Worst car ever made and sold in the UK?
Discussion
red_rover said:
Zod said:
BL was saved? Really? Where's the nearest dealer?
BL was at the point of complete distruction but the Metro saved it. Unfortunately who knew that BAe, BMW and the Phoenix 4 would ever get their sticky fingers involved?Zod said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
red_rover said:
Didn't What Car also name the new Rover Metro as their car of the year in 1991?
But why let facts get in the way of unfounded opinions...
Whatever people may say, Metro was the car which saved BL. By a distance one of their better better offerings and a sales success.But why let facts get in the way of unfounded opinions...
Patriotism, neigh, jingoism don't you just love it? It's like religion
DeadMeat_UK said:
That rover thing that they stuck the black plastic wheel arches on to try to make it like a crossover.
Nothing says "I will believe ANYTHING a salesman says to me" like driving one of those.
Someone on here has one that is lowered etc and it actually looks quite good..Nothing says "I will believe ANYTHING a salesman says to me" like driving one of those.
yes I know how bizarre that stamement looks
Zod said:
tali1 said:
bqf said:
The Metro - all variants, except the 6R4 rally version.
I had one, and it was appalling. Ugly, uncomfortable, slow, unreliable, badly designed, horrid. Truly horrid - it besmirches the good name of the Mini, and for that reason alone should be erased from history.
Although not the Rover versionI had one, and it was appalling. Ugly, uncomfortable, slow, unreliable, badly designed, horrid. Truly horrid - it besmirches the good name of the Mini, and for that reason alone should be erased from history.
ks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.Zod said:
Standard Autocar story about new British car. Every time, it's been utter bks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.
Think back to what else you could buy in that class in 1990ish.ks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.Mk2 Polo. Slow, basic, and a really shoddy RHD conversion.
K10 Micra. Reliable but horrible to drive.
Nova. Not even in the same ball park. Ponderous, harsh ride, heavy steering.
Mk3 Fiesta. Asthmatic engines, heavy steering, shocking handling.
Renault 5. Ancient and due for replacement.
Which leaves us with pretty much just the Pug 205 and Fiat Uno.
So, yes, the Rover Metro was pretty damned good back then.
Edited by Chicharito on Thursday 1st December 20:38
Zod said:
The 205 was in a different universe. What about the Polo?
The Metro had better ride, equally decent handling, and much better engines. They were very underrated by the general public, largely because Rover kept the metro name, and the Polo of that era was really awful and long overdue replacement.LuS1fer said:
My inclusion of the later Avenger is based on one thing - LOOK AT IT! Stupid stuck on rear bits at the back, ghastly rear lights, the horrid nose - they deserve a kicking for trying to make it look like a Chrysler. Yuk. As you were...
I agree that as facelifts go only the Fiat Argenta was worse, but it was still a decent steer...I'd have to say the city rover or mk4 escort.
The allegro was an innovative and ok car in many respects and really by the end of its production life it had become well sorted motor - like so many BL cars they were ruined by compromised styling and committee decisions. The maestro was also a decent car and hateful vw gearbox aside, was again a well sorted car by the end of its life
I'd also say the Marina and early early vectras were pretty hateful cars despite being loved by many
The allegro was an innovative and ok car in many respects and really by the end of its production life it had become well sorted motor - like so many BL cars they were ruined by compromised styling and committee decisions. The maestro was also a decent car and hateful vw gearbox aside, was again a well sorted car by the end of its life
I'd also say the Marina and early early vectras were pretty hateful cars despite being loved by many
Edited by morgrp on Wednesday 30th November 16:06
Chicharito said:
tali1 said:
Standard Autocar story about new British car. Every time, it's been utter bks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.
Think back to what else you could buy in that class in 1990ish.ks, at least until the new XF and XJ came along when you could at least make a decent case for them.Mk2 Polo. Slow, basic, and a really shoddy RHD conversion.
K10 Micra. Reliable but horrible to drive.
Nova. Not even in the same ball park. Ponderous, harsh ride, heavy steering.
Mk3 Fiesta. Asthmatic engines, heavy steering, shocking handling.
Renault 5. Ancient and due for replacement.
Which leaves us with pretty much just the Pug 205 and Fiat Uno.
So, yes, the Rover Metro was pretty damned good back then.
Although i disagree with Micra as being "horrible to drive", and MK3 fiesta "handling shocking"
tali1 said:
Err .. not my quote (my reply "Metro remarkble refinement and ride") seems to have gone awol) ! i was sticking up for the Metro
Although i disagree with Micra as being "horrible to drive", and MK3 fiesta "handling shocking"
Apologies - nested quotes caught me out - corrected now.Although i disagree with Micra as being "horrible to drive", and MK3 fiesta "handling shocking"
However... the K10 Micra was awful - reliable, but rot prone, ugly and really uninspiring. The K11 (bubble) which came a bit later was a huge leap forward and arguably the best of the early to mid 90s superminis.
And I'll stand by the Mk3 Fiesta opinion - my experience was that it was a step backwards over the Mk2 in many ways - I remember driving a 1.4 'Flight' - the steering was ridiculously heavy and under-geared, and it had crap ride and equally crap handling.
Zod said:
The 205 was in a different universe. What about the Polo?
No it wasn't, you're seeing every 205 through GTI rose tinted glasses. I had a 205 1.4 XL, the clutch was snappy, the engine was gutless and would not idle properly, it was extremely poorly made and had a woeful ride/handling combination (oh and the head gasket blew).
This was the same for other every small engined PSA car in my experience (Talbot Samba/Citroen AX)954/1108/1360cc. Truly awful little cars unless they had the suitably sporty badge attached and the bigger engines.
martin84 said:
Has the Montego been mentioned? Drove one of those once, what an utter stbox.
Ultra stbox.t car. One I had kept telling me (yes, it spoke) about door open, not charging or any other random error messages it could think of. Rust and more rust. And plumes of blue smoke seemed to follow me everywhere.AllNines said:
By the way, the Alpine and Horizon offerings from Chrysler (later Talbot) both won European Car of the Year awards at launch. Can't have been that bad, surely?
(OK, they might have rusted away before their time but didn't all cars back then?)
I had an Alpine. Red it was with cream upholstery. (OK, they might have rusted away before their time but didn't all cars back then?)
To be honest I thought it was quite a lively engine with electric front windows (Never had that on an early Escort).
OK the gearbox was clunky and the bottom of the doors were rusted to crap.
Petrolhead_Rich said:
Welshbeef said:
For me a nomination is the Austin Allegro.
Can anyone better that?
City Rover /threadCan anyone better that?
Reliability issues can be forgiven if the car has character, but that Tata box with it's tape player was s
te!Tidy up
Edited by Morningside on Thursday 1st December 22:56
Chicharito said:
tali1 said:
Err .. not my quote (my reply "Metro remarkble refinement and ride") seems to have gone awol) ! i was sticking up for the Metro
Although i disagree with Micra as being "horrible to drive", and MK3 fiesta "handling shocking"
Apologies - nested quotes caught me out - corrected now.Although i disagree with Micra as being "horrible to drive", and MK3 fiesta "handling shocking"
However... the K10 Micra was awful - reliable, but rot prone, ugly and really uninspiring. The K11 (bubble) which came a bit later was a huge leap forward and arguably the best of the early to mid 90s superminis.
And I'll stand by the Mk3 Fiesta opinion - my experience was that it was a step backwards over the Mk2 in many ways - I remember driving a 1.4 'Flight' - the steering was ridiculously heavy and under-geared, and it had crap ride and equally crap handling.
K10 Micra - best looking Micra for me as K11 too girly and K12 a joke visually .As for rot ,-well K10 Micra has actually one of best survival rates. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/f...
K11 more europeanized - in other words they cut out a lot of standard goodies of K10
K10 also one of the quicker 1.0litres around at time - and 1.2 more than capeable of giving a bloody nose to bigger engined cars. My brother likes to throw his cars around and he has had numerous K10 Micras - no complaints from him .
Yes press and world and his wife did moan it was uninspring to drive - but which supermin buyer looks for exciting drive from a boggo 1.0 ?.Truth is they not find much wrong with the car and went into anti jap mode and just added in some criticism.
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