RE: Shed Of The Week: Rover Metro
Discussion
Always had a bit of a soft spot for these. Mrs Morris had a 114GTa back in the early nineties. Don't forget the 100 won What Car car of the year back then.
The 1.4K series was a lovely engine, probably it's best incarnation. It all stated to go wrong when it was stretched to 1.8.
I remember it was quite fun along the B roads, the suspension was much better than the Metro, it was interlinked front and rear, as Alex Moulton intended it. The interior was quite nice too. Mind you, I would have had a 5GT Turbo back then, which was made of tissue paper!
I have a hankering for one of these.
http://www.talonsportscars.com/100r.php
The 1.4K series was a lovely engine, probably it's best incarnation. It all stated to go wrong when it was stretched to 1.8.
I remember it was quite fun along the B roads, the suspension was much better than the Metro, it was interlinked front and rear, as Alex Moulton intended it. The interior was quite nice too. Mind you, I would have had a 5GT Turbo back then, which was made of tissue paper!
I have a hankering for one of these.
http://www.talonsportscars.com/100r.php
Edited by Morris on Sunday 26th October 10:47
SuperHangOn said:
I just did exactly the same. Paid a full grand for mine and put a fair bit into getting it spot on though.
The metro wasn't any worse than its competition, and the early K-series wasn't actually prone to eating HG's. That said, I can't think of an objective use for this car. For a lightweight/fun cheapie, you can pick up a tidy 1.7 Puma for under a bag. For nipping to the shops a newer japbox with 3 times the mileage will no doubt prove more reliable.
Well done, hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying mine. Mine was £595 (since reduced to £594 by the discovery of a quid that wasn't mine under the driver's seat!). The rear brake pads needed doing (the seller said as much on eBay) but when they came off actually still had a bit of life left in them. Other than that, I'm struggling to find stuff to spend money on. The binnacle LCD's losing a few pixels, the tyres are cheap Nexens (that said, they performed superbly in horrible conditions on the way back from buying the car - I really needed an Ark!), and there are a few scuffs and chips to the paint, but nothing major. It ticked over 100k just past Exeter Airport. It hadn't been used much in recent years so it was running a bit rich and smoky, but that's cured itself with decent use.The metro wasn't any worse than its competition, and the early K-series wasn't actually prone to eating HG's. That said, I can't think of an objective use for this car. For a lightweight/fun cheapie, you can pick up a tidy 1.7 Puma for under a bag. For nipping to the shops a newer japbox with 3 times the mileage will no doubt prove more reliable.
As for the Metro - it was significantly worse than my wife's two Peugeot 205s (the first an XE with all of 43hp, the second a Roland Garros 1.4 with 84hp). The driving position and handling of both 205s was immensely better. The first one was utterly gutless, true, but the RG solved that - having come from a V8-engined Rover, I couldn't believe that a two-figure power output could make for such a quick and hilariously agile car. It seemed like a go-kart vs a Rolls-Royce in comparison to my E30 318i Touring in terms of how it handled, particularly on the mountain passes of the Pyrenees.
Richard Moss said:
Interesting then that the motoring press were generally complimentary with the exception of the engine and drivetrain (now so well loved by the Mini mob as they pull 1275cc A series from Metros!).
Even more interesting that when it was fitted with the K series in 1990 (along with getting significant suspension improvements and some interior refreshing) the press stuck it right back at the top of the pile compared to what other people were offering. Class leading was their phrase.
The motoring press in this country will generally say anything that suits their agenda. I learned a long time ago not to take too much notice of what they say. No Metro was ever class-leading while the Peugeot 205 was around.Even more interesting that when it was fitted with the K series in 1990 (along with getting significant suspension improvements and some interior refreshing) the press stuck it right back at the top of the pile compared to what other people were offering. Class leading was their phrase.
Morris said:
Always had a bit of a soft spot for these. Mrs Morris had a 114GTa back in the early nineties. Don't forget the 100 won What Car car of the year back then.
The 1.4K series was a lovely engine, probably it's best incarnation. It all stated to go wrong when it was stretched to 1.8.
