Brilliant 3 part film. Thanks for posting. As forth failings at ARG like rust proofing, every manufacture had the same issues. Some worse than others like Fiat and Lancia. Even VW had quality control issues with their water cooled cars.
I had 1982 Austin Metro MK1 Vanden Plas which was a nice car, rust was a bit of a problem. I then got a 1991 Rover 1.1 which was streets ahead of the 'A' series engine, it didn't suffer as bad with rust either. Great little cars..
Such a shame that it took so long to come to market. A great little design that was better than a lot of compeitors but one that was 2-3 years later than it should have been. I had a couple of these and they were really nice little cars. A lot of the moans on here are using 20/20 hindsight - in it's time it was a good car.
Though the original Austin Metro was well developed, but it's body protection was awful, however that did change when British Aerospace took them over and it reincarnated as the Rover Metro. It became what it should have been in the first place and certainly they had far superior body protection against rust, plastic wheel arches on the front wings also helped, but they never overcame the rear wheel arch problem where moisture got between the two panel skins. I had three Metro's one of the last MG Metro's, Rover Metro 1.4 GS and 1.4 GTa, all great fun to drive.
I had a MG badged Turbo version, what a bag of spanners, when stopped trying to restart it was a nightmare. Position of fuel filter meant fuel evaporated with heat from engine.
i always love the metro! :) it was the car that stopped austin/rover BL from going under xD my dad still uses a 1988 metro vdp!.... this video in it's parts 1,2 and 3 is very very facinitaing!Love it thanks for the upload!xD
Shame they didn't find the weak synchro rings in the gearbox, and rapid gearbox wear simply due to the 12k service intervals, and the rapid rusting, plus leaky hydragas suspension, and the fuel spilling out of the neck onto the back wheel under hard cornering!
@rajithaify It wasn't bad for it's day, you know. It was never going to set the world on fire, but it did it's job remarkably well when it needed to. My mates and I were in a band and all our gear fit happily into the back of 2 Metros - good times... :)
Only problem i can imagine as with American auto companies was that they were very dependent on a subcompact to make a huge profit. But they are low priced so that would be very difficult.
And then the robots went on strike… Strange thing is I rather like them having driven a bloke called John's Metro in the mid '90's, pity they didn't get the crumple zone sorted out and it never replaced the Mini as intended. Wonder if that Rover Metro is still in Bedford Heights near the old Texas Instruments factory in Bedford UK?
I dont want to sound like a geek but its a trip computer for your m.p.g and cruise control, Ive got an old metro brochure with all the opinions listed on it
So much wasted talent at BL from the shop floor, all the way to the top...great ingredients mixed up by a mixed up conglomeration of stratified committees and warring social classes - one certainly can't expect a brilliant cake, let alone a brilliant car.
The metro was developed to perfection , it truly was a british car to beat the world. Only the EU import quotas stopped it being a roaring success throughout Europe ,
So much development but the knobheads never thought about rust prevention! No wonder with cars like the metro (and maestro/montego) that the Rover group went tits up.
@@stewartellinson8846 Only if you compare it to stuff from the 70s when it was designed. Everyone else's 80s cars fared at a lot better. There's a TopGear video of metros with terminal rust at 3 years old.
under deveopled and rushednto producion. the 3 it faailed on 3 things unreliabilty, rust and outdated engines. the a series originally started in the morris minor 1948. Im only 25 but if i were around in the 80's i was for the last 3 years. i would of gone for a 205 or polo. more advanced.
Did you run the same cam as the HLE? the same timing, the same fuelling, the same gearing. The HLE were run very weak and had an extremely long top gear. That's how they managed it. It also meant the damn thing was gutless.
Cos British Leyland saw it as a Mini replacement and wanted some continuity between the old car and new. The Mini was expected to be axed by the mid 80s.
I know the stag had a triumph 3 litre engine, basically two dolomite engines welded together, what i meant to say is that the rover 3500 engine shouls have gone in the stag from the start, the last metro, badged rover, did have japanese engines on the diesel model. bye the bye, I have just restored a mini cooper S series 3 1971 model, on you tube shortly.
I had a 1.0 Metro which had a rotten rear subframe then a R5 1.1 TL 5-speed. The wee Ren was better on fuel and didn't bounce about as much! Did the love life better too! So a Metro was better than an Allegro in interior space and noise and better built. So why did the Allegro go on until 1982/3? The R5 had an alloy headed 5 bearing engine. I'd bet Ren didn't suck millions upon millions out of the French government. I wonder what Rootes/Chrysler could have made of the Imp with a few million?
