Metro 'Disadvantaged'

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'm on holiday this week at Mutha_Bo11ox's gaff in the middle of France. Festering in her shed is this manky old POS:

 

 

It belonged to her elderly penniless neighbour, I clocked it when i went round there for a game of scrabble a year or so back, it had been festering in her shed for a few years after coming off the road due to a prang. Obv I thought 'unleaded 1275 A+ = £££££' so I suggested hoiking it out her shed, i would remove and flog the engine at some future date and send the moneys back to the old lady. They agreed and got a local farmer to drag it with a tractor round to mutha_Ba11s' house. Anyway after it was ensconced in its new home, I said to mutha "Just check the engine number will you, it should start with 12H and hopefully not 99H' She came back with 'bad news son its 99H' meaning its got the 1000cc engine not the 1275! Hairy ball sacks, that means its worth about £150-200 max rather than the £400+ that the mini lickers eagerly hand over for a 1275. I thought all these 'Advantage' jobs had the 1300 engine. Anyway its got 75,000 miles on and allegedly ran a treat back in the day.

 

I cant be arsed hoiking the engine out any more, it doesnt seem worth the bother. Anyway here for your delectation is a few snaps of the beast, i think when the ground dries up a bit it will be getting weighed!!! I'm not sure theres owt terribly useful on it. Maybe the front calipers....?

 

 

 

 

Nice eh?

[Cavcraft]

WTF RAT LUK etc. Prob worth finding a Metro forum and seeing if you can pay your fuel back by removing various bits.

[cort16]

You must have been free thinking radical to buy one of these over all the french chod on offer when it was new.

[eddyramrod]

Metro OC would definitely like to know about that!

[scaryoldcortina]

Balles la voiture pour paris.

 

You know you want to

[M'coli]

That looks like a late 1 litre Metro with an Advantage tailgate - the pukka Advantage had the full turbo bodykit, Turbo suspension set-up including rear anti-roll bar and the 13" cross-spoke alloys but a standard interior and non-MG 1275 unleaded engine in it. If it hasn't got a rear anti-roll bar, it points even more to it being fairly "ordinary".

 

Still worth hoiking the engine out of, though - it's probably got the unleaded head and defo has the the extra economy HIF38 carburettor, judging by the engine photo.

[dollywobbler]

Maybe the French Advantage came with a povo engine and spec? More like a Deuce.

[Captain Slow]

Maybe the French Advantage came with a povo engine and spec? More like a Deuce.

 

 

French DISADVANTAGES had less spec, if the Maestro variant was anything to go by....

[greengartside]

Sacre Bleu! If I had the money then I'd quite happily Shipmanly that over here and run it on frog plates for a while

[mharrell]

I am very interested in that set of French-specification headlights if the assemblies are complete and stand a fair chance of being in working order. It would be nice to drive my '82 MG Metro here in the US without always running a set of beam benders. In all seriousness, please contact me privately if they're available and look at all decent. I'm prepared to pay real money for them.

[dollywobbler]

I am very interested in that set of French-specification headlights if the assemblies are complete and stand a fair chance of being in working order. It would be nice to drive my '82 MG Metro here in the US without always running a set of beam benders. In all seriousness, please contact me privately if they're available and look at all decent. I'm prepared to pay real money for them.

 

Not sure they'd fit your car Mharrell - this is a post-facelift car.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Derek_Wobbler is right, I think they are different to what you get on a pre-85 Metro. I reckon they would probably go on but it would look like you had some headlights in off something else!

[Richard]

Didn't the posher versions of the early Metro have lights like that?

[254575]

you are losing your touch.

 

a day or two's work and that would scrub up nicely!

[RedSparrow]

Mmm, I recon they might indeed fit an early MG or Vanden Plas.

 

Bloody similar:

[mharrell]

Not sure they'd fit your car Mharrell - this is a post-facelift car.

 

The car's a Mk2, agreed, but is it just wishful thinking on my part that it appears to be sporting a set of (ill-fitting) Mk1 lamps?

[dollywobbler]

Well spotted! You are indeed correct. With one of them. Looks like the other side is a Mk2 one.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey well spotted. I'll have a proper squizz tomorrow (i'm coming home Saturday) and see what the story is!

[mharrell]

I'll have a proper squizz tomorrow (i'm coming home Saturday) and see what the story is!

 

Thanks! Even a single LHD Mk1 assembly would bring me closer to proper illumination.

[Alexg]

I'm quite sure the French Advantage was not like the UK model in terms of spec..... I spotted a 5 door version on Leboncoin last month!

[Jon]

I'm not sure how much coin it'd attract but surely someone would be in the market for the tailgate spoiler, plus it should be easy to remove.

[Wilko220]

Something else from Austin Rover's Advantage range to cheer up your evenings

 

[junior44]

I will take the boot spoiler off you if its in good condition.

[gearoil]

I said to mutha "Just check the engine number will you

 

Okay, am I the only one who laughed at this...?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

"Just check the engine number will you, it should start with 12H and hopefully not 99H' She came back with 'bad news son its 99H' meaning its got the 1000cc engine not the 1275!

 

Even quicker way of telling - the 998 was yellow, and the big block hi-powah 1275's were red.

[Spottedlaurel]

I saw this Metro Sprite in Franceland last year, can't remember if there was a UK equivalent but it did seem to be rather miserable:

 

Austin Metro Sprite by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Austin Metro Sprite by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[dollywobbler]

Looks roughly City X spec, with the povo nose.

[ashmicro]

Looks roughly City X spec, with the povo nose.

 

Aye. Saw one in France myself, a long time ago.

[RedSparrow]

Always found it weird that they bothered selling ARG tat to Germany and France in the 80s/90s. Such small sales figures makes it basically a waste of time. I'd be interested to see the size of the dealer network and if they were sold alongside other brands.

[Wilko220]

Always found it weird that they bothered selling ARG tat to Germany and France in the 80s/90s. Such small sales figures makes it basically a waste of time. I'd be interested to see the size of the dealer network and if they were sold alongside other brands.

 

No idea about the sales figures, but you still see a reasonable amount of '90s Rover tat about in France.