everyone my age (40) will have been in the back of one of these at some point. Either there family owned one (ours didn't and bought VWs at the time) or there will be a family friend who had one. I do remember being impressed with both the space and the ride at the time. Less so the build quality when their child leant on the car and it put a dent on it!
That was brave fixing a Montego but I'm glad you did. 👍
Looks great👏I'm not sure why but like the idea of putting alloy wheels on
The Montego Estate was a better car than many think. Fit a tow bar? No problem. The boot floor was already reinforced due to the possible 7 seat option so a tow bar was cheap to buy and a simple bolt job to fit. The rear light harness already had connections in place for the electrics. The 1600 could even break its timing belt without damaging the engine. Of course the interior space with the rear seats folded was enoumous. If you were lucky to have the roof rails fitted then there were the simple "clip fit" cross bars to make a fully functional roof rack. Just a pity BL did not pay more attention to rust prevention.
The gap around the bonnet is factory standard, that is, the way it should be, its fine!
(Good to see an old car saved)
It really deserved to be saved
Food for thought - considering how simple these cars are (relatively) I wonder if there would be a market if a company offered a complete parts kit including a shell?
Mini's get that kind of support even though there are still loads of them left so if the parts could be made and stored cheaply for multiple car brands (remember a lot of parts were shared back then anyway) I'm sure more of this kind of thing would be about.
Its annoying that one minute there were loads of servicable cars knocking about then the scrappage scheme came along and within a few years they had all but gone.
What a wonderful car! Great job on the resto and saving it from the crusher
This is fantastic, always had a soft spot for a Montego so it's great to see one (a Beige one at that!) be given a second chance!
Brilliant work everyone - well worth it I'd say.
Well done boys. Good job.
I can remember renting a base model saloon Montego in the same beige colour many moons ago. It was quite a good car from what I can remember, mind you anything would be good compared to the clapped out bangers I drove at the time!
Great car drove a few when I was in the trade. Loved it. Nippy and fun to drive.
Great job, great video.👍👍👍👍
Great job looks fantastic.
Thanks Wayne!
Had a montego, liked it .Great on fuel and comfy.
What a beautiful car and remember my uncle having one and his was a reliable old thing but the metric wheels and rot finished his early 80s example off in the late 90s but those S series engines were far better than the rattling old CVH that Ford offered.
I also remember back in the early 90s the Montego estate seemed to get a new lease of life in upmarket trim levels with the good old Perkins diesel and seven seats and the wax jacket green welly brigade lapped them up.
At 7.50 Joe it’s worth stopping off and seeing the lovely old pill box that was uncovered the other year on the right hand side.
Owning both a Maestro 1.6 and an Escort 1.3, I am in complete agreement with you. The S series engine is smooth and quiet all the way to the redline and a joy to drive hard, whereas the CVH is thrashy and coarse certainly in its upper rev range and feels like it wants to explode.
@@calumbaxter9946 I agree
Great to see it saved. Sod the detractors.
Lovely job 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍🚘🚘🚘
Thanks Jimmy!
You did a great job. I never got why Rover didn't just restyle these and the Maestro rather than go in with Honda and do the 200 and 400.
These were much better cars.
This Sure is a Fantastic Restoration job Indeed. How could you not watch this Superb video. Like you said most people would have thought it was stupid to work on this car. As a young Guy in the 80s i still remember reading the auto magazines of the day and how much i was hopefull of BL Rover Dominating the Auto Industry agian. But Sadly it was never ment to be. 🙄 Really enjoyed your video. 👍
Great job! You should all be proud of yourselves, I'm in much of the same situation with my Volvo 960.
I convinced my parents to get rid of their Cortina and get a Montego. Would love to drive one again.
My dad had a green Montego MG many years ago was a lovely car
Great to see it being saved especially in that period colour which let’s be honest you’d expect it to have scrapped years ago
Lovely job - I’m sure I’ve seen this for sale on eBay? - really nice to see another Monty saved. I have a real soft spot for these!
You have indeed, Simon! We've loved saving it, now it's time for someone else to enjoy it :D
I remember seeing it for sale at the time. I thought then, and still do, this car is worth saving. Should make a loving owner a really practical classic, economical too.
I had a 1.3 maestro. Roomy and great round corners
I had a 2ltr Rover Montego Countryman back in the 90s and although the engine was er...shall we say temperamental, you felt that if you were in a collision with a Challenger tank, the tank would come off worse. I loved the comfort and practicality of it though and with the fold down seat in the back, it could hold 7 along with luggage.
Now that's a lovely looking car well done for saving it cracking job 👌👍👏👏👏👏🇬🇧
My dream is to one day own an Austin montego, a dream ever since my Dad passed away as they hold great childhood memories.
I loved my Montego 2.0 auto HLS it was great car.
It looks great well done. Wonder how rare the Vanden Plas EFI Estate is now.
Well done on your efforts
Superb
Stunning motor 😍
Fantastic job and great video, well done! 👍👍👍
People who criticise projects such as this are so short sighted: film and TV companies often seek out exactly these kinds of cars for period dramas!
Well done to all involved 👏👏👏
I think I worked for the company that produced those window clips. Now closed and moved to Eastern Europe.
Great cars 48 mpg all day long we had them as pool cats, recall photographing the speedo, 100 mph as the odometer clicked over 100,000 miles in Germany.
Very nice - shame the original TD wheel trims won’t fit
Thats where Miller Corner went :D
Beautiful
well done
If I'm not mistaken that colour is "Champagne Beige" paint code LMK !
for some reason, my mum got an Austin Rover Montego (champagne color) in France in the 90's.
My mum had a Montego VDP sedan. What really killed it was lack of metric tyres. Thought is was only a NZ problem.
Lovely car now, what's the model 1.6L?
There is a silver blue estate one in sw19 in daily use,, not far from wimbledon tennis..