BARN FIND! NEW BRITISH CLASSIC CARS!? - Investigating the AMAZING Austin's and Rovers

[@chrisbury4635]

Wow i love when people find brand new car's that have been in storage, i hope this is legit and they can be saved 😊

[@maestromanification]

Hi Tom , the maestro is an R series MG 1600 . It will more than likely have the digital dash . European ones had selectable languages which the UK ones didn't. This was because digital storage was massively expensive in 1983 Cheers Russ

[@hamishpaterson2413]

Hi, I thought the 1600’s were naturally aspirated with twin Webber carburettors and the EFI’s were all 2.0 litres… I had both in my youth - hated the 1600 and loved the 2 litre!

[@timbo19751975]

​@@hamishpaterson2413100% correct. The car shown was a carb'd 1.6

[@hamishpaterson2413]

@@timbo19751975 ah ok, was wondering when the narrator said it was an EFI

[@maestromontegometroappreci7287]

It will definitely have the digital dash as all mg maestro 1600 come with it

[@dcdriving2463]

What a find. I think these cars need to be found and saved Tom .many thanks for the upload.

[@tomdrives]

Glad you enjoyed it and yes I agree!

[@matthewc.419]

​@tomdrives me too

[@markonmotoring]

Fascinating collection. I wonder how a single Matra ended up amongst such a comprehensive BL collection.

[@nicholasparish1968]

I hired a car in Sicily around 2008. It was a motor company based in a huge cavern with quite a lot of collectors cars in the rear sections, the old gentleman who ran it was a British car buff and showed me a couple of minis and a mini with a full wicker body which was amazing. I do remember him saying he used to have a British car dealership and would show me some of his mint cars when I returned the hire car, sadly he wasn’t there the day I did return the car….

[@mikeyratcliff3400]

Excellent Tom, keep us posted!

[@tomdrives]

Thanks, will do!

[@TheFrem1]

What an interesting post this person made Tom, I decent collection of cars, Like you say, They do look like they've come from a former dealer/showroom. They do look like they've been stored for a while, Flat tyres, mold etc but the bodywork looks good, So it can't be too damp there. Perhaps Gaydon could help, I'm sure if they're genuine they'd love those cars at the museum or at least save them?

[@ukman9797]

Great report mate. Hopefully you can track them down and get tem back here, like you did with the prototypes.

[@a11csc]

keep the sherlock cowling content up

[@tomdrives]

Thanks, I hope we can find them, it'll be interesting.

[@wobblybobengland]

I speak a little Italian, I have searched for triumph acclaim, rover, austin, metro with the subheader found, dusty, underground, auction, new, and there is nothing, I work for a Fiat subsidury and have lots of automotive connections around Turin and Brescia, so I will ask. They look as though they have been part of a dealership and somebody has gone bankrupt or died. That they are numbered suggests that they have been sold but there is nothing on the internet.

[@darrensmith6999]

Thank you again Sir (:

[@threelitre5266]

The white Maestro is indeed a 1.3. But not a base model. Given the details i would say it is either an HL or a LE. And it has, something that was not available in the UK, the digital dashboard fitted. The components of which are clearly visible under the bonnet.

[@maestromontegometroappreci7287]

It could be a L spec aswell as they come with plastic bumpers

[@BlackBuck777]

Fascinating. The Bagheera is quite an oddity amongst the BL cars. I had to check the interesting seating arrangement as my memory might have been wrong - it has 3 front seats. Also it was in production until 1980 so may predate the other cars.

[@paultierney8867]

MG maestro efi, was a 2 litre. So not the one shown. 1600s were Twin 40 dcnf webber, on r series as this is, (cam chain) maxi / allegro derived engine or s series (cam belt) later engine.

[@tomdrives]

So the one on here is a 2L?

[@paultierney8867]

@tomdrives sadly not a 2L, biggest give away is the non dustbin shaped airbox. The flattish, not cylindrical airbox at 4.03 is for the carb version. Manifold at front of the engine shows its is R series engine. The, S Series engine had the exhaust manifold at rear side of engine, and a carb fan next to the water bottle as carbs at rear of engine above the exhaust manifold made the fuel evaporate when the engine was warm and sat in traffic. SO if its badged as 2.0 EFI its not based on the engine pic. Sorry. Tom, All your videos are great and always very interesting, so keep up the good work. I am just helping with issues I noticed having had countless MG maestro's, simple mods made them what they should have been. Wish I still had one now, but so few left, due to build quality or lack of it !

[@paultaylor9652]

Very interesting, I remember the cars in UK showrooms very well. I hope you find more information on them Tom.

[@tomdrives]

I hope so too

[@andysllt155]

Absolutely amazing

[@maverlk7]

Sim City 2000 behind you! One of my favourite ever games! I literally spent many nights up after 4am unable to drag myself off this game in the 1990’s!!

[@tomdrives]

Shame I don't have a Macintosh to play it on anymore! Came with a Japanese Macintosh Colour Classic II that I bought years ago.

[@maverlk7]

@@tomdrives I have a couple of old Macs in my loft! Not run them for years! PowerPC G3 300mhz and I think the other is a Performa 6400. Obviously both with floppy drives and Sim City 2000 is probably still installed! I need to dig them out and see what I can do to attach a modern monitor (I have no CRT tube ones anymore)!

