The M-word
If you are talking - decades later - in Great Britain about an Austin Montego, Metro or Maestro, you are still kindly requested by your British interlocutors'Please don't mention the M-word '. You prefer not to use the aforementioned type designations - Metro, Maestro and Montego.
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Such cars have had such an impact on daily British life ... Despite that, the former British Leyland, Leyland, Austin-Rover and Rover products were sold there with hundreds of thousands. The Metro and the Maestro in particular were very popular. At the time, a spectacular TV and cinema advertisement was devised to pump up the Montego's sales figures. To that end, a certain Russ Smith was hired, a man who can 'steer' to the millimeter with precision, who can park at a high speed to the millimeter. Maybe you saw the video then - we are talking about 1987 - ever seen on the island, perhaps at a local dealer? Just to refresh your memory, it was a very frustrated office clerk who had a 'hard time' in his boss's parking lot. On his two wheels he roamed the terrain in his Montego, completed by a number of daring stunts to finally find a free parking spot ... All that 'driving' was done by Russ Swift. It's hard to believe, but he has now bought one himself. A Montego 1,6HL. During the fantastic classic exhibition at the NEC of Birmingham in November 2014, he was invited by the Maestro and Montego Owners' Club to make the birthday cake from the 30e the birthday of the Montego ...
Photo: The 30e Austin Montego's birthday was celebrated in November 2014 at the NEC in Birmingham