I remember it was quite fun along the B roads, the suspension was much better than the Metro, it was interlinked front and rear, as Alex Moulton intended it. The interior was quite nice too. Mind you, I would have had a 5GT Turbo back then, which was made of tissue paper!
I have a hankering for one of these.
http://www.talonsportscars.com/100r.php
Not sure why your link doesn't work. Don't think it needs the [url] bit. The 1.4K series was a lovely engine, probably it's best incarnation. It all stated to go wrong when it was stretched to 1.8.
I remember it was quite fun along the B roads, the suspension was much better than the Metro, it was interlinked front and rear, as Alex Moulton intended it. The interior was quite nice too. Mind you, I would have had a 5GT Turbo back then, which was made of tissue paper!
I have a hankering for one of these.
http://www.talonsportscars.com/100r.php
Edited by Morris on Sunday 26th October 10:47
http://www.talonsportscars.com/100r.php
r11co said:
Indeedy. The Fiesta Mk1 facelift (I refuse to call it Mk2) deserves more ridicule - the underpinnings were 13 years old when the car was eventually pensioned off, and the cheap South African steel it was made of rusted before your eyes.
I agree about the old Fiesta. Tinny, always begging for a 5th gear and rusted like hell. I went to see one once and the bonnet hinges were rusted solid and the it 'hinged' on the broken and bent metal work. There were always trying to find new fancy limited edition names for them like the 'festival'. I thought of one 'fall apart'. Dire crap. If any a Ford 'four wheels and a board' came true its this one.The Nova was dire with its classic rust and bloody awful driving position.
I am NOT saying that the Metro was any better as it was not and I remembers mums GTa requiring arms like Geoff Capes to park. But at least with Rover they would chuck in some optional extras as standard.
And who really gave a toss back then about car safety? If we were that worried the above mentioned cars would not have been made and the Mini would never have got off the ground.
I did not realise there was a lurking time before making comments on here.
I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
RoverP6B said:
The motoring press in this country will generally say anything that suits their agenda. I learned a long time ago not to take too much notice of what they say. No Metro was ever class-leading while the Peugeot 205 was around.
Has anyone else noticed that they annoucne every subsequent Peugeot hot hatch to "finally recaptures the feel of the 205GTi"?Norma Smellons said:
I did not realise there was a lurking time before making comments on here.
I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
Well as it's been £1000 for as long as it's been running (the only change to the rules has been dropping the requirement for VED) you make a good point about being 2014 and if paying a grand for a car from any previous era leaves you cold don't check into the thread every week and leave it to those who do like it.I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
just my 2p worth
Had a Rover Metro 1.4 GTa, the 8v 96BHP version; for 3 years. Had no problems at all. Was actually quite nippy - went to a few RAC Rallies in it. My first choice was a XR2i, but the insurance was more than the value of the car, so a red GTa was what I got.
I don't think anybody is saying its a great car, far from it - but some of the comments are laughable. I dare say a lot of 'classic' cars would fail NCAP tests, doesn't stop people buying them.
I don't think anybody is saying its a great car, far from it - but some of the comments are laughable. I dare say a lot of 'classic' cars would fail NCAP tests, doesn't stop people buying them.
Norma Smellons said:
I did not realise there was a lurking time before making comments on here.
I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
There's still plenty of interesting, entertaining and decent cars about for a grand. Particularly, big and thirsty saloons that are a bank balance disaster waiting to happen further down the line. I don't think the issue is the £1000 limit, it's the fact that the SOTW articles have to be about a car that's actually listed on the PH classifieds.I just wanted to point out that a grand does not buy much these days. The quality of recent SOTW's leaves a lot to be desired.
We are now in 2014 and therefore the thought of paying a grand for clapped out 90's cars leaves me cold.
A small increase in budget may bring out a few forgotten "noughties" cars that may be worth a punt.
Just my 2 cents worth.........
