They had to produce 200 cars for homologation purposes. These were build and were availalbe to buy by men in the street. The 200 6R4's were inspected by and passed and as such the 6R4 was given the go ahead to rally competitively!
Great potential...pity group B was banned, as we might have seen a lot more of this British super rally car. P.S, NO group B cars had much to do with their road-going cousins, the 6R4 was no exeption. Tony Pond 3rd place in the 1985 Lombrard RAC rally, only beaten by two Lancia Deltas.
Great result for sure, but dont forget finished 3rd after all 3 Peugeots (Sundström, Salonen, Grundel)& Audi Quattro (Röhrl,Mikkola) has retired. Without turbo was hard to fight against them..
Well, the fact is that they did finish...if the 6r4's didn't finish people would have said that they were rubbish for not finishing.They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and 6r4's are still saught after today and still perfom with superb results against cars from their era.
to be honest Pond and Wilson were mixing it with the turbo cars, ond was in the top 5 and wilson was 8th after the first day which wasnt bad on its wrc debut. Also pirelli took studded tyres to the rac which helped in the last 2 days of the event which pond running michelin only had gravel tyres to contend with.
Im so insensed by this crap that ive signed up just to put you clowns right. Group b cars had everything to do with the road versions you idiot!!!! thats why the fia stated in the regs that 200 IDENTICAL cars must be produced for homologation..... how else do you think there are so many privateers running them in the present day???? they aren't ex works are they no thats right they are production cars. And as
far as the marketing crack that started this whole thing goes, as many will appreciate these were the days when it was more about testing technology and being race proven than marketing the brand by which i mean peugeot produced the 205 gti in such high numbers that it was difficult for the mg metro turbo to compete in real world sales.
thirdly yes most of you are correct about the turbo hence finishing third in the 85 RAC against a pair of super charged and turbo charged lancia s4's with at least 100 more horsepower than the metro and one of them was piloted by one of the greatest drivers ever seen (henri toivonen).
Finally the metro can still be seen but if you were in touch with current statute from the fia in order to compete with one you now have to have the engine sleeved down to 2.5 and then have it checked and sealed by an appropriate authority. please stop talking crap on things you only know part of.
Ooooh, listen to her! Listen mate, producing 200 cars does not amount to 'production', just a requirement to rally/race. And if you think a 6r4 has anything to do with what the blue rinses used to go to sainsburys you must be even more full of crap than you think we are!
well little man that was a factual comeback wasn't it? "if you think it has anything to do with....." you clip! did Austin Rover produce it ? YES did they use a metro floor plan and chassis? YES. consider your comeback next time silly man.
I don't remeber ever seeing a four wheel drive 400bhp mid/rear engined metro in sainsburys parked in the disabled spot! And I'll let you have the floor pan, but the chassis?! The real metro had a morris minor steering rack, no-wonder Tony Pond only managed third in the 85 RAC rally!
ok the morris minor comment is funny, but what else but bits that hang round a factory do you think we build this sort of thing with now??? let alone at longbridge in the 80's. the chassis was the same before you correct me again i'm not talking a rolling chassis the components were just as wild though, in fact the only one that didnt rob things from silly places was the quattro.
The 200 cars are producition cars. The works cars used evolution models which austin rover made a batch of 20 which had 400-410 bhp. People do use them for the road as a chap drove his to the autosport show last weekend.
6r4 wasn't a turbo like the Audi or Peugeot, just a naturally asporated 6 cylinder beast. Also you can still see them out on a few rallies, even if new rules (and how difficult Metros are to drive) are sending people towards the dull and soulless WRC stuff.
To be fair the 205 T16 is pretty far removed from the "normal" 205. Difference is that Peugeot made their 200 homologation T16 specials for road use. Austin/Rover/MG just sold theirs to other rally teams and drivers, and to rallycross as well.
What a great car! But as a marketing move, I can understand people buying a 205 based on rally success. But buying an austin metro because of the 6R4? I dont think so, its too different to the standard car imho!
The same would work for any car, metro included if its in the public eye for the right reasons I see no reason why rally sucess would work for the 205 and not the Metro.
