Handling is fun – the Metro likes to go around corners, but it does feel less planted than the Mini. On motorways it can be pushed beyond 70mph, but sticking closer to 60mph will provide a more relaxing journey. If you do so, it’ll comfortably keep up with modern traffic. It’s a reliable unit that likes to be worked hard. The model we’re testing here is fitted with the more powerful 1,275cc A-plus engine (a smaller 1.0-litre powertrain was also available). So all BL had to do was to make the Mini Metro slightly bigger than planned, and introduce it above the Mini and below the Allegro in its line-up. Customers loved them – they were great around town and frugal, yet could cope on the expanding motorway network. Manufacturers were creating a new segment – the supermini, led by the likes of the new Ford Fiesta. The Mini was an iconic design, and early feedback on the Metro’s design sketches wasn’t positive enough to risk giving it the Mini name.
But British Leyland panicked at the last minute. The Austin Metro was initially intended as a successor to the Mini. Some may even dispute its classic status – but it was a turning-point when it was launched in 1980. The first car to get the Retro Road Test treatment is a car that was very popular in its time, but has all-but disappeared from the roads today. So we’re introducing the Retro Road Test – testing everything from classic cars to simply older vehicles you might consider spending your money on. But we realise not everyone is in the market for a new car. You may have seen our ‘Two-Minute Road Tests’, putting new cars through the same structured scrutiny and highlighting the good and bad in easy-to-read, bitesize chunks.
MINI METRO CAR SERIES
It goes on sale at Silverstone on July 27th, and is estimated to fetch around $250,000.This is a new series for Retro Motor. With seven total miles traveled since 1985, it’s ready to become static art in someone’s garage. It was sold immediately to a collector who never drove or raced it. Today’s Rare Ride is one of the 20 Group B cars. The special V6 engine lived on, where a few years later it sprouted a couple of turbos and powered a car called the Jaguar XJ220.
BL’s efforts for the 6R4 were not for naught, though. The company withdrew the 6R4 from racing entirely at the end of 1986.
MINI METRO CAR DRIVERS
By mid-1986, Group B racing was finished - banned due to crashes which took the lives of drivers and spectators. Subsequent races never saw a 6R4 complete a course, usually due to engine issues. Rover had the 6R4 on track by late 1985, but suffered engine issues after a strong initial showing at the Lombard RAC rally. The rally version had slightly more horsepower: 410. Beyond that, 20 more were built to actual Group B specification. Just like Audi, the four-wheel drive system was permanent.īL made 200 examples of a 250 horsepower road-legal version called the Clubman to satisfy WRC homologation rules. Said engine was loosely based on a Cosworth unit, and was naturally aspirated. The Metro’s original drive train was dumped, and replaced with a 3-liter V6 mounted in the middle of the car. In the prototype stage by 1982, the finalized 6R4 version was shown to the media in 1984. The Austin Rover Motor Sport division saw the Quattro, took a look at the Metro, and an idea began to form. It was just as well, because about that time Audi showed up with their four-wheel drive rally car… and changed the game. The company had recently retired the rally versions of the TR7 and TR8. Not much about the Metro was interesting, apart from a couple of very special versions made in the mid-Eighties.Īt the time, BL needed a car to go racing at the World Rally Championship. By then it was called the Rover 100, but at times was also sold with Mini and Morris badges. Though never achieving the cult following of the classic Mini, the Metro sold well enough to remain in production through 1998. The new Metro (a name chosen by employees) went on sale in 1980. And focus groups hated it.Īt the last moment BL redesigned their new car, made it larger, and altered its purpose: It would now sell alongside the Mini, rather than replace it. It was front-drive, the engine was at the front, and it was very small. The car they came up with was, in theory, similar to the Mini. Let’s take a look at the MG Metro 6R4.īy the late Seventies the Mini was showing its age, and the folks over at British Leyland realized it would eventually need replacement. Ever wanted a rally car from 1985 which is brand new and pieced together from an old hatchback? Well now’s your chance.
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