Austin Metro

[MrBiscuits]

Metros were everywhere when I started driving. One girl at college had an early Vanden plas (inherited from a grandparent I believe). It sticks in my memory as it seemed to have huge leather armchairs in the front.

 

I must confess my main interest in them was which parts I could rob for my Mini. The scrapyards were rammed with rotten ones so I soon had MG Metro front seats, rocker cover, electronic ignition etc. When I finally got a go in a mate's I was surprised how much more refined they were than the Mini, whilst still retaining some of the fun.

 

Did anyone else hear the urban myth(?) about the MG versions with the white alloys? Apparently if you braked too hard the tyres would keep spinning on the rims.

[oman5]

I think austin rover suffered from the same shitty quality steel that ford were using around 1985/6, a C plate 5 door metro I briefly owned was beyond redemption at only 7 years old, subframe mounts rotten, sills, floors, the lot.

[FakeConcern]

Metros were everywhere when I started driving. One girl at college had an early Vanden plas (inherited from a grandparent I believe). It sticks in my memory as it seemed to have huge leather armchairs in the front.

 

I must confess my main interest in them was which parts I could rob for my Mini. The scrapyards were rammed with rotten ones so I soon had MG Metro front seats, rocker cover, electronic ignition etc. When I finally got a go in a mate's I was surprised how much more refined they were than the Mini, whilst still retaining some of the fun.

 

Did anyone else hear the urban myth(?) about the MG versions with the white alloys? Apparently if you braked too hard the tyres would keep spinning on the rims.

I don't remember hearing that, my dads white one had the white alloys as well. The other story which seems not to have been a myth, was the petrol caps leaking onto the rear tyre & causing a spin, my dad span his MG a few times. However he also span his Rover 100, 205GTI, his Mini, his Polo, his.................you get the idea!

[martybabes]

My first evah brand spanking new car was an Austin Mini Metro 1.0 L (X reg) bought for just over 3 grand from our local Austin/Morris/Jaguar dealer in 1982.  She was red with a double white stripe, but no radio and no rear seat belts.  Sadly she suffered a rear-ender but was repaired and looked just as good as before.

 

Some years later (1989 I think), I managed to get a lease car from work (the car allowance cancelled out the tax plus the leasing costs) so I opted for a what turned out to be a free Rover Metro 1.3 Clubman (G reg) in BRG.  She drank oil but we took her to the south of France, and back.  The following year she disgraced herself somewhere in Pays de Grenouille by getting her wires crossed somewhere behind the dash and refusing to function.  After being towed to the local mechanique's place, he worked his wonders while I drank coffee.  I have to say, she (the car) was great fun but I only had her for three years before she had to be returned.

[Lord Sterling]

Never owned a Metro but I have driven one:

 

 

It was an elderly customers car when I worked at Mahmouds garage back in 2009. I had to deliver to his house after it had passed it's MOT. Great little car, really enjoyed it on the short drive I took it on. One day I will own one.

 

Here is Birmingham they were once the staple of old ladies or young students. Now they have dwindled to almost non-existence. There is the odd old lady who still drives one, but more often its the facelift Rover Metro or Rover 100.

[mercrocker]

My Grandad's last car was a Metro 1.3HLS.   I thought it rather sad at the time that he ended up with it after what was (to me) a lifetime of Farinas, P6s and latterly Bluebird and Accord.  He had a shunt in the last Accord (an auto) and bought the Metro as a knee-jerk reaction to his ageing.  I suppose in a way it was full circle for him as his first car (before my time) was a Morris 8.   I used to borrow the Metro a lot when he got too old to drive it far.  I could have had it off him but I sensed he would rather still own a car than  not own one even if he never drove it again.....It was an OK little thing really, I would buy one today if I needed that type of car, certainly in preference to anything made after the Austin Rover era.   Good to see them being cherished.....

[HMC]

Great thread! My metro ownership started at a 1984 VP500 that I got from e bay for £300, it was a lovely little car, black with a gold coach line and tan leather seats ( they were a bit crumbly it has to be said) Sadly a trucker ran into the back of it in traffic and that was that. I swapped the remains for a rover 115d that was far rustier, especially the floor and rear arches, and missed that brilliant gear whine of the earlier car too.

[xtriple]

I sold my mint 'B' reg base model one for £200 when my wife and I separated. It was out of MOT as it had lived in the garage under soft covers and then a big cover over that for about a year as I'd broken my back and couldn't drive.

 

It really was fucking beautiful in its baseness and only one previous owner. 20 months ago some lucky sod got a bargain.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Never owned a Metro but I have driven one:

 

 

It was an elderly customers car when I worked at Mahmouds garage back in 2009. I had to deliver to his house after it had passed it's MOT. Great little car, really enjoyed it on the short drive I took it on. One day I will own one.

