| Frazer
& MG Metro The first
production run of the Metros done by Tickford
used the Metro 1.3 as the basis for the Frazer,
which increased the cost from approx. £4000 to
£12000. There were only 24 of these cars
produced, numbered 1-25, because number 13 was
not used! As far as I am aware 22 were Silver
Leaf and 2 Brown. The Silver Leaf cars were very
striking as the silver darkens into a dark grey
towards the bottom of the car. The Frazer had a
full silver grey leather interior, which included
the door panels, rear parcel shelf and the much
modified wrap-round dashboard. Wilton carpets
covered the floor and bottom of the door panels.
The dash had a stack stereo, electric window
switches and extra instrumentation along with
cruise control. The cars were fitted with Porsche
5.5in wheels shod with 175/50 VR P7 tyres. The
car was lowered slightly and fitted with a twin
choke webber carb, gasflowed cylinder head with
larger diameter valves, new camshaft and a
revised inlet manifold, which raised the output
of the engine to 80bhp. A full bodykit was added,
within which were mounted 4 fog lights at the
front and 2 in the rear.
The second production run used the MG Metro or
MG Turbo as the base car. No modifications were
needed to the engines of these and there was a
full set of optional extras that could be
specified, which could take these cars further up
the scale than the Frazer.
|
| MG
Maestro Turbo The
Maestro turbo was revealed to the public at the
1988 Birmingham. Tickford's contribution was
fairly minimal as the cars were delivered to
Tickford merely to be fitted with front and rear
bodykit, side-skirts, vinyl graphics and a build
number. Only 505 Maestro turbos were made, of
which 215 were Flame Red, 149 British Racing
Green, 92 White and 49 Black. It is not known how
many cars survive, but current speculation
estimates the number to be around 300. If you
happen to be the owner of F996 RHP, F997 RHP, F998
RHP or F999 RHP, then you have one of the
original press cars.
Launched in 1989, the standard
Maestro turbo has a 2.0 litre 8 valve turbo
engine producing 152bhp. The Maestro turbo was,
at the time, the fastest accelerating production
MG ever. Even today it is only pushed into second
place by the 4 litre MG RV8. With a 0 - 60 time
of 6.7 seconds it is marginally quicker than the
MGF VVC. The original marketing advert for the
Maestro turbo proclaimed the car as being :
The text of the advert reads :
Faster than a Ferrari, Porsche, a Lamborgini,
a Lotus, an Aston
Quite an achievement you have to
admit. Its 0-60 time of just 6.7 seconds means
the new MG will leave many top sports cars
trailing in its wake. Thanks to the powerful 2
litre turbo-charged engine with intercooler and
the smooth close-ratio 5 speed gearbox. And on
top of all that there's uprated sports
suspension, power steering and alloy wheels. Mind
you, it's not just the things you can't see that
make the MG so racey. It comes complete with low
profile tyres, tinted glass, electric front
windows, a sun-roof, sports seats and four
speaker stereo. In fact, everything you'd expect
from a high performance sports car with one
exception, the high price. The MG Turbo comes for
just £12,999 (excluding number plates and
delivery). Or seen another way, a lot less than a
Ferrari, a Porsche, a Lamborghini, a Lotus, an
Aston ........
Information
was kindly provided by Martin Woods
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