"ATaylor-Jones" (alanjtaylor)
03/23/2014 at 12:39 • Filed to: LLHH
8
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"ATaylor-Jones" (alanjtaylor)
03/23/2014 at 12:39 • Filed to: LLHH | 8
| 78 |
Back in 1983, the affordable sports car was pretty much dead. A once thriving market was on its knees and MG was suffering. The MGB had been axed in 1980 and the Abingdon factory closed. The badge would live on although initially in a very different guise, a three - door city car.
British Leyland had introduced the Mini Metro in 1980 with the intention of replacing the much loved Mini. It was more spacious, safer and had far more contemporary styling, perfect ingredients to compete with Ford’s Fiesta and Renault’s 5. Seeing as there were hot versions of both of these, it made sense for BL to go after them with an MG version of the Metro.
The MG Metro was launched in 1982 with a worked over version of the venerable 1275cc A-Series. A cam change, head work and a bigger carb saw 71bhp from the 4 cylinder OHV motor. Clearly this wasn’t enough as in October of that year the MG Metro Turbo was introduced with 93bhp thanks to a Garrett T3 turbo. Lotus even had a hand in the uprated suspension and advanced (for the time at least) boost control.
Metro Turbos were even entered into the British Touring Car Championship in the early 80's. The race cars had around 200bhp, still from under 1.3- litres, and initially had full works support. Drivers included Tony Pond who would go on to compete in Group B rallying with the bonkers Metro 6R4 and F1 driver Martin Brundle. Although there were no major successes, they often kept up with and beat much larger more powerful machines.
Although it was produced until 1990, with a facelift in 1984, the car suffered from problems throughout it’s life. The main reason why it needed the complex boost control was to lower torque below 4000rpm by limiting boost to 4psi. Above 4k, a controlled boost leak tricked the turbo’s wastegate into rai sing pressure to 7psi, giving the headline power and torque figures. This was supposed to protect the standard four- speed Metro gearbox from eating itself, something which still happened far too easily. Add poor build quality, frequent rust issues and unsurprisingly low residuals into the mix and they’re now a very rare sight even on UK roads.
Although technically a failure, British Leyland should be applauded for trying to produce a fairly sophisticated hot hatch with a limited budget at a very troubled time. It’s a fantastic slice of 80's retro inside and out with its red carpets, red seatbelts, model specific alloy wheels and subtle bodykit. Besides, tuning by Lotus has to be a good thing, right?
From AJTaylor’s blog !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
Mikeado
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 13:19 |
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I don't remember ever seeing an MG Metro here in the UK, let alone a turbo one. It would be pretty awesome (and easy, I'd think) to put that engine in my Mini.
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ATaylor-Jones
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 13:41 |
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My Mum had a non-turbo one until it tried to kill us with carbon monoxide poisoning. They rusted so easily but did look pretty good for a Metro. A fair few of the engines did find their way into Minis, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more of them than Metro turbos now.
Pitchblende
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 14:10 |
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A friend of mine had one, eventually rust ate it and a baby necessitated a large car, so it was sold. If I recall, it was white with red logos.
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ATaylor-Jones
> Pitchblende
03/23/2014 at 14:21 |
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Nice colour combo!
Vracktal
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 14:55 |
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Try any council estate in Reading on a weekend. If you can't see one at first, just follow the sirens.
Nitzer Ebblestone
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 16:34 |
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Michael, you're really scraping the barrel here. The 80's was an abysmal decade in British motoring. Pretty much anything that came out of Austin-Rover at that time was a joke, with the possible exception of the re-badged Hondas which were at least reliable, the only thing you could really say for them. The MG Metro is no exception. Whatever you do, please do not go further down this road into Montego or Maestro territory
landwomble
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 16:34 |
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Aw man! I had a Metro GTA, which was what they called the runout model MG Metro. Loved that crappy little car, with it's awful, well - everything. Bright red, tinted black lenses, huge stereo and my first alloys. I remember those product shots as well, leafing through the brochures. Finest moment was in North Wales, on a downhill dual carriageway with 4 additional hairy idiot students overtaking a 911 who clearly was just pootling along, with a mate doing fist-pumps out of the passenger window.
