The metro kept me employed throught the 80's 90's and into the 21st century, welding sills, front panels and crossmembers, inner sills floor, back subframe mountings, back panel, back swinging arm bushes, hydroelastic units engines, gearboxes. there wasn't a thing that didn't go knackered. kept me employed not a bad word to say, unlike those pesky micras, civics and starlets that never broke down
back in the late 70s early 80s a lot of makes were rot boxes Fiats came out the factory with rust as standard, Datsun, vauxhall, Bmw,Vw, they all had problems back then with rust people seem to forget this.
I had one a good few years ago, nice little basic car. Thankfully a good friend knew how to slow down the rot ! This was driven by what amounted to the same engine/gearbox used in the old Minis, and the 1100/1300 range, then the Allegro. By the time the Metro appeared it was all getting on a bit ! My good friend, who'd been in the business for years, always said they should've produced the 11/1300 range two door models as hatchbacks. Evidently there was very little that needed changing in the body, and he always said BL should've listened to the Pressed Steel Co who made the panels and redesigned the thing to eliminate many of the rust traps. But Issigonis vetoed that, and so a whole generation of rust-boxes were made.
Drove an old wolseley 1100 for many years fitted with the 1275 twin-carb engine. Nice little car that was, and when someone ran into me, and wrote it off, had a Metro. I was very surprised to see the Metro had the very same engine and transmission. I know it was an A+ lump, but it sounded almost the same.
I remember this on the tv, A good advert for a terrible car. Rust came through on the bodywork, the paint on the rear window rusted through the carpet molted strands of fiber like a dog and the deferential crown wheel cracked in half bursting the case. How we wished we had never seen the bloody advert.
I had an MG Metro Turbo....... It was truly the worst car I ever had. The interior rattled like marbles in a tin can. It wasn't that fast and the clutch always juddered. Just to mention a few of the problems. But you live and learn and bought Japanese after that and never regretted it!
we had them in the Police Force and they were rubbish Workshops put a sticker on the dashboard ANYONE FOUND DAMAGEING THIS CAR WILL HAVE ACTION BROUGHT AGAINST THEM Everyone hated the car and would find alsorts of reasons for not driveing a Metro
What on earth were the style designers thinking when they gave the go-ahead for this design? The original 1976 Ford Fiesta looks more stylish & modern despite the fact the Austin Metro was launched 4 years later, another fine example of BL/Austin Rover compromising/penny-pinching!
They sold over 2 million of them, if we could be that successful again with a small car it would create many jobs for many years and give the British economy a big boost.
Never mind the Germans, Japanese, Italians or French invaders, it was the Spanish built American owned fiesta that really hammered the metro. What fords are built here now GM and Ford motor Co. have killed our only volume producer. Who were the biggest importers in the 70's and 80's?
You wonder, you see all these great designs the stylist came up with. And they made the ADO 88 have quite a nice body shape all ready. How did they manage to go for the model that looked the most bland and boring of them all?
It was a promising car when it was launched but after the facelift, popularity waned as people started buying superminis that were far better made and far more spacious.
if it had more time spent on it it would of been a car but bl always did things on the cheap. look what rover did with their range carried them on too long and not enough revisions. metro's arent as bad as people think they are far more worse cars out there. even though im not a fan of them id own one as they very simple and are becoming rare
No, it was a completely different body building company in Britain that was named Fisher and Ludlow that was owned by the predecessor of BL; British Motor Corporation.
It's funny listening to all the delusional hype in the video, the most quality orientated factory in Europe and all that twaddle. All BL needed to do was buy a Polo and a Golf (or a Fiesta and Escort) and take them to bits to see that they didn't have a hope. That was in the days when we were told we had the best of everything in the world, best police, best health service best army best whatever and everyone swallowed it, I guess that's why they believed their own patter, and why our motor industry went from supplying half the world to nothing in 30-40 years. Tell yourself you are the best at everything when it's patently not true, means you never really have to try to do anything good and original, then you scratch your head and wonder why no one wants to buy your ugly rust buckets. Even today if you listen to ppl like James May they will tell you the unions killed the British motor industry, and it was nothing to do with the cars that those in charge ok'ed for production, world beaters like the Allegro, the Marina, Montego and Maestro. It's funny because the Japanese and Germans managed to pay decent wages keep their workforce happy and make good cars and a profit, and it's also telling that 10 years after BL went pop, those same workers who had supposedly killed the British car industry were employed making cars happily on British soil for Honda, Nissan, Toyota and even Renault for a good few years.
