[RobAMerc]

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!"

You couldn't argue in fairness.

[Duke O Smiley]

Originally Posted by RobAMerc

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!"

You couldn't argue in fairness.

I remember watching that!

[welder]

Originally Posted by Duke O Smiley

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sal...13417?offset=8


Maestro anyone?

Wish I'd seen that a few weeks ago to reshell my racing Maestro....before I sent it out for extensive welding and bodywork !

[unkel]

Originally Posted by RobAMerc

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!"

You couldn't argue in fairness.

Here it is

[w124man]

Originally Posted by winnie the schtink

i sold a good few of these maestros to a fella down in wicklow,he was converting them to diesel as apparently they have a golf gearbox

They didnt have a Golf gearbox but if I was to say that there were a lot of Golfs in the Longbridge prototype shop around that time you might follow the drift. We had the first GTI Golf in the UK at the time. It was a very early LHD car and was such an amazing experience to get behind the wheel of something like that.

[winnie the schtink]

just did a bit of googling and they had a vw gearbox for sure as did the montego,no secret just bought in

[w124man]

Originally Posted by winnie the schtink

just did a bit of googling and they had a vw gearbox for sure as did the montego,no secret just bought in

It was a licensed copy of the VW tranny, the casing was bought from the same factory and some of the internals were the same and it was to be assembled off site. I left in 1980 so never saw them on the assembly line. They also had a licence on the rear torsion beam for production. Some the early prototypes used one straight out of the VW parts bin along with the front bottom arms and struts. They wanted to make a car that handled like an Alfasud, was a comfy as a Citroen GS and built like a Golf. It didn't happen.

[Idnes]

Hi Lads,

just wonder anyone know anything about that Skoda from sixties in Tipperary at Three Bridges motors?? Its sitting there for long time now. Looks like interesting machine,whats d parts suply and general knowledge of them??

[26000 Elephants]

Originally Posted by welder

Wish I'd seen that a few weeks ago to reshell my racing Maestro....before I sent it out for extensive welding and bodywork !

If you are looking for clean rust free maestro shells, look in the south of Spain. Some were reg'ed there as late as '01. And all in white. You see the odd one driving around still.

[RobAMerc]

Originally Posted by w124man

It didn't happen.

Understatement of the year ?

[_Brian]

Originally Posted by w124man

It was a licensed copy of the VW tranny, the casing was bought from the same factory and some of the internals were the same and it was to be assembled off site. I left in 1980 so never saw them on the assembly line. They also had a licence on the rear torsion beam for production. Some the early prototypes used one straight out of the VW parts bin along with the front bottom arms and struts. They wanted to make a car that handled like an Alfasud, was a comfy as a Citroen GS and built like a Golf. It didn't happen.

Indeed it didn't, I only drove one once, and its a long time ago, but I'm fairly sure they achieved NONE of those aims.

[hamburg]

Originally Posted by w124man

They didnt have a Golf gearbox but if I was to say that there were a lot of Golfs in the Longbridge prototype shop around that time you might follow the drift. We had the first GTI Golf in the UK at the time. It was a very early LHD car and was such an amazing experience to get behind the wheel of something like that.

just wondering, do all manufacturers do this? buy their rivals models and take them apart to see what makes them tick?

[hi5]

Yep, reverse engineering.

[Red Kev]

Originally Posted by hamburg

just wondering, do all manufacturers do this? buy their rivals models and take them apart to see what makes them tick?

Of the first 40 Lexus LS400's that were sold in Germany in 1989/90 12 disappeared straight away. A further 5 (or 6) racked up well over 250,000km in the first year.

They were more than likely purchased by BMW, Mercedes, Audi/VW then stripped down or tested over a year or two.

[26000 Elephants]

Originally Posted by hi5

Yep, reverse engineering.

Austin rover were the best in the world at this.

Alas, it was with the 4 forward gears that they fell down.