There are 2 (count them!) MG Metro Turbos still on the roads:
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%9…
I saw a base-spec Metro a month ago in the UK and did a double-take. It's the only one I've seen on the roads at all in the past decade, I think tin-worm has killed most of them...
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Nitzer Ebblestone
> Nitzer Ebblestone
03/23/2014 at 16:35 |
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Whoops. Cross-posted on Jalopnik and not authored by Michael Ballaban.
365Daytonafan
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 16:40 |
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http://www.eraturbo.co.uk/index.htm Not sure if it used the MG Metro install but must have been the early basis at lease
Zoom
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 16:44 |
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Reminds me of another hot hatch back then. Remember the 'twin stick' 8 speed?
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ATaylor-Jones
> Nitzer Ebblestone
03/23/2014 at 16:45 |
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I don't know, the Maestro Turbo press car story is pretty funny.....
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Pockets
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 16:48 |
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Huh? The regular ones were eeeverywhere back in the day. All scrapped now, though.
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Pockets
> landwomble
03/23/2014 at 16:50 |
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Wasn't the GTA the replacement with the k-series that they rebadged into the Rover 100?
Bueller
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 16:53 |
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Some say that anyone applauding British Leyland should be shot in front of their families.
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ATaylor-Jones
> Zoom
03/23/2014 at 17:00 |
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8 speed? I'm intrigued!
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Pockets
> Nitzer Ebblestone
03/23/2014 at 17:00 |
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The Metro isn't that bad by the standards of 1983. It's fucking awful compared to anything newer, but that's a little unfair.
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Zoom
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 17:04 |
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It was actually a 4-speed with a power/economy stick next to it. So there were really 8 different gear ratios to choose from.
Reborn Pyrrhic
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 17:11 |
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I remember seeing one in Bournemouth in 1991, that was one sweet looking hatch.
tapzz
> Vracktal
03/23/2014 at 17:13 |
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I'd be very, very surprised. What you say was true enough twenty years ago, but the ones that haven't been trashed in that manner, have all rusted away now: howmanyleft says there were just 114 left on the roads last year, down from 68000 in 1994.
I think the UK's yobs are diminishing the nation's stock of Citroën Saxos in a similar manner, but I'm not sure what'll come next. I think I've seen some Honda Civics and Focus Mk. 1s in unfortunate livery being driven in the requisite stupid manner, but they just don't seem to be as ubiquitous as hot hatches in the '80s and '90s were.
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landwomble
> Pockets
03/23/2014 at 17:17 |
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The 2nd one was, the first was the MG with a different set of graphics and bodykit - this is exactly the same as the one I had!
Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 17:22 |
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It feels weird to be nostalgic for such great visibility and simple controls, and I'm not even that old!
morepowerigoragain
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 17:43 |
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Here's a third one, running the USA!
I had an MG Metro as my own first new car, was proud of it (at the time) more because it was new than because of its amazing ability - it wasn't amazing, just a nimble light footed hatch, and one despite its tiny size that you could put a dishwasher into when helping friends move house and so-on.
Mine died of rust when trying for its MOT, but was back on the roads a few weeks after I sold it for scrap, with I suspect paperwork that was more bought than earned.
The Turbo is rightly described above as fragile, the gearbox was simply working in the space allocated for it in the original Mini back in 1957 prior to its subsequent launch, and not ready for Turbocharging.
A notorious Turbo derivative was the Tickford (see also their Capris and Astons). Amazingly expensive and of course if tuned, even more fragile than the standard version. What was fun about them back then was hearing the whistling of the turbo and the chuffing of the wastegate as you got off and on the throttle. Murder for the gearbox, fun for the first owner.
ranwhenparked
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 17:45 |
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ALL older cars are a pretty rare sight on UK roads, its a total throwaway society, any car older than about 10 years is considered positively ancient.
KirkyV
> tapzz
03/23/2014 at 17:53 |
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The yobs are probably demolishing the country's stock of Saxos at a greater rate, but going by my personal experience of trying to find one to buy, I'd say that it's the 106 - the GTi, in particular - that's most at risk. They never offered free insurance, so they didn't sell as many, and it's getting to the point that there are only two kinds of examples out there: incredibly pricey pristine, low mileage collector's cars - that just seem to keep appreciating - and utterly demolished boy-racer mobiles. Good, middle-of-the-road cars seem all but extinct.
