A Grand Monday: Austin Montego 1.6L Estate

If the opportunity to own the oldest surviving Austin Maestro via last week's A Grand Monday wasn't enough to drag you to the cash machine, then maybe this week's offering will break your resolve?

For this week, it's the Maestro's sister car, the Montego, that gets its moment in the sun - a rare estate, finished in that wonderful Eighties Austin-Rover hue of Rattan Beige, with brown cloth upholstery. Who wouldn't?

Being a 1.6-litre, it's full on suburban spec - exactly the kind of car your mate from school's dad would have had, complete with optional radio-cassette player to keep up with the Joneses. 

It's a seven-seater, too, meaning it's the perfect usable classic for those with large families, or mothers-in-law that they prefer to install in the car backwards. 

Being a Channel Island car, this one's a genuine low-miler, although an island life suggests to us that, even with just 30,000 miles on the clock, it would be prudent to give it a thorough once-over for underbody corrosion, not least because the owner even admits that the bodywork will 'need attention' - it looks okay in the pictures, but we'd ask for several close-ups before jumping on a ferry to Guernsey.

The interior is supposedly mint, though, and it comes with loads of history, making it the perfect restoration project, especially if it really does just require cosmetic titivation.

At £895, it's not dear. It would have been four or five years ago, but these days the Montego Estate has quite a cult following. Don't believe us? Well, head on over to the official Facebook group, then... Good ones are making surprisingly strong money.

• Read our Austin Montego reviw and buyer's guide
• How many Austin Montegos survived? Find out
• Find an Austin Montego for sale