Dilemma: Metro Turbo

[mat_the_cat]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:02 PM, Missy Charm said:

Seven grand would buy you a fourteen month self-catering holiday for two in Essex

That Metro is starting to look better and better value! 😜 

[ChinaTom]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:24 PM, mk2_craig said:

I think they did, I have some vague recollection that the window switches were mounted in the door bins, and an even vaguer recollection that the same switches could also be found in the T45 Roadtrain.

Optional on VdP later. Same switches as Peugeots, Scimitar SS, Samba cabriolet and you got 4 of them in mid term Montego VdP before flush fitted ones took over. Think Ambassador had the option of 4 as well. Somewhere in the garage I have one with only 1 arrow on it (rear deactivate). Found it on a car park floor. Always wondered how it got there.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Jan ‘87

By 1990 and Roverisation, there’s no mention of electric windows in the spec list. Although there is on the GS page.

 

Did the Metro start the trend for trim levels that made no sense ? Is a GTa better or worse than an MG ?
is a Knightsbridge more expensive than an Advantage etc etc

 

[dozeydustman]

Even by the inflated prices of Carandclassic, project MG metros are much nearer £2500 and really good ones nearer the price of this one.

I think the seller

1) has no idea of its value
2) doesn’t really want to sell it

[Boycie]

I know you have the Leyland itch but 5 gt turbo .....

[grogee]

pics.

It's a ten-footer apparently, but scrubs up well by the looks of it. Not restored. Had head gasket done in 2017 but not driven since. Does start and idle but won't take throttle, stutters and dies with anything more than a feather touch. He suspects fuel pump which is electric and by (under?) rear subframe. 

Anyone done one? What are they like?

[Jenson Velcro]

Oof, don’t know what the dilemma is? GIB

[motorpunk]

On 07/06/2022 at 18:02, grogee said:

Then again, ask yourself what a mint Metro City would be? And how miserable that would be to drive. 

I paid 300 for this, it was bloody brilliant;

I then drove it to Africa. It was the best roadtrip of my life and the car was mega. Here's me being all cool and sexy and that.

I then swapped it for a piece of cake (true story).

I would love a Metro Turbo, but I reckon my mental ceiling for that would be about 5k. I think a boggo Metro would be almost as much fun, and would pay 2k for a minter. Am I out of touch?

[Scruffy Bodger]

Is there still a floor left in it? My Grandmothers Metro bought new was always kept garaged and it had to have virtually all of another cars floor welded back into it to keep it on the road at one point and that was years ago! That looked great on the top too.

[Datsuncog]

My flatmate went to look at a Metro once, in 2004 or thereabouts. One owner from new, fsh, long MOT, looked alright in the smudgy Auto Trader pic. And only £100.

Did indeed look great from a distance in racing green, and apart from slightly droopy suspension, drove okay too.

Unfortunately, when I looked underneath all I could see was a crazy-paving patchwork of weld, patches and pop rivets. There was virtually no original floor left.

I warned him that it was a rotbox, and he shouldn't buy it under any circumstances.

Of course, he bought it.

That said, it was an absolute hoot to drive. Miles more dynamic than my Mk2 Fiesta, it really did handle like a go-kart.

Naturally, it massively failed its next MOT on corrosion and that was that - off to the fragger at Shoreham docks.

£7k seems strong money for this, but it seems to be a seller's market at the minute. If it was mechanically perfect and only needed a few cosmetics to make into a show winner, then maybe - but if the seller wants the big bucks, he really ought to be getting that fuel pump sorted pronto.

Otherwise I'd agree with 'doesn't really want to sell it' - but may be bowing to spousal pressure to at least make a show of listing it for sale...

[vaughant]

On 6/7/2022 at 4:22 PM, grogee said:

A mate is selling his Metro Turbo, it's not a basket case but also not a minter. Wants £7k. Probably needs an engine rebuild (A-series fun), a bit of welding and (here's the expensive bit) a respray.

Do I sell my Puma and take on this beautiful* new project? I have an unscratched Leyland itch.

Alternatively, someone else take it on, then sell it to me when it's finished for less than it's worth, thanks.

Nope, shit in the 80's and even shitter now. 

Plus car tax obvs but they were utter fucking wank apart from the digital boost gauge that probably never worked. 

Worse in everyway than any other turbo hot hatch from the 80's I can think of. 

Yes the Uno handled shit but it was quick and  could be modded to handle well, relatively reliable engine and so cool inside. Mk2 were a vast improvement as well, apart from not as pretty. 

R5 was amazing apart from HGF, and Ford rs turbo's were generally alright. The metro was also about as reliable and tough as sleeping British bulldog as a security guard. 

If it was £2k and you took a chance then yes as you'd not lose much but otherwise you're looking at least £10k for a metro, fuck that. 

[vaughant]

1 hour ago, motorpunk said:

I paid 300 for this, it was bloody brilliant;

I then drove it to Africa. It was the best roadtrip of my life and the car was mega. Here's me being all cool and sexy and that.

I then swapped it for a piece of cake (true story).

I would love a Metro Turbo, but I reckon my mental ceiling for that would be about 5k. I think a boggo Metro would be almost as much fun, and would pay 2k for a minter. Am I out of touch?

Shame they never put a turbo in that gen as it was a far better car. 