The Saxo VTS is, admittedly, almost as hard to find in reasonably unmolested form, but the existence of the VTR gives it two advantages over the 106:
1. The VTR acted as a sort of 'shield' for the VTS, as most boy racers didn't want to pay the premium on purchase and insurance, when such an appealingly sporty option was available for less.
2. They sold so many VTRs that, even when all the 106 GTis are either dead or in the hands of collectors, there'll be plenty of - admittedly lesser - performance Saxos still on the roads.
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tapzz
> KirkyV
03/23/2014 at 18:10 |
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What about 106 ralleys? They've always struck me as rather attractive little beasts, but I don't think I've seen one for a while.
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Mikeado
> Pockets
03/23/2014 at 18:18 |
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Ah, well perhaps not being in "the day" might have something to do with it. =/
Tyred_Cyclist
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 18:18 |
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Having driven my dads dysentery beige base model example many moons ago the thought of one of those 200bhp touring car examples gives me the willies, seriously there was literally nothing to them.
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Mikeado
> Vracktal
03/23/2014 at 18:20 |
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Heh. I'll be near Reading next month. I'll keep a look out!
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KirkyV
> tapzz
03/23/2014 at 18:22 |
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Rallyes are all but impossible to find—and might actually be extinct in completely stock form. They only produced a limited number, and they've been favourites as track day and amateur rally cars since they were new, so plenty have been crashed to death, and virtually all of those that haven't are fully race-prepped, with GTi engine swaps and roll cages and the like.
It's not a bad way for a car to die, but I'm rather sad that I'll probably never be able to own one myself. They look great, have gobs of personality, and are generally held to be the best-driving of all the 106s/Saxos.
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Pockets
> landwomble
03/23/2014 at 18:24 |
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Oh, that's cool. Never seen one of those before. :)
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Pockets
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 18:26 |
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I feel old now.
Funpotato
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 18:30 |
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interesting fact: these could be had with painted white alloy wheels that, just like the Camaro ZL1, would stop but have the tyres keep spinning if you hit the brakes hard enough. I doubt Longbridge did anything about it though.
bozla
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 18:44 |
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The four pot brakes would also be a bolt on upgrade I believe.
Longrush
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 18:49 |
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Try this page on this website.
Says maybe 29 left in the 3rd Quarter of 2013..
http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/mg_met…
emmepica
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 19:02 |
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Autobianchi Y10 turbo: an Italian scary little hot hatch, marketed outside Italy as a Lancia. Based on Fiat Panda and born to replace the beloved (and well known at jalopnik) A112 in 1985, it was Fiat response to classy customers. How not to mention the 0,31 cx design with the tailgate always in satin black, or the various special edition made with fashion industry that lot of automakers love to do today. Also an Awd system was available. The hot version: the Y10 turbo. With a tiny 1050 cc turbo engine delivering 85 hp and 122 nm car reach 100 km/h in 9,5 sec, with a top speed of 180 Km/h. And Martini livery.
thirteenthfloorelevator
> landwomble
03/23/2014 at 19:05 |
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Liking that Viva in front of it more...
01101001an
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 19:31 |
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When I was 17 I wanted one of these but could not afford it. I got an ex British Telecom 1 liter van in bright yellow. I got for a few £ a full MG turbo interior and put it in my van, I even had a pico exhaust and MG turbo alloys on it. Looking at the picture of the interior brings back a few motoring memories
QQXQXL123
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 19:37 |
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6.5 seconds to 60...once, before a full engine rebuild, if memory serves?
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QQXQXL123
> landwomble
03/23/2014 at 19:40 |
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That says 31 if you add both together. Metros would have been originally registered on the slightly dodgy non-centralised system, which means errors (like being registered as Rovers) could happen. Given how many of them have had their engines robbed for MG Midgets and Minis I'm actually quite surpised there are 31 left driving around.
JJS119
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 20:11 |
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Look at that rust. Got to love the British.
