Chargeable asset

It’s a little-known fact, but MG Enthusiast was the first car magazine in the world to break the news about the possibility of an MG Maestro Turbo. It was in the April-May 1985 issue of MGE when, in a review of the newly launched MG Montego Turbo, we revealed how Austin-Rover’s then boss, Harold Musgrove, had hindered plans within the company to do a Maestro variant. Mr Musgrove wasn’t a fan of the idea, suggesting that the Maestro engine bay would need extensive re-engineering to accommodate the 2.0-litre O-series engine and that neither the chassis nor brakes would be able to cope with the extra power.

Instead, it was the Montego Turbo that would lead the Austin-Rover charge towards forced induction as it was a more natural rival to other turbocharged models on the market such as the SAAB 900, Nissan Bluebird Turbo ZX and Renault 18, and it would not be until after Musgrove had left the company, in September 1986, that the project would be given serious consideration.

It was Austin-Rover’s Concept Design department (which would later become Rover Special Products, or RSP) that picked up the idea, led