I for one think it should be kept to a £1000 limit, so long as they can continue to find something available each week. I rarely look at SOTW as an inspiration to buy something that could be a reliable daily driver to last the next 5 years. For me it's more about the risky side of car buying, the ridiculous, the stuff that would get your mates saying "You've gone and bought THAT?!" and you can dismiss their criticism because it's "only a grand" and you can have a bit of a laugh for a while and then sack it in if gets too much without being left in tears at the financial loss. You could buy a lot of cars for £2k that would be more reliable in the long term, but there's less risk, and it all becomes a bit more mundane as a premise.
dbdb said:
That's not my recollection. I remember the Metro as being a very well regarded car, especially in the early to mid 1980s. By 1990, they were rather old of course.
That is in the 80s you were middle class wifey who'd let their daughter drive it and granny had one as well.In the 90s the VW Polo became the runabout or suburban mum.
So my family experience of the Metro....
Mum and Dad had one c1985, I recall going to France in it as it was new (first thousand miles). Overheating issue on way down M1, fixed by the side of the road. Heater at that point had to be kept on full pelt to keep us from further overheating. We got to Datford tunnel at which point the tailgate opened itself, as we had four people in the car with two weeks clothing this facilitated much stuff dropping out of the boot. This was fixed a little later with bungee cord, in France the drivers door failed to open.....
Sister had a yellow one. She hit a bridge with it, it was very broken. She replaced it with a green one, the suspension collapsed on that, she replaced that with a blue one that hit a wall when the handbrake failed as she was short of cash we grafted a new front end onto that, the amount of rust we removed ment the car probably shed ten kilos in weight but was stronger despite my dodgy welding.
Mum and Dad had one c1985, I recall going to France in it as it was new (first thousand miles). Overheating issue on way down M1, fixed by the side of the road. Heater at that point had to be kept on full pelt to keep us from further overheating. We got to Datford tunnel at which point the tailgate opened itself, as we had four people in the car with two weeks clothing this facilitated much stuff dropping out of the boot. This was fixed a little later with bungee cord, in France the drivers door failed to open.....
Sister had a yellow one. She hit a bridge with it, it was very broken. She replaced it with a green one, the suspension collapsed on that, she replaced that with a blue one that hit a wall when the handbrake failed as she was short of cash we grafted a new front end onto that, the amount of rust we removed ment the car probably shed ten kilos in weight but was stronger despite my dodgy welding.
I had an MG Metro turbo in the early 90's - it was a 1985 model. For me as a young 19 year old I still remember flooring it after driving off the dodgy car lot and grinning broadly as the whine increased and the little car revved it's guts out.
Pretty crap really though - head gasket went twice, gearbox destroyed itself, engine mounts failed twice, problems with running on etc etc.
Enjoyed it while it was running ok but that was not that often to be honest.
Pic of me camping down in Great Yarmouth (first holiday with girlfriend( now wife)) and the next day the head gasket blew.
Pretty crap really though - head gasket went twice, gearbox destroyed itself, engine mounts failed twice, problems with running on etc etc.
Enjoyed it while it was running ok but that was not that often to be honest.
Pic of me camping down in Great Yarmouth (first holiday with girlfriend( now wife)) and the next day the head gasket blew.
Negative Creep said:
Has anyone else noticed that they annoucne every subsequent Peugeot hot hatch to "finally recaptures the feel of the 205GTi"?
Quite! Admittedly, I never drove a GTI of either 1.6 or 1.9 variant, but I like to think the Roland Garros had the same magic minus a bit of power (and weight over the nose)... in terms of grins per mile, that was definitely the best car I've ever had, even though I was always of the large-engined barge persuasion...Markm49uk said:
I had an MG Metro turbo in the early 90's - it was a 1985 model. For me as a young 19 year old I still remember flooring it after driving off the dodgy car lot and grinning broadly as the whine increased and the little car revved it's guts out.
Pretty crap really though - head gasket went twice, gearbox destroyed itself, engine mounts failed twice, problems with running on etc etc.
Enjoyed it while it was running ok but that was not that often to be honest.
Pic of me camping down in Great Yarmouth (first holiday with girlfriend( now wife)) and the next day the head gasket blew.
