Regular readers of From The Captain’s Chair will know that I’ve been hunting for a Maestro or Montego now for a while. As the editor of Monstro, the M+MOC club mag, it wasn’t really right that I lacked an example of the last wholly British mass-production saloon. Plus, the aged family Peugeot appeared to be doing it’s best to kill me, with it’s wonky brakes, knocking steering, and general feeling of being about to expire.
I was looking for a Montego in preference to its hatchback brother – I like saloons, and mad though most would think me I have long felt the Montego to be a handsome car. It must be above HL spec, must be an Austin, must be a maximum of 1.6 litres for insurance purposes, and must not have a blue interior.
Many came and went – chiefly a rather nice Oporto Red Montego 1.6L (A compromise but a nice early car in a good colour) and a matching Maestro HLS. Then club Webmaster Steve Worsley decided to be utterly charming (Read, a sod of the highest order) by showing me a Vanden Plas EFi. Not just any – one I’d tried to buy before. I phoned my insurance broker, and found to my delight it was achievable. So I went for a gander.
Oh dear. The car was good, I’ll grant – but there were signs of grot in some very nasty areas and the rare Bitter Chocolate leather interior wasn’t mint (And it’d have to be given the scarcity of the bits). Worth a punt if the money was right, though. However, fate dealt me a nasty card – I had to take out an insurance policy by the end of October, otherwise I would be unable to afford to do so due to changes in the policy terms. So I took the risk. I sat into the night at my PC, waiting for the seconds of the eBay auction to tick away. I had my high bid planned, and to prevent auction fever I entered it with just 5 seconds to go. Outbid. By a tenner. ******.
I kept the policy on though, as I had a fortnight until the end of the cancellation period. Better to change car on this policy than to pay through the nose later on, I thought. On the last day of grace, I sent an email cancelling the policy. Within 2 minutes I had an email from Ed Davey – one of the biggest Montegoholics known to man. Earlier in the hunt he’d offered me a mint 2.0HL that would have been outside my budget – and that has been featured in these pages already. I also thought it a bit good for daily use, and had said no. The next week had been spent convincing myself I’d done the right thing, whilst I knew I’d been stupid.
“Afternoon Sam, I see that you didn’t end up with the silver VP. My offer stands for you buying CMV. For you and for you only I will accept less than I suggested otherwise I’ll leave it in storage over the winter. Have another think, no hurry. Cheers, Ed”
Was this fate? On the very last day, I’d been thrown a lifeline that seemed too good to be true. I didn’t reply straight away. Instead, I sent a message to my insurance man along the lines of “DO NOT CANCEL! DO NOT CANCEL!”, sat back, and had a think. Ten seconds later I agreed to buy the car.
I’d kept it quiet, because there was someone I wanted to surprise. A mate who’d bought his 1.6HL from Ed about 3 years ago, and who would have been very envious. To stop him knowing, the circle of people who knew had to be kept incredibly tight – until the day of collection the number could be counted on my hands. That included my family and Ed’s other half.
Collection was to be at the club’s Annual General Meeting on 20th November. The plan was to go down with club regulars Richard Gelder and John Jones in their Swiss Maestro HL, then for Richard and I to take turns back in the Montego whilst John followed in the Maestro. Handover was uneventful, and a couple of the club stalwarts whose cars I’ve borrowed over the years took it for a spin. (Our archivist has booked me as a chauffeur for his daughter’s school prom…)
The journey home was an Eightiesfest – Richard and I in the Montego belting out various hits from that decade with the assistance of the cassette deck, though unfortunately Sod’s Law hit us in the shape of an indicator lense deciding it liked the Midlands and wanted to stay on the M42. First job then was sourcing one. The car’s going to be used as a daily hack – and I look forward to seeing how it does.
