Austin Montego

Much-anticipated new Austin, developed under LM11 codename. Based on stretched Austin Maestro (LM10) floorpan. Long gestation meant Montego looked a little out of date on 1984 launch, and a solid-state instrument panel with talking computer wasn’t going to modernize it. Quality glitches with the technology hid the fact that the Austin Montego wasn’t too bad a car, and constant improvements saw it become reasonably good. But it never caught the imagination other than for fleets, who saw the Montego as good value. Estate launched 1985. Austin name began disappearing in 1987 and had gone altogether in 1988, making Montego marqueless. Some countries sold the Austins variously as MGs (New Zealand) and Rovers (France, Germany, Benelux, India) and there was indeed an MG variant, covered separately. Colloquially, some do refer to the last Montegos as Rover Montegos, even if the Rover name never appeared on the cars in their home market.

• Austin Montego Mk I
• Montego (incl. Rover Montego)

Marque: Austin | Predecessors: Austin Ambassador, Morris Ital | Successor: Rover 600