Tvrtko-Kamen
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 20:14 |
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They all rusted away before your time I suppose.
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Mikeado
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 20:19 |
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Is that really where the fuel filler cap is? That seems odd...
Double0Ten
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 20:25 |
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Check out mini ERA turbo for that engine in your mini!
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thirteenthfloorelevator
> morepowerigoragain
03/23/2014 at 20:27 |
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I have just spent considerable time on that there site, thank you for the link. That there Trident Clipper that's on there I had never heard of before, and it is teh sex. Like a baby Jensen Interceptor. I want one.
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no-shun
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 20:45 |
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When I was a kid back in the UK there was a teacher that was easily over 300lbs that used to drive a white Metro Turbo, her son was the year below me and was pushing 200lbs before hitting 13. I always wished I could save that poor little car. It looked as though it was lowered, until they got out. well for the first 3 years or so, then the suspension sag became permanent. Big shame really.
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Pockets
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 21:36 |
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I'd never noticed that before, I guess it was easier from a packaging point of view. On the later Rover ones it's in a more normal place.
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Pockets
> QQXQXL123
03/23/2014 at 21:38 |
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Waitasec, are you trying to suggest that modern technology means the DVLA no longer make mistakes??
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Pockets
> Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
03/23/2014 at 21:40 |
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Does this change your mind?
AMC/Renauledge
> Zoom
03/23/2014 at 21:48 |
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Rambler was doing this back in the early 1960's on their 3-speeds, giving them 6 forward gears. I can't remember whether it worked in reverse or not.
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Pockets
> ranwhenparked
03/23/2014 at 21:48 |
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Yeah, it's one thing I don't think really conveys well to people from elsewhere is how much of a factor that is. I think it's entirely down to the numberplates having the year on, to be honest; otherwise when cars started lasting longer people would have just got used to keeping them longer.
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ranwhenparked
> Bueller
03/23/2014 at 22:05 |
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If it makes you feel any better, by the time the MG Metro came along, it wasn't British Leyland anymore. It was Austin Rover Group Ltd., a subsidiary of BL Plc. (with BL no longer standing for anything).
Maxaxle
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 22:35 |
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Manual?
TheExplainer
> Mikeado
03/23/2014 at 23:00 |
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Odd how? I'm pretty sure the fuel tank was under the rear seats, so that's a fairly direct point of access. (I had two Metros early in my driving career, excluding the one I used to uproot a length of wooden fencing.)
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Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
> Pockets
03/23/2014 at 23:38 |
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No, because I feel modern cars could still manage better visibility than they do and still have decent safety ratings.
Xaoc
> ATaylor-Jones
03/23/2014 at 23:52 |
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Love the metro, my dad had one and it was fun until it tried to kill us a few times and the radiator clapped out and we couldn't drive more then 5 minutes without stopping and letting it cool.
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D4 BCK
> Mikeado
03/24/2014 at 00:28 |
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Aye, my mum had a burgundy Metro when I was an infant 10-15 years ago, was an interesting little surprisingly rust-free bucket. It was a pretty well kept example til it got trashed by the next owner a week after we sold it. We replaced it with a deep green 206 GTI. Which we had for 3 months before it was stolen.
Still see one or two Metros about, but I have to admit I'd never heard of a Turbo version until now (excluding the 6R4).
Ben C
> Zoom
03/24/2014 at 00:28 |
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Blimey. So they beat Lexus to it, by over 20 years to boot!
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rwdmini
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 01:37 |
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MG Metro 6R4 with Computervision livery, or GTFO. Now there's a hot hatch! :)
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rwdmini
> rwdmini
03/24/2014 at 01:40 |
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I'm starting to understand the complaints I've read from people who try and fail to insert an image. I believe I have been "Kinja'd"?
BrianRad
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 01:45 |
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Renault 5 went by LeCar in the U.S. Yes it sucked.
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Guy Meurice
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 05:17 |
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The reason not many exist anymore is because all the mini enthusiasts had them for parts as soon as they could and put the engines in their cars.
duurtlang
> Maxaxle
03/24/2014 at 05:25 |
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That's a rhetorical question, right?