It's a shame that despite all their extremely hard work that they never found out that the metro rusted terribly and water poured in through the door seals,window seals and bootlid.The 1 litre version was so gutless it was tiresome to drive on your own and disastrous if you had three passengers in it! They mention that during development petrol prices trebled I remember at the time fuel was about 30p litre not the £1.33 it is now!! Shame Longbridge went bust and most of the building demolished.
Unfortunately, this car set no new standards whatsoever and didn't give VW, or even Ford, any sleepless nights. It could and should of been better but wasn't - Even BL didn't believe their own hype promotional films. I once had a girlfriend who had a rusty (what else?) Mayfair spec Metro and let's say it wasn't comfortable in the back...
Brilliant 3 part film. Thanks for posting.
As forth failings at ARG like rust proofing, every manufacture had the same issues. Some worse than others like Fiat and Lancia. Even VW had quality control issues with their water cooled cars.
The metro was the first car to have a crumple zone - it was in between the front and back bumpers
Brilliant 😃 and your body was part of the crumple zone.. 😨
And the airbag was the drivers chest hit in the steering wheel. 😂
It was certainly a ground breaking car!
I LOVE YOU AUSTIN METRO ROVER
This is just amazing i cannot spot anything i dislike about this video it makes me so happy.
Ali Bridges you comment makes me happy!
I had 1982 Austin Metro MK1 Vanden Plas which was a nice car, rust was a bit of a problem. I then got a 1991 Rover 1.1 which was streets ahead of the 'A' series engine, it didn't suffer as bad with rust either. Great little cars..
Metro is a good car, just a shame they skimped on Quality Control and rustproofing! It's a Mini in more modern packaging after all!
Such a shame that it took so long to come to market. A great little design that was better than a lot of compeitors but one that was 2-3 years later than it should have been. I had a couple of these and they were really nice little cars. A lot of the moans on here are using 20/20 hindsight - in it's time it was a good car.
I like my metro "A" series improved motor that i put in my old mini !
Though the original Austin Metro was well developed, but it's body protection was awful, however that did change when British Aerospace took them over and it reincarnated as the Rover Metro. It became what it should have been in the first place and certainly they had far superior body protection against rust, plastic wheel arches on the front wings also helped, but they never overcame the rear wheel arch problem where moisture got between the two panel skins. I had three Metro's one of the last MG Metro's, Rover Metro 1.4 GS and 1.4 GTa, all great fun to drive.
I had a MG badged Turbo version, what a bag of spanners, when stopped trying to restart it was a nightmare. Position of fuel filter meant fuel evaporated with heat from engine.
i always love the metro! :) it was the car that stopped austin/rover BL from going under xD
my dad still uses a 1988 metro vdp!....
this video in it's parts 1,2 and 3 is very very facinitaing!Love it thanks for the upload!xD
Im getting a corgi mini-metro model car tomorrow!
Shame they didn't find the weak synchro rings in the gearbox, and rapid gearbox wear simply due to the 12k service intervals, and the rapid rusting, plus leaky hydragas suspension, and the fuel spilling out of the neck onto the back wheel under hard cornering!
Such minor issues ! 😳😳
Thanks for the post, i have an 87' Metro which I'm working on atm. Great to know some of the history behind it.
Hysterical BL videos. They are still doing the old Belgian pave. As in the 1950s. Expert quality engineers. Like Basil Fawlty.
@rajithaify It wasn't bad for it's day, you know. It was never going to set the world on fire, but it did it's job remarkably well when it needed to. My mates and I were in a band and all our gear fit happily into the back of 2 Metros - good times... :)
Great little car
Beautiful video
At 1:00 isn't that Nicolas Smith " Mr Rumbold " from " Are you being served" !!
and I had an HLE too, a 1.3 HLE. I got 57MPG from it. It needed to be perfect and the cruising steady but it was possible.
Only problem i can imagine as with American auto companies was that they were very dependent on a subcompact to make a huge profit. But they are low priced so that would be very difficult.
1:12-1:14. That Engineer looks like a young Mr. Rumbolt from "Are you being severed". The gentleman in the middle.
And then the robots went on strike… Strange thing is I rather like them having driven a bloke called John's Metro in the mid '90's, pity they didn't get the crumple zone sorted out and it never replaced the Mini as intended. Wonder if that Rover Metro is still in Bedford Heights near the old Texas Instruments factory in Bedford UK?
@Jaggas - the A series DIDN'T start in 1948 with the Minor. It was launched in 1951 in the Austin A30. I'm 29.....
Great motor for the time.
Even the robots went out on strike.
Love the primitive equipment and the primitive design of the car. Almost like it was from East Germany.
This is nothing like a trabant or a wartburg. Far more advanced than either of them.
