british leyland freelander
- Thread starter gstuart
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Silverlandy
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That looks like a Meastro van to me (on iPhone so small)
GrumpyGel
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Its one of their test donkeys - I think I just made up that term. There's a couple of pages on the web with the Freelander history and they usually reference this car.
jamesmartin
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fergusonforestry
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yip was a test mule if I were them id have stuck with it I know id rather a 4x4 maestro van 
Silverlandy
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I used to have a Meastro . Was a diesel though.
. Was a diesel though.I used to have a Meastro
did my apprenticeship on them vans good old engine in its day quite powerful
ad a few montego estates with same engine in as well
Silverlandy
3.5efi's other half
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Wasn't a van. Engine was great.....car? No so
no they dropped apart with a bad rust problem normally
Silverlandy
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Yep.
Litch
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It's old news and was well reported after the Freelander was launched, it also gets included in the history on a regular basis. It was a clever way to allow the mechanicals to be thoroughly tested with no chance of the final vehicle design being discovered. The Maestro was a common enough sight on the roads at the time and to the untrained observer it would pass un-noticed. Even if the industry spies and/or Auto journalists saw it, they would gather nothing than perhaps the approximate dimensions of the track & wheelbase.
deangermouse
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I had a maestro van, it was so noisy my missus could hear me driving down the road 10 mins before I got home! Good old days
biggeeeee
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It's now in the Dunsfold Collection,
Dunsfold Collection
Dunsfold Collection
Last edited:
GrumpyGel
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The L Series diesel in Freelander was a development of the Perkins Prima used in Maestro/Montego. Then the TD5 was a (major) development on the L Series - so Maestro/Montego technology lived on a long time after the last one rusted away.
But did they?
Look at the condition of this (1 owner 60K miles) 25 year old baby..
M.G. | Montego | 1989 | For Sale | Buy | Turners
Looks like its in pretty good nick and its in a "scrap" auction because it fail its WOF (MOT) on rear brakes!
But did they?
Look at the condition of this (1 owner 60K miles) 25 year old baby..
M.G. | Montego | 1989 | For Sale | Buy | Turners
Looks like its in pretty good nick and its in a "scrap" auction because it fail its WOF (MOT) on rear brakes!
cheers guys for the info
seeing this maestro reminds me of the other cars around
like the terrible ital , where the back end useto slide out and people put lead over the rear wheel arches, lol
for rust I don't think nothing could touch the old alfasuds for being rust buckets
owned a dolomite sprint and vitesse , still miss them to this day , was a joy working on the vitesses engine with the bonnet lifting right out of the way and sitting on the tyre
seeing this maestro reminds me of the other cars around
like the terrible ital , where the back end useto slide out and people put lead over the rear wheel arches, lol
for rust I don't think nothing could touch the old alfasuds for being rust buckets
owned a dolomite sprint and vitesse , still miss them to this day , was a joy working on the vitesses engine with the bonnet lifting right out of the way and sitting on the tyre
GrumpyGel
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My first car was a Vitesse - as you say fantastic car and I miss it to It failed its MOT so I stuck it in a garage I rented off the council. When the garage bill got to £80 - I sold the car for that to cover the bill - mad things you do when your young!
2nd car was an 1850HL I bought off my mate who had crashed it (on that tight bend iin Merstham on the A23 if anyone knows it). I had it repaired and a replacement engine fitted in Canning Town. It broke down in the middle of the Blackwall Tunnel driving it home ! I then crashed it in Brighton a couple of weeks later! That was the end of that.
3rd car was a Spartan built on a Vitesse. That had a hinged wooden board for a "back seat" - underneath it were 3 lumps of lead moulded in oil cans
It failed its MOT so I stuck it in a garage I rented off the council. When the garage bill got to £80 - I sold the car for that to cover the bill - mad things you do when your young!2nd car was an 1850HL I bought off my mate who had crashed it (on that tight bend iin Merstham on the A23 if anyone knows it). I had it repaired and a replacement engine fitted in Canning Town. It broke down in the middle of the Blackwall Tunnel driving it home ! I then crashed it in Brighton a couple of weeks later! That was the end of that.
3rd car was a Spartan built on a Vitesse. That had a hinged wooden board for a "back seat" - underneath it were 3 lumps of lead moulded in oil cans
My first car was a Vitesse - as you say fantastic car and I miss it to
2nd car was an 1850HL I bought off my mate who had crashed it (on that tight bend iin Merstham on the A23 if anyone knows it). I had it repaired and a replacement engine fitted in Canning Town. It broke down in the middle of the Blackwall Tunnel driving it home ! I then crashed it in Brighton a couple of weeks later! That was the end of that.
3rd car was a Spartan built on a Vitesse. That had a hinged wooden board for a "back seat" - underneath it were 3 lumps of lead moulded in oil cans
mine failed in the end, the rear outrigger rusted away, so when u slowed down the wheel moved sideways, scary, lol
had the 2 litre model , was very thirsty and great with the roof off, was cherry red , gold wheels and a gold thin strip down the side
if I had the money would love another one, could blaim it on a mid life crisis ,
another car i always wanted back then was a Jensen interceptor, but well out of my price range, think it was a 7 litre v8 , sounded awesome ,
also would have liked a rover 3500 cc, coupe, can't remember the model but had all leather interior and was an auto as standard
did also have a triumph 2500 cc pi , that went through injection pumps like no tommorow , lol
my dream would be to have a garage, a 4 post ramp and buy a 90 defender, take it completely apart down to a rolling chassis , put a tvr v8 in it along with an autobox, snorkal , the works
oh well nice to dream
