Those who declare the Maestro dull clearly haven’t clapped eyes on the Tickford-MG Turbo variant. Others who call the Rover SD1 a bloated granddad's car obviously haven’t crossed paths with the Vitesse. But, which one is the greatest British thug?
Throughout the 1980s the British car industry took a beating. Cars such as the Austin Metro became something of a laughing stock and various Jaguars fell apart like Halle Berry during an Oscar acceptance speech after only a few years on the road. However, this stigma surrounding UK car companies suffering from severe fatigue hid some truly astounding cars. The Germans may have snorted at the Triumph Acclaim and the Japanese may have guffawed at the Morris Ital, but no one laughed at these two steroid takers; the Rover SD1 Vitesse and MG Maestro Turbo. And they commanded respect.
The MG Maestro and Rover SD1 Vitesse embodied the engineering spirit behind Austin-Rover at the time. Take the limited budget granted by the board of directors and squeeze every bit of power out of an old design, masked underneath an ever-dated bodyshell. The results were spectacular.
The majority of Maestros may have kangarooed out of a junction to sit at 35mph on the main road, but the MG rocketed past - usually sideways - leaving pedestrians open jawed. Large numbers of SD1s may indeed have wallowed around like an intoxicated hippo on a tight corner at any speed, but the Vitesse remained firm even when drifting around a roundabout in a plume of tyre-smoke.
Prices for both the Tickford-tweaked MG Maestro Turbo and the Rover SD1 Vitesse are on the up, so, for the money, which one deserves your garage space?
The Looks
There is no questioning that the Rover SD1 Vitesse is a fine looking car. It oozes magnificence in an understated, slightly thuggish way. This is the refined gentleman who is ready and willing to take you outside and draw blood when pushed. The rear spoiler tops off a neat package where the Rover looks mean from any angle, but especially from side on.
The MG Turbo works from the same book, with a football hooligan image from bumper to bumper. It could be a nightclub bouncer with the brute force aspect the bodykit provides. If you were to open your curtains and find the Maestro Turbo staring in at you the hair on the back of your neck would stand to attention. It would be like the Terminator popping around to borrow some sugar, with the humdrum and softly spoken Maestro frame still largely visible just to fool you.
The Power
To put things into perspective, the MG Maestro Turbo was on the cards as early as 1984, but the development cars were branded ‘too fast’ and would eat Turbos like Eric Pickles does an chicken. Plans changed and it wasn’t until 1988 that the Maestro Turbo finally arrived to bewildered expressions from MG enthusiasts. Churning out 150bhp from a 2.0-litre engine resulted in a nought to 60mph time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 132mph - or enough to help wipe the floor with any German equivalent.
The Rover SD1 Vitesse is older, but far from weak and decrepit. Standard Vitesse models pumped a mighty 187bhp out of its 3.5-litre V8, with a maximum speed of 135mph. So, as far as power goes - the Rover takes victory, even if only just.
Handling
Don’t let the sporty set-up fool you, the Rover is still a butch rear-wheel drive beast. Take a corner in the incorrect manner or miscalculate the severity of a bend and you will find yourself through either your local branch of WH Smith or Mother Nature’s finest hedge. Keep yourself in check and the humongous SD1 Vitesse will impress you no-end with the road handling abilities on offer, alongside the aptitude to shred tyres without even trying.
The Austin Maestro handled very much like a Volkswagen Golf, with a fundamentally decent chassis. Except, the MG Turbo was a tad different; the Golf GTI didn’t offer the torque steer of a barely guided missile, as the Maestro Turbo quickly became demented under pressure. Pushing an insane amount of power through a chassis originally tailored to accept the flatulent grunt of a 1.3 A-series unit, the MG Maestro Turbo could rip your face off and then plant it straight back on again when you hit a tree, slithering around like a buttered python.
This round depends on your choice: which do you prefer? Catastrophic understeer or monumental oversteer?
Verdict
Picking a winner from two epic vehicles such as these is almost impossible. We would have to say that the only sensible option would be to purchase both if you can find decent examples of each. But, if you don’t have the finance to feed two petrol-hungry road rockets then the Rover is the one to find.
As a mechanical weapon the Maestro is worthy of worship, but as an all-out brute with enough clout to send lesser cars diving for the nearest hedgerow, we can’t help but fall in love with the Rover SD1 Vitesse. The MG is brilliant, but the SD1 is sublime.
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RHD