Cockpit, Austin Maestro (LM10)Photos
- Cockpit, Austin Maestro (LM10)
Photo credits
Photo credits (1)
- Austin Maestro (LM10), photo 1Cockpit · “Maestro vp” (opens in a new tab) · Photo: Decampos · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Elements
Details
Summary
The MG and Vanden Plas Maestros had one of the 1980s' talking dashboards, with electronic instruments and a synthesised voice.
Specifications
Cockpit
Instrument cluster
Mainstream versions have conventional dials. The electronic cluster of the MG and Vanden Plas shows speed as a digital readout, and engine revs, coolant temperature and fuel as analog-style graphic gauges.
Infotainment
Voice synthesis warning system with trip computer
A female voice through the driver's-side radio speaker; it can be switched off.
Notes
The original multi-piece dashboard was criticised as flimsy and noisy.
Facts
- The electronic instruments were standard on MG and Vanden Plas Maestros: microprocessors drove vacuum fluorescent displays, and only the mileage recorder had moving parts.[2][3]
- The voice gave seat-belt reminders and warnings such as low oil pressure or the handbrake left on, from a 32-word vocabulary programmed in 15 languages.[2][4]
- The trip computer was incorporated in the speech synthesiser, with separate microcomputers controlling the instrument and speech modules.[3]
- The synthesised voice was based on recordings by New Zealand actress Nicolette McKenzie.[1][5]
- From early 1986 the Maestro dropped its electronic fascia for the Montego's simpler one-piece dashboard.[4][1]