[grogee]

I am fully aware of the frailties of a Metro having been under many and in several. To be clear I'm not considering this as anything other than a Leyland curio. I realise 90bhp isn't a sports car or even a warm hatch. But I find the idea of it quite funny and frankly quaint that AR thought this could be a hot hatch. The limitations in almost every respect make it remarkable that they attempted it at all - A-series, 4-speed gears in sump, shopping car etc. In summary it just shouldn't have been which is why I find it appealing. 

I shouldn't think @Yossis pouring money and attention into his Favorit for the last word in driving dynamics. Classics don't have to be functionally good and usually aren't. 

There's an element of investment. Yes it's £7k (to be negotiated?) with work needed. But in 2032, will it be £17k?

[Dave_Q]

2 minutes ago, grogee said:

There's an element of investment. Yes it's £7k (to be negotiated?) with work needed. But in 2032, will it be £17k?

It might be but that will still only get you 1 jerry can of V-power by then

[Dave_Q]

Honestly tho I can't see this as an investment, buy it if you want it as you're a long time dead, but to ever see a profit you've got to be able to find another person willing to spend that much on a Metro.

[Carl1981]

I think it looks great, and even looking at Gumtree ads the money isn’t terrible. It is only an asking price after all!

can a deal be done, perhaps £5k is more realistic given it needs some tlc? Have you seen it in the flesh?

[bangernomics]

In my usual dose of miserable reality.

Can you afford to set fire to £7k?

Are you technically adept enough to fix it or;

Can you afford to set fire to £5-10k to get it sorted?

Is a metro turbo currently worth anywhere near either of those numbers?

£12-17k buys a lot more than a warm metro. See my old git birthday thread as evidence.


Could it get any worse?

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

I am fully aware of the frailties of a Metro having been under many and in several. To be clear I'm not considering this as anything other than a Leyland curio. I realise 90bhp isn't a sports car or even a warm hatch. But I find the idea of it quite funny and frankly quaint that AR thought this could be a hot hatch. The limitations in almost every respect make it remarkable that they attempted it at all - A-series, 4-speed gears in sump, shopping car etc. In summary it just shouldn't have been which is why I find it appealing. 

I shouldn't think @Yossis pouring money and attention into his Favorit for the last word in driving dynamics. Classics don't have to be functionally good and usually aren't. 

There's an element of investment. Yes it's £7k (to be negotiated?) with work needed. But in 2032, will it be £17k?

Err, thanks? But I know what you mean. I of course now have two Favorits, one of which has 125bhp, the other is bog standard 61bhp.  But if one had to go I'd keep the standard one. It's nowhere near as quick but is just as much fun and being a mk1 you feel like you are in the 1980s. I don't pretend it's better than any other car but it's still light and nimble and makes me smile. 

My mum once had a Rover 114gsi. I loved it, it's the only car she's ever had that I was happy to drive. She liked it too and called it Geoffrey. I've no idea why. She now has a pink Micra CC but I don't think it has a name. 

[Rocket88]

You could buy this for half of the price of that Metro….

[grogee]

14 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

You could buy this for half of the price of that Metro….

I don't like it. 

[Rocket88]

Chacon a son gout…..

[Timewaster]

There was a (albeit quite nice looking) 1983 VDP automatic in Anglia Car Auctions over the weekend that blew it's reserve away and went for £5700 I think it was.

 

Maybe Metros are on the up?

[wuvvum]

That VDP at ACA was a stunner.  About the only thing letting it down was the auto 'box.  Mileage was silly low as well.

Still wouldn't have paid anything like 5700 quid for it though mind.

[stuboy]

1983 MG Metro Turbo Project Car | eBay

gulp............... brave purchaser required

[grogee]

4 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Are you technically adept enough to fix it

Yes. It's an A-series! That's one up from an elastic band and a cotton reel

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Timewaster said:

Maybe Metros are on the up

As far as I was aware, they have been for some time. Maybe partial on the back of crazy Mini values, but also maybe through appreciation of what they are. MG and MG turbo variants in particular have been commanding good money for a few years now.

End of the day, you want what you want. Doesn't really matter if it wasn't particularly good when new. I've bought a few thing s I knew to be shit, because I wanted one (see my current car 😆). And yes Metros might be shite, but charmingly, very Britishly shite. The best kind of shite if you will.

[Bren]

16 minutes ago, Matty said:

As far as I was aware, they have been for some time. Maybe partial on the back of crazy Mini values, but also maybe through appreciation of what they are. MG and MG turbo variants in particular have been commanding good money for a few years now.

End of the day, you want what you want. Doesn't really matter if it wasn't particularly good when new. I've bought a few thing s I knew to be shit, because I wanted one (see my current car 😆). And yes Metros might be shite, but charmingly, very Britishly shite. The best kind of shite if you will.

I can endorse this by being a habitual SD1 owner.

[Matty]

47 minutes ago, Bren said:

I can endorse this by being a habitual SD1 owner.

Always had the ambition myself Bren. Never had the balls though. Qudos 

[Datsuncog]

16 hours ago, Matty said:

yes Metros might be shite, but charmingly, very Britishly shite. The best kind of shite if you will.

As per the original ads.

Though I still dunno if depicting them about to swarm off a cliff like lemmings was the best way to make them appeal to potential buyers...

[JimH]

On 6/13/2022 at 12:51 PM, grogee said:

 

I've checked in the small print, looked under the sofa and rummaged through the dog beds just in case one of them had pinched it but drew a blank. I simply cannot find the dilemma.

Really, GiB.