MG Maestro 1600 : Dynamic Power And Purpose

If you associate sports-car performance with spartan discomfort, the MG Maestro 1600 will come as something of a revelation. In addition to those ergonomically designed rally seats, trimmed in soft grey tweed, there are creature comforts galore.

At a more mundane but equally practical level, there's also a wide, asymetrically divided folding rear seat, which gives you a daily choice of people v. luggage, ranging from five seats and a generousboot to two sporting seats and a massive 50 cu ft of loadspace.

The MG Maestro never forgets its "Safety-Fast" ancestry however; witness the sports steering wheel, close-ratio 5-speed gearshift, wide alloy road wheels and low-profile tyres.

There's one high technology feature (shared with the Vanden Plas) that leaves the competition speechless: The electronic solid-state instrumentation combined with a trip computer and voice synthesizer!

Switching on the ignition activates the instrument display to adopt a 3-second low-brightness check mode. This changes to operating mode as you pull away and the illumination level increases to fully-bright (by day) or remains at your pre-set low-light setting if you are using side or headlights.

The speedometer presents a digital display of your precise road speed in mph or - at the touch of a button - in kph. The other three basic instruments - fuel gauge, tachometer and engine temperature gauge - present analogue displays, with coloured bands to warn of unduly high (or low) readings.

Facia pushbuttons energise the display of other useful data: the journey distance you have covered, the amount of fuel used, your present rate of petrol consumption, average mpg, correct time and date.

A voice synthesizer, linked to this trip computer, is programmed to announce a selection of warning and reminders should these become necessary. Spoken warnings (the voice is female) include low fuel, high engine temperature, low oil pressure, brake failure and battery not charging.

Reminders include unfastened seatbelts, handbrake on and sidelights left on (as you leave the car). Far more than a clever gimmick, this innovative electronic system raises safety standards through the presentation of clearer instrument readouts and spoken warnings of non-standard conditions, whilst its timely vocal reminders may save you from a sharp fine or flat battery.

This brilliant development of the Maestro brings all the benefits of spaciousness, versatility, high-tech equipment and low running costs to the motoring enthusiast.

Powered by a double twin-choke carb 103 bhp version of the intensively developed 'R' Series engine, with efficient breakerless ignition, this potent 5-seater is equipped with a close ratio 5-speed box and is capable of 111 mph, with a 0-60 time of 9.6 seconds. Yet, at a constant 56 mph, the MG Maestro 1600 returns a pocket-pleasing 47.5 mpg and, with 12,000 mile servicing and a 6-year Supershield corrosionwarranty, knows how to cut your motoring costs without sacrificing your motoring enjoyment.

Precise rack and pinion steering, servo-assisted dual-circuit brakes and independant coil spring suspension, with MacPherson struts and an anti-roll bar up front, torsion-beam interconnected trailing arms at the rear - features like these add to the promise of excellent handling and roadholding, well worthy of the name MG.

Infomation Taken From The Miracle Maestro 1983

MG 1600 Tech Specs :

Engine : 1.6 litre "R" Series, With twin weber 40 dcnf Carbs
Body : MG modifyed Maestro body shell with plastic bumpers. Finished in Silverleaf.
Interior : Full MG interior, red carpet , leather steering wheel etc... Also including the solid state instraments and voice sythesyser speaking 4 languages
Wheels : 14 inch MG "Cheese Grater" Alloy Wheels

The MG1600 In The Real World

The MG1600 had a troubled life when it was released. It was plaged with problems and earned a very bad reputation. The main problem being its trouble with hot starting, This was mainly due to the placement of the carbs right above the exhaust manifold. This caused fuel vaporisation which was a major problem in traffic. In the later S series MG1600 a carb cooling fan was introduced to try and help the problem somewhat. But it also the view of some people that MG should have made the s series an efi car. putting it on par with the Ford escort 1600i of the time. But all these problems taken into account when the carbs are properly tuned the hot starting problem nearly completely dissapears.

The MG1600 also has another major problem as it gets on since the phasing out of leaded fuel and the introduction of unleaded. Unfortunatly unleaded fuels damage older rubber gaskets, and guess what the 1600 had a few of these in the carbs. The gaskets prerish and fuel starts to seep from the carbs. Now if you think about where the carbs are placed this isnt a good thing, fuel would seep out and drip onto the exhaust manifold causeing a fire. I have seen evidence of this on my 1600 as the engine bay is very discoloured. One of my future purchases it think will have to be a fire extingisher.