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chute13
> Mikeado
03/24/2014 at 05:25 |
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A firm called ERA put a Metro Turbo engine in a mini in 89.
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Mikeado
> TheExplainer
03/24/2014 at 06:28 |
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I've never seen a car (much less a mainstream one) that required the driver to kneel down in the petrol station before.
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david martin
> Mikeado
03/24/2014 at 08:30 |
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Yes it is! I think MG is the best option to go with when it comes to a vehicle. Once, My MG stopped working at the middle of the countryside of Arizona so I had to left my car stayed there. Finally, http://www.performanceautocarrier.com/ helped me finding back my car.
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david martin
> Nitzer Ebblestone
03/24/2014 at 08:35 |
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Once I lost my MG vehicle in the countryside of Arizona but thanks to http://www.performanceautocarrier.com/
they helped me finding my car back.
fridgefreezer
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 10:53 |
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I had the pleasure of driving one into Brixton for a Green Day gig, as none of us wanted to take our cars we borrowed one from a mate who was hoping it would get stolen. It didn't. It spent the entire journey in overheating in London traffic. I gutted a scrap one for the seats & RED seatbelts to go in my Metro 1.0L first car. The 2.0 MG Maestro/Monetgo were even less loved and (for the day) proper quick.
mr_gofast
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 11:09 |
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have we touched on the clio v6 sport?
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mr_gofast
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 11:12 |
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http://nozama.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed05…
the 1967 dodge Deora
Designed by Harry Bentley Bradley and based on a Dodge A100 pickup truck/van , the rear glass of a 1960 Ford station wagon served as the windshield. The name "Deora" was coined by a 13-year-old, and (incorrectly) means "Golden" in Spanish. Its highback seats were years ahead of their time, and was posh by any standard. its rolled and tucked interior
http://nozama.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed05…
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KirkyV
> ranwhenparked
03/24/2014 at 13:18 |
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It's a terrible shame, culturally, but I do rather like what that attitude does for our used market.
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chuckjaeger
> ATaylor-Jones
03/24/2014 at 14:59 |
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As we stand today I am rather embarrassed to admit I had two of these. I passed my test in 96 so suffice to say both of them were well past their prime by the time I got hold of them and I was not what you might call 'sympathetic on the machinery'.
However, the constant smell of gasoline and burning oil, the tacky LED turbo gauge that made me think I was Knight Rider, the red carpets and seat belts and the ability to dangerously lower the car (resulting in crazy camber) in seconds thanks to the hydrolastic suspension means it is an experience I will never forget.
Mini_Fanatic
> Mikeado
03/24/2014 at 15:22 |
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There are plenty of kits out there to do just that. But, personally, I've heard some horror stories when it comes to reliability.
It's a bit more expensive, and has what some would say to be too much bottom-end power, but the vmaxsccart Superchargers are rock solid and offer great power for what you pay for. And it's technically keeping in the "Mini" family by using the Eaton supercharger out of a newer MINI Cooper S. And you can put them onto nearly any A-Series engine. Just a thought.
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Nitzer Ebblestone
> david martin
03/24/2014 at 17:48 |
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That could be the opening line of a blues song "Once I lost my MG vehicle" der-der-de-der "in the countryside of Arizona" der-der-de-derr... Glad you got reunited with your MG (I'm assuming it was a "proper" MG like an A or a B, not a MG-badged Austin Rover) :-)
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Maxaxle
> duurtlang
03/24/2014 at 17:52 |
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It's just a little hard to tell. Sometimes you see a nice manual shifter and it turns out to be an auto.
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QQXQXL123
> Pockets
03/24/2014 at 21:33 |
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No, just that the DVLA no longer make that mistake.
Break-Mend-Continue
> 365Daytonafan
03/25/2014 at 02:08 |
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Yes, that was using the Metro Turbo engine.
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Pockets
> QQXQXL123
03/25/2014 at 02:57 |
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My two previous cars, a Citroen " " 'estate' (or as it's otherwise known, a Citroen Xsara hatchback) and an Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo would like to disagree.
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QQXQXL123
> Pockets
03/25/2014 at 13:10 |
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But they got the manufacturer right both times; that has to be progress, right?
