1985 Austin mini METRO!

[Gaz86]

I like the spoiler on it. Would be too plain without it. If I was in the mid 80's and speccing up a brand new metro I sure as heck wouldn't have preferred it without the spoiler. It would just look poverty spec without it in my opinion (and you didn't get much with them as it was!)

 

[Coog]

Helps with the down force too like.

 

[Jamie-g]

Sorry for the hi jack.

 

[Coog]

Class

That cream one was the start of the MGF design. There's quite a few photos of it out and about on the road. Didn't know about the 6 pot one though, that's class. Only 100bhp though!?

Here's another prototype one. Serious hints of landrover discovery in it (and quite a lot of fail too)

 

[Jamie-g]

I say the wee metro with 100bhp could be hairy enough. Great spot that place.

 

[swansty]

I say the wee metro with 100bhp could be hairy enough. Great spot that place.

Where is this out of interest?

 

[Jamie-g]

Where is this out of interest?

This is in Gaydon in the West Midlands at the motor museum and jaguar heritage centre. Class place.

 

[Cooper]

Saw this and thought of you!

 

[Gaz86]

Saw this and thought of you!
View attachment 223431

Axle stands, reverse gear and a weighted pedal instant time machine

 

[Coog]

Got to love a new old stock treat. Actually had it myself for about 16 months now but with the prospect of some Metroing this summer it's time to fire it in and get a few other jobs sorted.

 

[Coog]

Got the radiator in and stuck a new water pump in too. If only all cars were this simple. An hour ish all in.

Radiator out

Old Vs new pump. Old pump was still dead on but for the sake of £20 and 20 minutes I thought I might as well.

Old Vs new rad

And more NOS goodies. Just need a grille now and that's all the exterior plastics all replaced.

 

[svensktoppen]

It's amazing something like a brand new water pump can be just £20, we are all getting ripped off

 

[Coog]

Oil (which does the engine and the gearbox), filter and air filter was £20. Even a pair of Bosch wiper blades were only £7. It's amazingly cheap motoring. Quite a change from the Cayenne where everything's a bleeding fortune!

 

[dub]

#oldschoolcool

Love it, keep up the good work.

 

[dub]

One of these drove past me today, just been on here to check the reg. Off the top of my head, it was an HXI reg. Looked to be the same colour too.

 

[southsky sunrise]

Think he has to drive it the odd time to reduce his carbon footprint

 

[Coog]

It headed off to England yesterday to its new owner

Well at least I bloody hope it did anyway! Where did you see it @dub and was it being driven like it was stolen?

 

[svensktoppen]

That looked like a great wee example, and a perfect antidote to all the bloated and over complicated modern rubbish

Take it you didn't get enough use of it and a good offer came along?

 

[Coog]

Turns out it was me driving the car down to the collection point lol. Cheers @dub

Combination of a few things Nick. Lack of time mostly and it was essentially a one seater because the wife wasn't keen and I really didn't want the kids in it.

If I was to summarise the last 4 odd years of metro ownership it would be that we live in a very different world today than the 1980's.

The basic motoring was glorious at times, it brought me back to my very early days of driving - hearing an engine thrum away in front of you. Not a rorty after market exhaust thrum or made up synthetic noise from a speaker in the dashboard, but a proper mechanical interaction. I don't even get that with the MX5.

You felt the road but not in a deliberately engineered way. Each run out was like the days being taken out in the family hatch in the 1980's. Right down to the noise and smells and the impossible to clear, steamed up windows in the snow (yes it was also brilliant in the snow).

The visibility was amazing and it was actually very practical (it took four wheels, a bag of spares and my mountain bike in the back yesterday) and it was also economical. It was free to add to my classic insurance policy, did 45mpg and parts were amazingly cheap. The last full service for filters and fluids was something like £25 and took about 20 minutes to do.

There were downsides though - mostly other road users... On more than one occasion I found myself on a dual carriageway overtaking someone to then suddenly find some p***k in a A4 TDI 3 inches off the rear bumper. This is after a triple over the shoulder check because you feel especially exposed with roads full of massive SUVs. It wasn't the sort of car you could thrash the backside off either because the oddly weighted steering didn't inspire a lot of confidence, but it also wasn't really a cruiser so it was hard to figure out where it slotted in for me.

A thoroughly enjoyable 4 years though. I did learn a lot of the basic mechanical stuff and it sounds like the next owner knows loads about them so it's going to a good home.