@@ryanthompson2893 yes. but hardly a worthy vehicle compared to Japanese cars of the same ilk. It’s still an underdone piece of 💩
I dont want to sound like a geek but its a trip computer for your m.p.g and cruise control, Ive got an old metro brochure with all the opinions listed on it
So much wasted talent at BL from the shop floor, all the way to the top...great ingredients mixed up by a mixed up conglomeration of stratified committees and warring social classes - one certainly can't expect a brilliant cake, let alone a brilliant car.
Wow those space age nixie tubes 2:55
The metro was developed to perfection , it truly was a british car to beat the world. Only the EU import quotas stopped it being a roaring success throughout Europe ,
So much development but the knobheads never thought about rust prevention! No wonder with cars like the metro (and maestro/montego) that the Rover group went tits up.
Plus it looks a lot like the first gen Golf
No-one did back then. The metro was no worse than any competitor and better than many
@@stewartellinson8846 Only if you compare it to stuff from the 70s when it was designed. Everyone else's 80s cars fared at a lot better. There's a TopGear video of metros with terminal rust at 3 years old.
All that technology to make it , a nice driving little car but an abysmal ruster . The vehicles made after 1990 were much better .
I love this video
under deveopled and rushednto producion. the 3 it faailed on 3 things unreliabilty, rust and outdated engines. the a series originally started in the morris minor 1948. Im only 25 but if i were around in the 80's i was for the last 3 years. i would of gone for a 205 or polo. more advanced.
The 205 was light years ahead of the Metro, even the AX Citroën was a better car, the AX Gt was a bit of a giant killer back in the day
Did you run the same cam as the HLE? the same timing, the same fuelling, the same gearing. The HLE were run very weak and had an extremely long top gear. That's how they managed it. It also meant the damn thing was gutless.
60mpg is for cruising at a steady 50mph. Totally different to a average for a tankful.
Why was it called mini metro at the beginning?
Cos British Leyland saw it as a Mini replacement and wanted some continuity between the old car and new. The Mini was expected to be axed by the mid 80s.
💩box?
Flaws? The Cops had em in the 80s as patrol cars.. we could out pace em on our BMX's.. 🤣
My dad is in this vid!!!!! yeah
@psykotanks
Much later there was the Rover 100 Series...
I know the stag had a triumph 3 litre engine, basically two dolomite engines welded together, what i meant to say is that the rover 3500 engine shouls have gone in the stag from the start, the last metro, badged rover, did have japanese engines on the diesel model. bye the bye, I have just restored a mini cooper S series 3 1971 model, on you tube shortly.
The Metro diesels used a PSA 1.4 engine from the Saxo and 106
I want to import one to the United States!
AUSTIN ROVER METRO
Its amazing to see the amount of time and resources that went into producing such a truly dreadful car.
awesome collage starts at 6:12
Great film ! .... Shame about the dissolving bodies , worn out radius arms and shattered gearboxes !!!
good one! Lmao! xD maybe she was prevented from rust with waxoyl??? :) LOLxD
All this talk of engineering excellence and they couldn't even get the wipers to synchronise properly.
PRIMED, PAINTED AND ASSMBLED WITHOUT ANTI-CORROSION
I had a 1.0 Metro which had a rotten rear subframe then a R5 1.1 TL 5-speed. The wee Ren was better on fuel and didn't bounce about as much! Did the love life better too! So a Metro was better than an Allegro in interior space and noise and better built. So why did the Allegro go on until 1982/3?
The R5 had an alloy headed 5 bearing engine. I'd bet Ren didn't suck millions upon millions out of the French government.
I wonder what Rootes/Chrysler could have made of the Imp with a few million?
Funny how they mention quality & I do like the metro, quality product it's not
It's a shame that despite all their extremely hard work that they never found out that the metro rusted terribly and water poured in through the door seals,window seals and bootlid.The 1 litre version was so gutless it was tiresome to drive on your own and disastrous if you had three passengers in it! They mention that during development petrol prices trebled I remember at the time fuel was about 30p litre not the £1.33 it is now!! Shame Longbridge went bust and most of the building demolished.
LOL xD...imagine if she did come with the Metro.... :) :)
Unfortunately, this car set no new standards whatsoever and didn't give VW, or even Ford, any sleepless nights. It could and should of been better but wasn't - Even BL didn't believe their own hype promotional films. I once had a girlfriend who had a rusty (what else?) Mayfair spec Metro and let's say it wasn't comfortable in the back...
yeh! xD :) :)
Corr who is the bird @4:27
now aged 70
My mum…
not so much designed as shat out
💩box indeed
After the Allegro and Marina this was the worst car ever made in the UK !!
A true shirt lifter
All that work and still it turned out shit
I only have one thing to say about the Metro...
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... ooooooooh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha