Maestro (car)

Austin Maestro
1983 Austin Maestro
Overview
Manufacturer	British Leyland (Austin Rover Group) (1982–1987) Rover Group (1988–1995)
Also called	MG Maestro Rover Maestro
Production	1982–1995 (Austin/Rover Maestro) 1983–1991 (MG Maestro) 1995–2001 (remaining CKD kits) 2001–2007 (China)
Assembly	Cowley, Oxford, United Kingdom Varna, Bulgaria Qingdao, (Etsong) (1998–2003), (FAW) (2003–2005) Chengdu, (Sichuan Auto Industry Group Company Ltd) (2006–2007)
Designer	Ian Beech David Bache
Body and chassis
Class	Small family car (C)
Body style	2-door van 5-door hatchback
Layout	FF layout
Related	Austin Montego
Powertrain
Engine	1.3 L A-Series I4 1.3 L 8A-FE I4 (China) 1.5 L CQ4C15 I4 (China) 1.6 L R-series I4 1.6 L S-series I4 2.0 L O-Series I4 (MG Maestro only) 2.0 L Austin Rover MDi, aka Perkins Prima I4
Transmission	5 speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,510 mm (98.8 in)
Length	4,050 mm (159.4 in)
Width	1,690 mm (66.5 in) (ex mirrors)
Height	1,430 mm (56.3 in)
Chronology
Predecessor	Austin Maxi Austin Allegro MG 1300
Successor	Rover 200 Mark II

The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group. The car was produced at the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxford. Today, the redeveloped factory produces the BMW Mini. An MG-branded performance version was sold as the MG Maestro from 1983 until 1991. Although later models were sometimes referred to as the Rover Maestro, the model never wore the Rover badge. A 3-box (non-hatchback) car, the Montego, was a derivative of the Maestro.

British Leyland was created in 1975 when the bankrupt British Leyland Motor Corporation was nationalised. In 1977 the South African-born corporate troubleshooter, Sir Michael Edwardes, was recruited as chairman to sort out the troubled firm. Part of Edwardes' plan was to introduce a completely new range of mass-market models to replace the current offerings, designed and built using state-of-the-art technology. The new range eventually decided upon consisted of a new vehicle for each of the small, lower-medium and upper-medium market segments. The first of these cars to be launched was the Austin Metro in 1980.

The new cars for the lower and upper medium segments were to share a platform, with various trim and styling differences to distinguish the two different models. The two models would in effect replace four existing vehicles in the British Leyland range – the Maestro would simultaneously replace both the Austin Allegro and Maxi, whilst the Montego replaced the Austin Ambassador and Morris Ital, these latter two having been recent facelifts of the Princess and Morris Marina. Since all but the Allegro were made at the Cowley plant, this rationalization would give the cost benefits of production automation and flexibility. This common platform was given the project name LC10, using the Leyland Cars project sequence (LC8 became the Austin Mini Metro on its launch in 1980, LC9 became the Triumph Acclaim when it was launched in 1981). Preliminary design work for LC10 began in 1977, with production scheduled to begin around 1980 - which would have seen it go on sale around the same time as the Ford Escort MK3 and the original Vauxhall Astra.