 

Here is Birmingham they were once the staple of old ladies or young students. Now they have dwindled to almost non-existence. There is the odd old lady who still drives one, but more often its the facelift Rover Metro or Rover 100.

 That does have a certain charm. Know where it is now? Might be worth a knock on the door. "Remember me? Well, I..........."

[UltraWomble]

Id love another Mk2 A series, but prices are too strong for me now for something which would be a third/summer car. The K series are cheap but frankly I never warmed to the K series  and just dont like them in the same way.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I've driven loads but only owned one. All I can remember was it was a silver 3 door possibly from 89. It drove OK but I've got size 13 feet and like all metres the accelerator is too close to the wheel arch and I ha e to mess about to actually make it move.

 

Remember it got its starter motor stuck on one day and I had to drive it until it has chewed all the teeth off. Got another from the scrappers for sod all. Got rid of it pretty quick as the keys got stuck in the ignition. I ran out of petrol, so I looked it with another set and left it very near some traffic lights while I went to go get some. Came back to find about 3 or 4 coppers all over it. I quickly walked away and got my dad to pick it up who gave it away

[greengartside]

Never driven one but worked on one at college - was a white 1986 1.0 City - C318 DBU. Had an optional decal kit fitted when new along with the imitation Escort RS1600i bonnet fader graphics. Decal kit was removed then the bottom half was painted blue as it was a training car for bodywork repairs. Stunk of fags inside but loved the simplicity of it and the headrest-less 'houndstooth' seats. I've still got the 1996 tax disc I rescued from it.

[UltraWomble]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-OWNER-MINI-METRO-1275-LOW-MILEAGE-MOT-RUST-FREE-TURBO-Classic-1-3-/131466949498?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1e9c0a737a

Engine raped one of the last A series cars on eVilBay

 

Lovely, but how much?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1986-AUSTIN-METRO-1-3-L-/261802996866?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf4acb482

[AndyW201]

Ive always had a soft spot for Metros. In the 1990s I was a bit of a serial Metro-botherer.

 

First up was TRM 894X, my first car after passing my test. It started as the pov-spec 1.0 not-even-an-L but by the time I got it, it had been slightly barried with MG stripes, spotlights and an MG interior. It needed a bit of welding, mostly putting right what the previous owner cowboy'd up. So it got a new drivers sill, floorpan and a bit of the rear valance replaced. Other than that though, the bodywork wasnt bad for a 9 year old, 93000 mile Metro. I attended to the other bits that needed doing and managed to find a set of metric rims with nearly new tyres from a scrapper. But eventually I got bored and chopped it in.

 

Next was L551 JVN. This was an Arizona blue Rover Metro Rio Grande. My first brand new car! I was quite fond of the K series Rover version as they had just come out when I started my training course at Reg Vardy (spit!) Rover in Stockton-on-Tees. I thought they did a decent job of trying to cover up the mk1 Metro origins. I went for the Rio Grande as it had a lot of kit for the money. 5 speed box, sunroof, radio cassette, colour coded bumpers and remote locking were pretty good for a 7 grand supermini back in 1994. I kind of made it look like a GTa with a set of 5 spoke alloys, de-stickering and some coloured bumper inserts.

 

When the 100 came out, I was wandering around the Rover showroom and saw they were doing 0% finance with 2 years free insurance. I could upgrade to the newer car and still pay the same without having to worry about insurance. (Being only 20, with a nearly new car in a Dodge City postcode area, I was being insurance bum raped at the time). So on August 1st 1995 (first and only time Ive had a brand new car for the new reg day. Er yay!) I took delivery of N441 VPY, A Nightfire red 100 Kensington. I did lose the colour coded bumpers and remote locking of the previous car, but I was happy with it. I had the alloy wheels swapped over from the previous car and fitted coloured bumper strips again with a small tailgate lip spoiler from Moto Build. For the time it looked pretty good. Sadly this one was written off at 5 months old while coming down an NSL road and smashing into a VW Transporter van that was trying to do a U turn across the road. The nearside front took the brunt. The n/s wheel was moved back into the footwell about 6 inches, bending the subframe. The A pillar was bent, jamming the door shut and the envine and box were shifted at an angle, losing all gears and cracking the sump. The impact ejected the cassette I was listening to, which ended up on the shelf...

 

The insurance company would only replace like for like which meant I had to wait until the local dealer tracked down an unregistered Kensington, which was tricky as by then it had been replaced by the Knightsbridge. Eventually one was found, in Kingfisher blue and N275 ADC was my new steed.

Got the same alloys on again from the first Metro (one had to be replaced as it got destroyed in the crash), and debadged with some yellow bumper strips (after seeing a Corsa SRi in Fast Car with the same colour scheme). That was the last Metro/100, I discovered the K11 Micra after this one...