Christ, can't imagine what she saw in you with a gurn (and car) like that Pretty crap really though - head gasket went twice, gearbox destroyed itself, engine mounts failed twice, problems with running on etc etc.
Enjoyed it while it was running ok but that was not that often to be honest.
Pic of me camping down in Great Yarmouth (first holiday with girlfriend( now wife)) and the next day the head gasket blew.
TBH the first thing that caught my eye in that pic was the SD1 opposite you!
Granted, they are hateful little contraptions, but in the mid 80’s I was in a certain uniformed outfit that decided to buy in bulk hundreds of the little bleeders. After previously suffering with Chevette estates, with front wheel drive and tenacious handling (all relative), they were a revelation on the camp ring road nightshift challenge!
It was also found that with the tailgate raised, they were the perfect height to sit behind and hold on to whilst sitting in a bread delivery tray, and be towed around said ring road. All good fun until a particularly nasty wipe-out caused total amnesia to one participant; who I’d better not name check as he does appear in the public eye now and again. So total in fact that on coming round in hospital, his opening words to his wife were, “Who the *#*’ are you!” All not very convincingly explained away with the excuse that he tripped over the seat belt whilst getting out. This could have been plausible if not for the severe bruising and full length gravel rash.
Another plus point was the stated fighting weight of 815kg, an absolute godsend when the bloody thing broke down where we shouldn’t have been, necessitating pushing it nearly a mile in the middle of the night to get it where we should have been, before calling for recovery.
Happy times in the carefree days of the Cold war, but thank god they never decided to invade!
I think we moved on to diesel Escorts after that, which was the final death knell to any form of entertaining, morale boosting juvenile behaviour!
Fun at the time? Yes. Ever contemplate owning one? No!
It was also found that with the tailgate raised, they were the perfect height to sit behind and hold on to whilst sitting in a bread delivery tray, and be towed around said ring road. All good fun until a particularly nasty wipe-out caused total amnesia to one participant; who I’d better not name check as he does appear in the public eye now and again. So total in fact that on coming round in hospital, his opening words to his wife were, “Who the *#*’ are you!” All not very convincingly explained away with the excuse that he tripped over the seat belt whilst getting out. This could have been plausible if not for the severe bruising and full length gravel rash.
Another plus point was the stated fighting weight of 815kg, an absolute godsend when the bloody thing broke down where we shouldn’t have been, necessitating pushing it nearly a mile in the middle of the night to get it where we should have been, before calling for recovery.
Happy times in the carefree days of the Cold war, but thank god they never decided to invade!
I think we moved on to diesel Escorts after that, which was the final death knell to any form of entertaining, morale boosting juvenile behaviour!
Fun at the time? Yes. Ever contemplate owning one? No!
So ... S.O.T.W. is (now) just a thinly disguised advertorial to help shift some of the dross that lurks in the lower price range of the P.H. classifieds ... Without much research I found 2 far nicer and cheaper Rover Metros and other tastier stuff by casting my net a little further. If it wasn't for T M's amusing prose the feature be much less interesting.
I can only think that the people defending them have never driven one, passengered in one, or owned one. The permanent gearbox "reverse" whine, in any forward gear. The stupid hydrospastic suspension that you could empty with a spanner. Odd-sized wheels and tyres on early ones. The fact they would bottom out on a speed hump with just one person in. The colours. The interiors. The fact they went all pretentious and started calling it a Rover 100, as if that gives it some sort of kudos. Don't even get me started on the "sporty" red seat belts in the MG version.
Yes I've had a couple as stop gaps in the late 90's. One I hated so much I cut it up with a disc cutter one afternoon. 3 cuts and the engine was out. Hateful, cardboard, slow, goppin piece of s
t. Shed of the week? ste of the week, more like.
Yes I've had a couple as stop gaps in the late 90's. One I hated so much I cut it up with a disc cutter one afternoon. 3 cuts and the engine was out. Hateful, cardboard, slow, goppin piece of s
t. Shed of the week? ste of the week, more like. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff