1981 Austin miniMetro poverty edition in bright snot

[Len Clifton]

I’ve just remembered, my Mum had an MG Metro turbo, which I used to drive after passing my test. That looked quite cool in black, but it was also slow. Not sure, but I think the turbo’s only function was to make the boost gauge work on the dash.

[Stuckinthe80s]

Absolutely wonderful - well done keeping this piece of motoring history on the road and in such amazing condition. Enjoy.

[Greendubber]

I can't remember the last time I saw a Metro, yours is ace!

[rohrl]

[itcaptainslow]

It's an absolutely democratic classic - everyone seems to have a memory of one!

Thanks for the positive comments, folks. May enter it for one of the lawns at the PH Annual Service!

[Tymb]

That’s me mugged by memory lane.
My mum got exactly that car in 81, three door in bright green.
It seemed so modern and spacious at the time coming from a mini.
Happy memory’s of her taking me, my brother and a couple of other kids
on holiday for a week on the Isle of Wight while our dad was in the Falklands.

[mac96]

Lovely!
As already said, fast/slow is relative to other cars of its day. I had an MG Metro from 2 years old; 72 BHP, and probably the fastest car I have ever owned on a performance per horsepower basis!
I hope you have as much fun with yours as I did with mine.

[itcaptainslow]

Skyedriver said:

LightweightLouisDanvers said:

That's a great example. Applejack green is a fantastic colour.
Ideal for car shows or just a nice weekend drive.

Was thinking "Snapdragon" but likely wrong.
Bought my first Metro, a 1980, 998, ex NHS, at an auction in Birtley.
Followed that up with a Primrose one, a silver one, a 1.3HLE, an MG, a Turbo. And I seem to think at least one more.
Front wings rotted out but were bolt on and cheap. People criticise them now but they were so much better built than the mini.

Snapdragon is a yellow - and lovely it is, too.

W i d e body said:

That's even more basic than my 1992 Panda ,no rear wiper .

But do you have 2 speed front wipers ?......mine doesn't !

Superb condition though ,well done .

Two speed wipers - got - BL decadence at its finest!

The handbook is delightful; it actually tells you how to set valve clearances & do basic service work. Unimaginable today!

I'll get a picture of it when I next go out in the car.

Edited by itcaptainslow on Saturday 12th April 21:33

[Skyedriver]

itcaptainslow said:

Snapdragon is a yellow - and lovely it is, too.

Cheers

[Mr Tidy]

I never really liked them but it is great to see one so well preserved. Perfect car the the FOTU!

[itcaptainslow]

Mr Tidy said:

I never really liked them but it is great to see one so well preserved. Perfect car the the FOTU!

It was there last year in the concours, with the previous owner!

I do like the show, and am planning to go this year, either in this or my Rover 214 ( linky). Yes, I'm a BL/Rover perv. I have another, too.

Concours isn't really my thing, I used to enter every now and then but found it actually spoils the day. You end up fussing around the car so much, you miss the show, and I'm really not one for obsequious fawning around judges.

Edited by itcaptainslow on Saturday 12th April 22:18

[Tymb]

That’s me mugged by memory lane.
My mum got exactly that car in 81, three door in bright green.
It seemed so modern and spacious at the time coming from a mini.
Happy memory’s of her taking me, my brother and a couple of other kids
on holiday for a week on the Isle of Wight while our dad was in the Falklands.

[Tindersticks]

My first car was a Metro City 1.0L in blue. B218 UOR. I ran that car for 8 years and 120,000 miles and I loved it beyond measure. It opened up the world country for me. Was utter dogst in comparison to anything modern of course. No glovebox. No near side mirror. No stereo until I fitted one. Manual choke. Just kept going for ever.

This takes me right back.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

Parents + two grandparents + two kids + dog + TV + food/clothes for a week went 100 miles on holiday in one of those every year for a decade. Popular at the time.

[Mr Tidy]

itcaptainslow said:

Mr Tidy said:

I never really liked them but it is great to see one so well preserved. Perfect car the the FOTU!

It was there last year in the concours, with the previous owner!

I do like the show, and am planning to go this year, either in this or my Rover 214 ( linky). Yes, I'm a BL/Rover perv. I have another, too.

Concours isn't really my thing, I used to enter every now and then but found it actually spoils the day. You end up fussing around the car so much, you miss the show, and I'm really not one for obsequious fawning around judges.

Edited by itcaptainslow on Saturday 12th April 22:18

I'm not surprised it was in the concours given it's condition, but I can understand why you aren't to interested in that.

I think I need to make the effort to go to the FOTU this year for a dose of nostaglia!

[itcaptainslow]

Thanks for sharing the memories guys, keep them coming. I remember these being on the road as a kid, but this is a full six years older than me!

The only “mod” I have any intention of doing is fitting a new old stock accessory electronic boot release I’ve been given (key only at the moment - risky if you lock the keys in the boot!), and possibly a passenger door mirror, purely for safety in modern traffic.

It also needs converting to run on unleaded, as for some reason this wasn’t done during the restoration. There’s a decent engineering company local to me, so over the winter I’ll remove the cylinder head and take it down to them.

I drove my Up! GTI to work this morning, and it feels so light and refined in comparison. Those in the Up! GTI Spotted thread whinging about them not being refined need to drive a Metro

Edited by itcaptainslow on Sunday 13th April 05:16

[Vsix and Vtec]

Fantastic! My mum and dad only ever managed to afford one new car in thier lives, and it was a gunmetal grey metallic MG Metro 3 door. I vividly remember the 80s "maths schoolwork gridline" dash background and the red seat belts. Fantastic little thing that Regrettably disappeared into a pile of rust and subsequently (hastened by the arrival of my brother) replaced by a white F reg Astra estate that was about 3 years old when they bought it.

So sad how few survive, they used to be everywhere. This is in even better condition than when it was new looking at the wheel arch!

[ShortBeardy]

It's a comfort to all of us you that you appear happy.

As a side note have you ever considered one of those jackets with very long arms that does up at the back?

[Nicks90]

Skyedriver said:

itcaptainslow said:

Snapdragon is a yellow - and lovely it is, too.

Cheers

My wife's first car was exactly this, she called it flora after the margarine
Bought it for peanuts from the local Irish that delivered feed to the stables her horse was liveried at and the metro died 12 months later at it's next mot... turned out it was a patchwork quilt underneath of the dodgiest welds covering rust holes you have ever seen. Hardly a surprise with who it was bought from, buy live and learn.....

[A.J.M]

That’s brilliant!

They must have made hundreds of thousands of these cars back in the day.
And now they are mostly gone.

Somehow, I have an Austin Metro steering wheel in my Series 1 Land Rover. So seeing the steering wheel made me laugh.