It was still a big selling car for the 1980's especially since the Fiesta and Renault 5 had been out a few years. Gave Edwardes something to boast about I guess. I'm currently reading his book and his closure of the MG factory was a big mistake by what I can see!
Have you ever heard such propaganda. Quality… yeah right. It rusted away, had terrible crash protection, awful reliability and sounded like a sowing machine. My dad had one of these. I wanted to like the Mini Metro but compared to the likes of the Ford Fiesta or Nissan Micra and similar cars, it was not great. I think people only purchased these because of allegiance to British manufacturing and nostalgia.
ADO 88 looked better they totally fucked up the designs in production look at the prototype allegro stunning it was instead they came out with this ugly yolk you see today
The metro kept me employed throught the 80's 90's and into the 21st century, welding sills, front panels and crossmembers, inner sills floor, back subframe mountings, back panel, back swinging arm bushes, hydroelastic units engines, gearboxes. there wasn't a thing that didn't go knackered. kept me employed not a bad word to say, unlike those pesky micras, civics and starlets that never broke down
back in the late 70s early 80s a lot of makes were rot boxes Fiats came out the factory with rust as standard, Datsun, vauxhall, Bmw,Vw, they all had problems back then with rust people seem to forget this.
Had many happy tours round the West works back in the 1980`s. Maureen Moisey must be thanked. A Brilliant film!
I had one a good few years ago, nice little basic car. Thankfully a good friend knew how to slow down the rot ! This was driven by what amounted to the same engine/gearbox used in the old Minis, and the 1100/1300 range, then the Allegro. By the time the Metro appeared it was all getting on a bit ! My good friend, who'd been in the business for years, always said they should've produced the 11/1300 range two door models as hatchbacks. Evidently there was very little that needed changing in the body, and he always said BL should've listened to the Pressed Steel Co who made the panels and redesigned the thing to eliminate many of the rust traps. But Issigonis vetoed that, and so a whole generation of rust-boxes were made.
They were very safe in their day and far safer than most other cars on offer at the time.
The early ones came with a killer fuel cap.
@BLHeritageFilms Thankyou for uploading!!. I have a mk1 minimetro L. It was ziebarted from new. Think that helped the rust issue alot.
Today is October 8th, 2020 - Happy 40th Birthday to the Metro!
An excellent range of videos,Thanks for posting!
I'd have bought one if the girls from the French advert came with the car. Especially the one in the red bikini...
Brilliant
all of those competitor cars in the beginning had 4/5 doors, did Austin miss the boat.
These vids are brilliant, thanks a lot for the effort
I prefer the great Leyland Princess ;-))
never saw one here, i lived close to Wolfsburg in its time....so guess what cars i saw the most...
Even the prototype car's were starting to rust !!!
Drove an old wolseley 1100 for many years fitted with the 1275 twin-carb engine. Nice little car that was, and when someone ran into me, and wrote it off, had a Metro. I was very surprised to see the Metro had the very same engine and transmission. I know it was an A+ lump, but it sounded almost the same.
An absolute hoot to drive, but rotted like a good 'un
I remember this on the tv, A good advert for a terrible car. Rust came through on the bodywork, the paint on the rear window rusted through the carpet molted strands of fiber like a dog and the deferential crown wheel cracked in half bursting the case. How we wished we had never seen the bloody advert.
the nissan micra k10 was based on the metro
6:21 is it just me or does that look like a rust spot on the door?
I had an MG Metro Turbo.......
It was truly the worst car I ever had.
The interior rattled like marbles in a tin can.
It wasn't that fast and the clutch always juddered.
Just to mention a few of the problems.
But you live and learn and bought Japanese after that and never regretted it!
we had them in the Police Force and they were rubbish
Workshops put a sticker on the dashboard ANYONE FOUND DAMAGEING THIS CAR WILL HAVE ACTION BROUGHT AGAINST THEM
Everyone hated the car and would find alsorts of reasons for not driveing a Metro
brilliant vid
Lets test the brakes by locking up all the wheels?
What on earth were the style designers thinking when they gave the go-ahead for this design? The original 1976 Ford Fiesta looks more stylish & modern despite the fact the Austin Metro was launched 4 years later, another fine example of BL/Austin Rover compromising/penny-pinching!
