1985 Austin mini METRO!

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mayweather

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My mum drove one of those, but she crashed it. The story is as follows, she was coming back from the shops and as ususal, my father was burning every thing in the fire, from beer tins to asbestos lol, as she came into the estate she seen flames and thought my bedroom was in fire, she then flew straight into a lamppost and ran into the house, only to discover the chimney was on fire thanks to my dad!!
 

Coog

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And a period 3 digit plate :p.

Nice @Coog it's a random buy I will give you that. Don't forget the box of Kleenex and a tartan rug for the parcel shelf :p

Set of these too perhaps:

beaded-covers.jpg
 

Crimson

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Jaysus!! I haven't seen one of these in years and it's a pre-rover one with low miles!

Takes me right back to when I was a kid and my dad drove one of these for a loan car as his company car Maestro was getting serviced - that speedo takes me right back!

Nothing else sounded like a Maestro or a Metro on the road back then lol!! What I would love to see on here is a Montego - you were the boy in the 80's when you drove one of those
 

cormac81

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Great buy seen it pop up on another thread.

A VIJ/IIB or any other 85 plate would finish it off.
 

Coog

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Nothing else sounded like a Maestro or a Metro on the road back then lol!!

There's a whine in first gear and a note from the exhaust in them that only a mini/metro seems to make. There used to be so many of them on the road that any time you stepped outside in the 80's you'd hear it. As soon as I drove the car I heard the familiar metro whine/rasp. I was like a kid at Christmas lol. There's also that old petrol/oil/heat smell under the bonnet when she's been running for a bit which is something else I haven't experienced in quite a few years (last time was when we had a Metro City X field car in the 90's lol).
 

Crimson

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That's it! @Coog that wee whine, the Maestro has a similar one, you always knew one was nearby with that noise LOL!!

I remember when my dad got his new replacement maestro which was when rover had acquired Austin and he popped the bonnet and there was a big EFI badge on the engine cover, he thought he was cool LOL!
 
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FM155

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What I would love to see on here is a Montego - you were the boy in the 80's when you drove one of those
Jeez, I never knew Monty's were held in any affection by anybody other than me lol


Loved this one, fitted it with a Moto-build suspension kit and Janspeed. Took it to the Isle of Man and did a lap of the TT circuit at about 1am for the craic. Handled surprisingly well..

The Maestro was great craic though, the wife hated it because it used to spit back through the carbs etc. Lumpy idle and nothing below 3K..



 

svensktoppen

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Awesome, get the camo paint and rollers out :innocent:

Is that genuine mileage?

Not moved in 10 years, there will be some seized up/dried up/cracked bits. Hopefully cheap enough to get it moving again :grinning:
 

Crimson

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@FM155 I loved the Montegos - they were the exec car to have in the 80s besides the mighty Cavalier. That's a cracking one that you had.

I would love to see a tidy MG one in the flesh - I remember my dad bringing home the catalog for the Maestro/Metro/Montego MG lineup. I really wanted the MG Montego in red LOL!!
 

Coog

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Awesome, get the camo paint and rollers out :innocent:

Is that genuine mileage?

Not moved in 10 years, there will be some seized up/dried up/cracked bits. Hopefully cheap enough to get it moving again :grinning:

No rollers this time lol. The mileage appears to be genuine - there's no wear at all inside and outside is pretty fresh considering it's 30 years old. There's very little in the way of history with it but I've no reason to doubt it. Not that it really matters at this stage anyway lol

The car is running and driving. I've had a good look over it and can't find anything majorly wrong. The only leaks are from the exhaust which should be easy fixed. Brakes work, lights all work, no oil dripping out, cooling system is good no clunks or rattles. Even the flexi's, rubbers, boots and tyres appear to have survived well. Just needs a service, tune up, MOT'd and possibly the suspension topped up. I reckon a few miles on the road may highlight a few problems though!!
 

Coog

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@FM155 I loved the Montegos - they were the exec car to have in the 80s besides the mighty Cavalier

I would love to see a tidy MG one in the flesh - I remember my dad bringing home the catalog for the Maestro/Metro/Montego MG lineup. I really wanted the MG Montego in red LOL!!

My Dad's mate had the MG Maestro turbo. It felt like a complete rocket ship back in the day :laughing:

I would quite like one :oops:

g51nav_sandon.jpg
 

Crimson

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My Dad's mate had the MG Maestro turbo. It felt like a complete rocket ship back in the day :laughing:

I would quite like one :oops:

g51nav_sandon.jpg

That's the one they had in the catalog - back then there were a rocket and anything with an MG badge was the one to have! The metro MG turbo's were class too. Serious nostalgia trip on this thread @Coog and @FM155 !!!

IMG_0432.jpg


black ones looked mean

and then there was....

maestro-hle.jpg


+o(+o(+o(
 

FM155

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When they're clean, they look great but by gawd they could rust. :worried:
Still loved mine though. Nice turbo with a tomcat T16 in it would do nicely thanks.
 

Coog

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The diesel ones has the old Perkins engine fitted. Would run forever or until the body dissolved around the engine lol. There was a very cheap one for sale locally recently, it was LHD though IIRC.
 

FM155

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I don't think I ever heard of anyone who had seen the inside of a perkins diesel, I think they could run on coal though.
Proper tractor engine..
 

Crimson

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When they're clean, they look great but by gawd they could rust. :worried:
Still loved mine though. Nice turbo with a tomcat T16 in it would do nicely thanks.

Jaysus! they were as bad as the original Mini's for the rust monster, good old BL steel LOL!!
 

Coog

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Jaysus! they were as bad as the original Mini's for the rust monster, good old BL steel LOL!!


lol check this old topgear vid out. It's a bit cringe-tastic but the metro gets some slagging. Some of those cars are like 5 years old and are absolutely clean rotten lol :p

 

FM155

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They weren't great cars when they were new that's for sure but that was some hatchet job by Q.
AR just did themselves in with poor build quality and a marketing department that for the most part seemed to watch post war B movies on loop. Sad really...
I already mentioned waxoyl, didn't I? :p
 

Crimson

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lol check this old topgear vid out. It's a bit cringe-tastic but the metro gets some slagging. Some of those cars are like 5 years old and are absolutely clean rotten lol :p



shocking LOL!!! Whatever happened to Quentin Wilson apart from doing those car warranty ads....
maybe he could reignite his career with ol' Jezzers recently getting the boot....:p
 

peter wilson

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My second car was an 85 MG Metro. Loved it to bits and always wanted to do a Colin Earney and drop it onto 10ins Minilites. Never got around to it. Rotted like hell but had it for seven years. Left it in the driveway for about a year after the rust got too bad and then sold the engine and box to a guy with a nice black Mini on 13 ins Superlites. I remember even when there was no rust the shell flexed like mad. Hit a pothole one night and the rear tailgate popped open. If you can find any footage of the Metro Challenge races from the late 80s you can see the tailgates opening by themselves when the cars hit the rumble strips.
 

Coog

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They weren't great cars when they were new that's for sure but that was some hatchet job by Q.
AR just did themselves in with poor build quality and a marketing department that for the most part seemed to watch post war B movies on loop. Sad really...
I already mentioned waxoyl, didn't I? :p

Yep. Its been waxoyld already thankfully! I'll just paint the inner arches and it'll be grand (hopefully!)
 
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