MEET THE OWNER – PATRICK BRADLEY AND HIS MAESTRO ADVANTAGE

Picture the scene – it is September 1989, and you are searching for a five-seater five-door hatchback. Of course, your criteria are that it must be British-built, frugal with fuel, cheap to run and reasonably well-appointed. But, your eye is caught by an advertisement for an exclusive new Rover Group product. For just £8,770, you too could “surge down the motorways in a Maestro with alloys plus race-bred MG spoilers and suspension”. This was the car that had “The Look Without The Price”, one that “feels as good as it looks” and with a sunroof and “smooth five-speed gearbox” as standard. And today, Patrick Bradley owns one of two Advantages believed to remain on the road.

1989 saw a spate of Maestro special editions as the Rover Group prepared to launch the R8-series 200 on 10^th October. By now, the LC10 was six years old and only the nineteenth best-selling car in the UK, but it still offered an excellent deal to motorists who were more concerned with value for money than automotive fashion. In March, the 1.3 Surf was based on the Special but sported ultra-fashionable stripes and a glass sunroof.

Four months later, the Clubman was available in 1.3 Standard or 1.3L forms and featured a stereo- radio-cassette player. In addition, the latter featured a body-coloured grille, door handles, and external mirrors to cut a dash in the Happy Eater car park. As for the Advantage, Patrick explains – “It has a 1.6 S series engine, MG wheels in white, and an MG body kit; inside, it is the same as a Maestro L. The Advantage came in three colours – ‘British Racing Green’, ‘Pearlescent Cherry Red’ or ‘Black’. I believe they only made 899 of the Maestro Advantage; Rover also built Metro and Montego versions”.

From a 2022 perspective, the Bradley Advantage looks agreeably jaunty in a sensible cardigan-wearing sense; Richard Briers in Ever Decreasing Circles would have probably regarded a BRG example as the epitome of smart yet rational motoring. Of course, we have previously featured Patrick’s very handsome HLS, but G 31 NYD is an even more exclusive machine that symbolises provincial life at the end of the 1980s as much as shell suits and Bros records. Besides, who would not be tempted by a Maestro with such stylish external decorations?

With Thanks To – Patrick Bradley.