They sold over 2 million of them, if we could be that successful again with a small car it would create many jobs for many years and give the British economy a big boost.
The Austin Metro was beautiful.
@732lover yes, thats rust :(
You are so right the writeing was on the wall
Never mind the Germans, Japanese, Italians or French invaders, it was the Spanish built American owned fiesta that really hammered the metro. What fords are built here now GM and Ford motor Co. have killed our only volume producer. Who were the biggest importers in the 70's and 80's?
@mikeluscher159 Why am I not surprised? LOL
The A series was too old OHC engines already appeared in nova's 205's micra's etc. even the ford ka had an engine dating back from 1959
its the same with all the cars back then i had a escourt that was a pile of crap tonot just the metro
E, YOU SEEM TO LOVE YOUR E !
i think if the 1990 metro was launched in 1987/8 rover would of made a huge profit.
You wonder, you see all these great designs the stylist came up with. And they made the ADO 88 have quite a nice body shape all ready. How did they manage to go for the model that looked the most bland and boring of them all?
rust buckets.engines had problems with unleaded petrol ..valves used to stick.
I like how the prototypes are rusting
It was a promising car when it was launched but after the facelift, popularity waned as people started buying superminis that were far better made and far more spacious.
Looks a lot like a first gen Golf
why didn't that ad also include the Americans with the Ford Fiesta? yes, it may be built in spain but that is an AMERICAN nameplate
Will Poundstone the corsa/nova didn't get released until 1982/3
anoying think is all the vw the renault the hondas all had 5 speed gear boxs and proper suspension and a bit of rust proofing with it
The 6r4 was the only good looking Metro
if it had more time spent on it it would of been a car but bl always did things on the cheap. look what rover did with their range carried them on too long and not enough revisions. metro's arent as bad as people think they are far more worse cars out there. even though im not a fan of them id own one as they very simple and are becoming rare
Did BL buy Fisher Body Division from GM to create PSF?
Don't think so, there is a Wikipedia page on Pressed Steel Company.
No, it was a completely different body building company in Britain that was named Fisher and Ludlow that was owned by the predecessor of BL; British Motor Corporation.
Oh comon it had the most chicks
Same the car didnt live up to the hype. Its competitor the golf v1 became the world car
It's funny listening to all the delusional hype in the video, the most quality orientated factory in Europe and all that twaddle. All BL needed to do was buy a Polo and a Golf (or a Fiesta and Escort) and take them to bits to see that they didn't have a hope. That was in the days when we were told we had the best of everything in the world, best police, best health service best army best whatever and everyone swallowed it, I guess that's why they believed their own patter, and why our motor industry went from supplying half the world to nothing in 30-40 years. Tell yourself you are the best at everything when it's patently not true, means you never really have to try to do anything good and original, then you scratch your head and wonder why no one wants to buy your ugly rust buckets. Even today if you listen to ppl like James May they will tell you the unions killed the British motor industry, and it was nothing to do with the cars that those in charge ok'ed for production, world beaters like the Allegro, the Marina, Montego and Maestro. It's funny because the Japanese and Germans managed to pay decent wages keep their workforce happy and make good cars and a profit, and it's also telling that 10 years after BL went pop, those same workers who had supposedly killed the British car industry were employed making cars happily on British soil for Honda, Nissan, Toyota and even Renault for a good few years.
@@yakacm its what happens in nationalised industry, government hasn't a clue how to run them so managed decline is the result.
metro's were made for too long if the rover metro came out earlier rover would be still around too
No more british car industry :(
if metro's were handbuilt they would be still around why do you think aston martins bentley's and old rolls royce's are about?
Because people that bought Aston Martin, Bentley, etc had money and could afford to maintain and fix everything?
It was still a big selling car for the 1980's especially since the Fiesta and Renault 5 had been out a few years. Gave Edwardes something to boast about I guess. I'm currently reading his book and his closure of the MG factory was a big mistake by what I can see!
designed??? developed?? shat out more like.. lmao
Have you ever heard such propaganda. Quality… yeah right. It rusted away, had terrible crash protection, awful reliability and sounded like a sowing machine. My dad had one of these. I wanted to like the Mini Metro but compared to the likes of the Ford Fiesta or Nissan Micra and similar cars, it was not great. I think people only purchased these because of allegiance to British manufacturing and nostalgia.
ADO 88 looked better they totally fucked up the designs in production look at the prototype allegro stunning it was instead they came out with this ugly yolk you see today
disgusting car