[robinmasters]

My first car was a Metro. A dark blue, 1.0, in a very lowly spec. First mechanical repair I ever did was changing the head gasket on that car, with only the BoL to help me.

 

Then the exhaust; probably saved a tenner by fitting it myself, fucking tightwad, which on reflection was probably before taking into account the train fare I spent collecting it.

 

Then the clutch went.

 

Replaced it with a red MG (not turbo). Fitted with the optional Flintstones-drive system.

[mercrocker]

Might be the colour, might be the angle, more likely its my ageing eyesight...But, I never noticed the baby SD1 look of those Rover ones until I saw Andy's pic of his Rio Grande.   Metro-wantage just notched to level two.

[danthecapriman]

I've never had one but my Grandad's last car was an early Austin Metro. It was in that nice dark metallic red/brown colour with a light brown/tan interior. He had it quite a while and it seemed to cope well with being systematically destroyed by an elderly driver!

In the end the rust really started to take hold. Every mot it needed loads of holes sorting but one year the whole rear subframe collapsed while it was parked on the drive overnight! That was when he decided to stop driving instead of replacing it. He used the now lob sided Metro for another year or so to hold the garage door shut! Then it went off to Balby motor spares for scrap.

[UltraWomble]

that nice dark metallic red/brown colour 

That's called rust and they all do that sir.

[danthecapriman]

That's called rust and they all do that sir.

The paint colour certainly helped to hide the rust. It was there but you just couldn't see it.

One reason I had my Capri painted Roman Bronze!

[chaseracer]

Never owned a Metro, never driven one; but I did spend a considerable amount of time in a blue Y-reg 1.3L in the mid-1980s alongside a spectacular dark-haired beauty named Sarah.

 

And yes, there IS...

 

[Bren]

That's called rust and they all do that sir.

Prejudice from the trade - ok for a ford Ka to rot, but the metro was lambasted for it.

 

Bollocks to them. I actually found the 1.0 nippy. My mate bought a dog of a turbo on a C plate, the whining from the gearbox was horrendous - however the little bank of lights that showed boost levels still worked.

[FakeConcern]

Finally found a (crap) photo of the MG Metro my dad bought in 1986? He sold it about 2 years later as it had rust coming through just about everywhere. He traded it for a 205GTI in grey.

[alfetta]

My Grandad liked the MG's.. First purchase was a Y reg in red to replace a crappy shuvit, then another in metallic blue. To be honest I'm surprised he bought another as the first had numerous issues and he was really a Ford man at heart. (he bought a fiesta after that...)

 

He never kept a car for more than 2 years anyway...

[Jim Bell]

No sod off!

That's exactly what Noel Edmonds would say.

[dave21478]

Eh, I have a serious case of Buyers Regret with this one. I never use it.

 

Its nice and all, nippy, fun handling, good visibility etc, but it is horrifically, painfully bouncy on the bad roads round here and being LHD I have difficulty with the clutch pedal. If I press it normally with the ball of my foot my toes hit the wheel arch and I cant get it all the way down so I have to be very delicate with the tips of my toes and left edge of my shoe to clutch it.....Its not as if I wear clown shoes or anything either.

Also, it is still running its metric tyres and they are kinda sketchy looking with cracking and perishing. I have a set of 12" steels I can make fit, but am not sure I can justify the cost of 4 tyres on a car I dont like driving.

 

 

EDIT - the suspension has been pumped up since that photo.

[Zantimisfit]

Brilliant....an Austin Metro thread.

 

I had a Metro Studio 2. No idea what "Studio 2" meant but the car contained an embarrassment of riches, the utter plushness of which you can only imagine.....comfy seats, a cassette player, a sunroof and lots of green stripes everywhere.

 

Its the only time I've spent money on a new car and as a trainee for a construction company it lead a hard life...60k miles in 18 months, but it was a model of Toyotaesk reliability and I loved it.

 

It got replaced by a company Fiesta Popular which was a horrid little shitbox (no cassette either!)

 

Anyway here is my little pal at Reims race circuit In France

 

 

...and outside our house with Arnold the sheepdog

 

 

Both car and dog are long since dead now....I think of them both every day

[UltraWomble]

Eh, I have a serious case of Buyers Regret with this one. I never use it.

Raffle

7, 17, 26, 27 and 33 please

[dave21478]

Tickets would be kinda dear, but I would throw in a couple of luxury* ryanair tickets for the lucky winner+friend/bodyguard/carer.

[inconsistant]

This thread is full of WiniMetro.

[FakeConcern]

I just found a couple of slightly better photos of my dad's MG Metro in 1986. One of these shows conclusively that I  am not Noel Edmonds. I still haven't found any pictures of my blue MG Metro yet though.

 

Bonus glimpses of my mother's Pageant blue Clubman estate and my wife's (previously mine) Blaze orange Mini 1000.