[@timbounds7190]

Interesting! The cars certainly look brand new in the photos - even the exhausts look as if the engine hardly ever ran. If it was fake news, how would you have done it? Unless the photos are quite old. The cynic inside me says 'Metros that haven't rusted???'

[@Locknut61]

If stored in dry conditions, they wouldn't rust.

[@timbounds7190]

@@Locknut61 Everything metal rusts eventually. A Dry environment (and of course no salt) will mean that rust will form much slower than normal. Those cars have (allegedly) been there for 40 years....and that's a long time. Almost too good to be true.

[@massimilianomicor8775]

Inside storage helps. And anyway I never saw lhd Metros in Italy went rust rotten as those in Uk. Maybe different zync treatment pre painting between lhd and rhd Metros? Always in doubt about it…

[@JernejSmalc]

Hi Tom, it seems to me that the No. 12 Maestro is no base model (see bumpers, wheels), must be at least an HLE. Judging by its wheels, the No. 5 Metro could be a slightly later model than 1983-84.

[@maestromontegometroappreci7287]

There were some new maestros find last month in Italy like this I wonder if they had something to do with this

[@johngibson3837]

Hey up tom my Italian mate's brother lives in brindesi so same area, don't know if that could help but it is a sniff

[@tomdrives]

That's great John, sadly no word on the location yet we just know the region for now. I'll keep you posted.

[@johngibson3837]

@tomdrives it's same area where he lives so irl try remember ask his brother

[@samuelashok6847]

I am having two SD1Rover

[@tomdrives]

These ones?

[@RuthNewstead]

Sdi diesel 😱

[@Faza_M]

they all are hundred percent worthy to be saved, but i'm still mad why BL never sold any car in my country except at one point they started to create maleo cars for our national car based on metro but did not realized because 1998 crisis.

[@alancobbin]

Let’s not get too excited at this stage as like Tom said without verification these pics could well just lead us up the garden path,Next stop communication and Verification of these extraordinary pictures🤞👍

[@jmfitzpatrick1731]

Thanks Tom … this does look like a mystery! Some questions… 1. Who put the numbers on the cars, and when? 2. Have they had the goods lifted recently? The engine compartments look relatively dust free…. 3. What was the context of the post? Are these cars being offered for sale? Hopefully, these questions, and no doubt many others, can be answered soon!! Best wishes, John

[@michaelprendeville5949]

Anybody notice a couple were r h d did they change to left side driving in Italy mmm i wonder

[@frazzleface753]

Any clues about when the pictures were taken? Obviously these cars have been sitting there for a long time by the looks of it, but this could be anything from 10 years to date.

[@abenormal9075]

Very interesting but who can say if the pictures are real

[@tomdrives]

Photos are definitely real, post might not be. Hopefully it is, it's a dream find.

[@haroldmclean3755]

Ah , Elton John's car collection

[@alfredvonk7686]

04:00. Could there be so much rust build up on the exhaust manifold…when mileage is under 100 , and standing still for decades?

[@Zeem4]

Yes. It's bare cast iron that's been left standing for 40 years. It'll rust like that due to the moisture in the atmosphere.

[@alfredvonk7686]

@ yep, more than plausible..did not thought of the humidity

[@matthewwalker8238]

I hope they are real but I’m not sure how long where the photos taken and who’s actually seen them in the flesh … interesting tho

[@michael-sz3ff]

Its crazy to think that theese brand new old stock metro maestro rovers actually be more reliable when re-comisioned than many audi bmw peugeot citroen vauxhalls today ! No expensive bmw audi engune faults timing chains etc No wet cambelt/oil pump belt/tensioner failures No fiesta/focus ecoboom engine😂😂😂crazy whod have thought that poorly built not very reliable BL/AUSTIN cars 40 odd years later would be more reliable than the above cars !😏😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@aaronhussain3873]

Happy to be corrected if and when there's more information on these. I can't help but think there's a bit of A.I trickery going on - the photos seem a bit too flattering of the cars, and some details look quite edited.

[@wayland7150]

Hidden from the debt collectors?

[@tomdrives]

Could be? Many theories out there. Maybe the dealership closed and stored them there instead of sending them back or allocating to another dealer.

[@BoxInThisLapVR46]

Doubt these cars will be saved

[@tomdrives]

I hope they are, I can't find the original post now.

[@wayland7150]

The cars have been numbered which signals that someone maybe offering them to buyers.

[@80metamatic]

Unfortunately you couldn't own and drive these cars on the road legally.

[@matthewc.419]

Why ????

[@80metamatic]

@matthewc.419 in registered cars have to comply with current safety and emissions regulations.

[@80metamatic]

Un

[@bernardwarr4187]

Why not? You could import then in to a 3rd party country and register them, using a certificate of compliance? Not difficult once MOT

[@normanmcleod7169]

Might be worth contacting Officina Rover, Via Napoli, 333/c, 70123 Bari BA, Italy Province: Metropolitan City of Bari (if they still exist) in case some older employee has a lead. I don't have a phone number.