Maestro 1.3L - Endurance Rally Car
Maestro 1.3L – Endurance Rally Car - £1300 ono
The time has come to sell my beloved Maestro following the acquisition of Pat's Rover 200.
A bit of history: The car was originally prepared for the Firefly road rally by an MG Maestro enthusiast in the North West and was subsequently acquired by me in April 2006. I have since rebuilt the car to full Endurance Rally specification and you might have seen it campaigned it in a couple of events, the EACS Midsummer Endurance Rally in 2006 (coming 18th) and 2007 (coming 14th) – pretty good for one of the oldest and (on paper) lowest powered cars in the rally!
Adrian 'Preston' Gladwin and I then took on the Lombard in the Winter of 2007. We ‘powered’ our way up from 81st place to 35th but about two thirds of the way through the rally suffered a fuel tank problem that took us down the rankings - still, we made it to the end, eventually finishing 70th out of 120 starters. Not bad for a near 20 year-old ‘shopping car’.
Anyway, enough of the boring history; I had intended to keep her indefinitely to run on selected Endurance events, but new acquisitions and diminishing space means she has to go to a new, and hopefully good, home. She would be ideal for someone wanting to start out in Endurance rallying with a simple, very strong, no-nonsense car – all the mechanicals are straightforward and tried-and-tested and there are no fancy electronics to go wrong.
She comes with a full 12 months MOT and has genuine 40,620 odd miles on the clock. Apart from regular routine servicing she comes with the following modifications and equipment. Much of this was fitted just prior to the Lombard so is virtually new:
6-point (Safety Devices?) bolt-in roll cage
Dural sumpguard
New (yes, really) 5-speed gearbox and clutch
Brantz International 2 ‘S’ Pro tripmeter (1 rally only)
Brantz rally clock (1 rally only)
Master cylinder plus silicone race fluid
Braided brake hoses all-round
Uprated discs and pads
Uprated suspension – Monroe gas front, KYB gas rear plus MG Maestro springs
Polybushed suspension all-round
Refurbished MG Metro cylinder head
New distributor
Lucas DLB105 uprated coil
New carb
Janex air filter
New alternator
New skidded exhaust
Uprated radiator
Fire extinguisher
Warning triangle
Internal fluorescent
Potty jack
Spots
Navigator’s footplate
TRS 4 point harnesses (with facility to fit 5-point)
4 good Firestone F580Cs with reinforced sidewalls (the control tyre for the 2009 championship season) on alloys
2 steel spares wheels
The bad points – as this is a rally car there are a few dings and scratches as you’d expect. The rear arches and sills have been repaired at some stage (not pretty but serviceable), but overall there’s very little rust for a Maestro of this age. A small hole in the fuel tank has been repaired by my local garage, but I'd advise fitting a replacement. Also, the car doesn’t currently have a tank guard – I tend to run without one but I’d recommend fitting one for rocky events.
You are welcome to ask me questions and view the car which is in St Albans, Herts. I can be contacted on 07900 605 258 / ratherton71@yahoo.co.uk
(there are some pictures of fleabay if you're interested)