3 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

The Converters : Wood & Pickett Laser Metro
"Another name from the Mini’s heyday returned to the mainstream in 1980, turning its attention to the business of Austin Metro. They were extraordinary vehicles, the Wood & Pickett Laser Metro and Metro Plus…
The Laser was styled by Ogle Design, and built very much on a bespoke basis. That meant that no two examples were the same.
The Laser Metro was certainly treated as a bespoke car for discerning customers: price ranged from £11,000 to £17,000 and extras included Recaro seats, air conditioning and leather interior. unusually, it was actually previewed at the 1980 British motor show to star alongside the standard Mini Metro at its UK debut. Like the Frazer-Tickford Metro, the Laser Metro was treated to an external makeover, but Wood & Pickett handed that task to Ogle design."
More updated info and photos from AROnline here:-
https://www.aronline...-pickett-laser/

 

[mab01uk]

The converters : Frazer-Tickford Metro

"Frazer established itself as a new car company in 1981, offering this fabulous-looking Tickford Metro, which was first shown at that year’s London Motorfair.

The Tickford name was owned by Aston Martin, whose engineers and stylists designed this car. The scope of the conversion echoed that of the later Tickford Capri…

The Northamptonshire-based company, Frazer, teamed up with Tickford Coachbuilding to build this most bespoke version of the Metro. It would end up going head-to-head with the equally exclusive Wood & Pickett Laser Metro."

https://www.aronline...razer-tickford/

Edited by mab01uk, 22 October 2019 - 10:06 PM.

[timmy850]

There's an interesting thread here on possibly the only BL factory Metro Plus Parts car (before the design was used by W&P). You can see the brochure on the second page of the thread

http://retrorides.pr...etro-plus-rally

[mab01uk]

Concepts and prototypes : MetroPlus (1980)

"The car in question is a 1980 Austin Metro HLS MetroPlus pre-production model and it was a prototype/concept MetroPlus model built by BL Motorsport at Abingdon. The car was built as a proof of concept for the MetroPlus/Plusparts package that was to be launched with the Metro. It was a performance and styling package, which you could buy and fit to a standard Metro – and was all the rage in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
The styling kit included front spoiler and wheelarch kit, side stripes, bucket seats, sports steering wheel, map light, leather gearknob, and alloy wheels. The performance kit included alloy inlet manifold with Weber carburettor, freeflow exhaust system, alloy PlusParts rocker cover and oil cooler kit.
So what happened to this car, and how did it manage to survive? After the MetroPlus concept fell through, the prototype was purchased directly from BL Motorsport at Abingdon by Dr Dave Bulman, who was a Senior Lecturer at the Royal College of Science and a special technical liaison adviser to BL Motorsport. He stripped the car down to a bare shell and rebuilt it for rally/competition use. The car’s build was featured in several issues of Car & Car Conversions magazine, and would subsequently become known as the Triple C/Cobra Metro."
More on AROnline:-
https://www.aronline...plus-prototype/

Edited by mab01uk, 26 December 2019 - 10:54 AM.