The Tickford Story
Unlike the Montego, turbo charging the Maestro came much later in its production life. In 1984/1985 an initial testing programme was embarked upon to see if the Maestro chassis was capable of handling a turbo charger, initial tests did not involve an intercooler. Although when the then Chairman, Harold Musgrove was approached by MG Enthusiast Magazine in 1985, he admitted testing had been carried out on a Maestro Turbo but when asked if there were plans for production he seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea and replied that Austin Rover had no plans for production.
However, the MG Maestro Turbo was unveiled at the 1988 Birmingham Motor show a few years later. Aston Martin Tickford had been approached to manufacture the body kits. The body kit featured a fibreglass front and rear bumper, incorporating driving lamps, full length side skirts and a roof-level tailgate spoiler. The body kits was colour coded along with the side mirrors, grille and side mouldings. Production of the Maestro Turbo was occurred at Cowley and was no different to other Maestros; however those Maestros destined to become turbocharged came off the production line minus the bumpers, tailgate spoiler and graphics. The Maestros were then shipped to Tickford Aston Martin Specialist Production Centre for finishing, where the fibreglass body kits, rear spoiler and turbo graphics were fitted. Tickford had also been involved with the engine development and suspension tuning, however the body kit was designed by Austin Rover. Before the cars left Tickford to be returned to Austin Rover, they were assigned a build number. The Maestro Turbo Register has a record of all these build numbers.
Only 504 MG Maestro Turbos were made, the first Maestro Turbo was actually registered as a MG Maestro EFi. Four colour options were available as Flame Red, British Racing Green, Diamond White and Factory Black.
Except for Flame Red, each car featured a contrasting red insert strip, flame red had a black insert strip.