YOUR SHOUT
Classic emails, letters, tweets, posts & threads
EMAIL OF THE MONTH
I enjoyed your cover feature including three of BL/ Austin Rover/MG Rover’s finest in the last issue (PC, August 2023) . It had me wondering where it all went wrong. I have a 1989 MG Maestro Turbo and 2004 MG ZS180 and having owned a 1983 MG Maestro 1600 and 1990 MG Maestro EFi, I can vouch for their excellent engineering and driving quality. I’ve also owned two examples of the VW Golf GTi and apart from perhaps slightly inferior bodies (ie prone to rust) and interior plastics, the BL products were certainly a match in the mechanical and engineering department.
Having spent more than 40 years in the world of Corporate Banking (retiring in 2018) I worked closely with many of the major auto manufacturers over the years, including Austin Rover. I would say that the demise of a once global-leading car business in the UK from BMC in the Fifties to the final closure of MG Rover in April 2005 was due to many factors, but politics played a significant part in the Eighties. Dare I say there is a parallel with the politically-driven privatisations that occurred in the same era and the current state of our railways, water boards, electric/gas utilities and even the sell-off of council housing, sectors where we are seeing the less than positive consequences of those political decisions today.
SONG OF THE SOUTH
Loved the article on the Alfasud (PC, Sept 2023) It was a wonderful restoration of a fabulous but rust-prone Italian gem. I have fond memories of these little beauties, having passed my driving test in my dad's 1976 base model. I enjoyed everything about it – the handling and acceleration were wonderful. It was impossible not to give it plenty of revs just to hear the rasping exhaust. Our neighbour had a 1500 and was quite an aficionado – he visited the factory when on holiday. He witnessed lines of new cars on a quayside exposed to sea salt spray – no wonder they rusted for fun!
Low ranger
I came across this 1967 article in a magazine I picked up at a boot sale. It says that the electric Mini Traveller did 40mph, with a range of 30 miles.
VISA TEASER
This is my late dad’s Citroën Visa Super X on the day of delivery in 1981. The Super X was a smart pac
