Much more than an attainable Mini alternative, the Metro is a fast-appreciating and endangered national treasure..
"Destined to be outlived by the very car it was intended to replace, the Metro was once something of a laughing stock, especially among the diehard Mini fans. Once a regular in the best-seller charts, the Metro is one of those everyday cars which has suddenly dropped off the radar; even the extensively redesigned Rover Metro is now a rare sight in everyday use.
This all means that the humble Metro has now regained a great deal of appeal, if not as a better-driving alternative to the Mini, then for its curiosity value alone. The Metro’s origins in the Mini have been both its salvation and downfall as a classic. Back in the day, an MoT-failed Metro was usually descended upon within minutes by Mini owners to be stripped of its running gear; today, this does at least mean that the legions of Mini parts suppliers can cater for the A-Series powertrain. However, as you’ll see, the rest of isn’t quite so easy.
‘A British car to beat the world’ said the press adverts for the Metro – or Austin miniMetro as it was first known – and indeed in some areas the car was ahead of the competition. It’s easy to deride the Metro for its carry-over Mini mechanicals but in truth its Ford Fiesta rival – the benchmark for small cars – was relying on the old pushrod Kent engine which was decades old in 1980. The use of the A-Series motor in the Metro was of course down to cost: BL was in a bit of a state at the time the Metro was developed and had tried several times already to build a successor to the Mini. In fact, this was the era when British Leyland chairman Michael Edwardes was walking a knife-edge between keeping the firm going on government handouts or turning out the lights.
In reality, the A-Series (in revamped A-Plus form for the Metro) had plenty of life left in it – as was later to be proved by those 90s Minis – and was easily the equal of something like the breathless 895cc Volkswagen Polo. It also had the advantage of being familiar to mechanics the world over.
The Metro was so nearly yet another near miss, though. It was during a management ride-and-drive session in 1978 that Michael Edwardes and his team tried what was to become the Metro and came away somewhat underwhelmed at the new car’s refinement – or lack thereof. The project was too far gone to start again, but drastic engineering and styling work was the result and brought victory from the jaws of defeat in less than three years."
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