Brilliant video. cheers
doubts 1 year ago
RIP Tony Pond and Rob Arthur. Pond is right, rally drivers do it best! Fantastic rally car the 6R4, and the SD1 Vitesse!
matty205gti 2 years ago
mini mini mini mini mini mini mini if i could afford a mini cooper s i would have one certanily
12valvepower1 3 years ago
RIP Tony Pond and Rob Arthur. Absolutely, rally drivers better than racing drivers!
matty205gti 3 years ago 4
They had to produce 200 cars for homologation purposes. These were build and were availalbe to buy by men in the street. The 200 6R4's were inspected by and passed and as such the 6R4 was given the go ahead to rally competitively!
diggerdo702 4 years ago
Great potential...pity group B was banned, as we might have seen a lot more of this British super rally car. P.S, NO group B cars had much to do with their road-going cousins, the 6R4 was no exeption. Tony Pond 3rd place in the 1985 Lombrard RAC rally, only beaten by two Lancia Deltas.
jawajawa350 4 years ago
Great result for sure, but dont forget finished 3rd after all 3 Peugeots (Sundström, Salonen, Grundel)& Audi Quattro (Röhrl,Mikkola) has retired. Without turbo was hard to fight against them..
SevcaCZ 4 years ago
Well, the fact is that they did finish...if the 6r4's didn't finish people would have said that they were rubbish for not finishing.They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and 6r4's are still saught after today and still perfom with superb results against cars from their era.
jawajawa350 4 years ago
to be honest Pond and Wilson were mixing it with the turbo cars, ond was in the top 5 and wilson was 8th after the first day which wasnt bad on its wrc debut. Also pirelli took studded tyres to the rac which helped in the last 2 days of the event which pond running michelin only had gravel tyres to contend with.
6R4NET 4 years ago
Im so insensed by this crap that ive signed up just to put you clowns right. Group b cars had everything to do with the road versions you idiot!!!! thats why the fia stated in the regs that 200 IDENTICAL cars must be produced for homologation..... how else do you think there are so many privateers running them in the present day???? they aren't ex works are they no thats right they are production cars. And as
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
far as the marketing crack that started this whole thing goes, as many will appreciate these were the days when it was more about testing technology and being race proven than marketing the brand by which i mean peugeot produced the 205 gti in such high numbers that it was difficult for the mg metro turbo to compete in real world sales.
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
thirdly yes most of you are correct about the turbo hence finishing third in the 85 RAC against a pair of super charged and turbo charged lancia s4's with at least 100 more horsepower than the metro and one of them was piloted by one of the greatest drivers ever seen (henri toivonen).
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
Finally the metro can still be seen but if you were in touch with current statute from the fia in order to compete with one you now have to have the engine sleeved down to 2.5 and then have it checked and sealed by an appropriate authority. please stop talking crap on things you only know part of.
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
Ooooh, listen to her! Listen mate, producing 200 cars does not amount to 'production', just a requirement to rally/race. And if you think a 6r4 has anything to do with what the blue rinses used to go to sainsburys you must be even more full of crap than you think we are!
jawajawa350 4 years ago
well little man that was a factual comeback wasn't it? "if you think it has anything to do with....." you clip! did Austin Rover produce it ? YES did they use a metro floor plan and chassis? YES. consider your comeback next time silly man.
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
I don't remeber ever seeing a four wheel drive 400bhp mid/rear engined metro in sainsburys parked in the disabled spot! And I'll let you have the floor pan, but the chassis?! The real metro had a morris minor steering rack, no-wonder Tony Pond only managed third in the 85 RAC rally!
jawajawa350 4 years ago
ok the morris minor comment is funny, but what else but bits that hang round a factory do you think we build this sort of thing with now??? let alone at longbridge in the 80's. the chassis was the same before you correct me again i'm not talking a rolling chassis the components were just as wild though, in fact the only one that didnt rob things from silly places was the quattro.
Rallyeezz 4 years ago
Fair comment!:)
jawajawa350 4 years ago
The 200 cars are producition cars. The works cars used evolution models which austin rover made a batch of 20 which had 400-410 bhp. People do use them for the road as a chap drove his to the autosport show last weekend.
6R4NET 4 years ago
A 6r4 can also run with a 2.8 engine if the owner wanted to compete aswell.
6R4NET 4 years ago
the 6R4 was only so good coz it was aeordynamically designed by an F1 team lol
cyanidemusic 4 years ago
6r4 wasn't a turbo like the Audi or Peugeot, just a naturally asporated 6 cylinder beast. Also you can still see them out on a few rallies, even if new rules (and how difficult Metros are to drive) are sending people towards the dull and soulless WRC stuff.
mrjanyeo 4 years ago
Rad sound of rally turbos in the 80s and 90s; today they're banned
slutty81 4 years ago
Sorry, but MG Metro 6R4 has no turbo!
SevcaCZ 4 years ago
great vid
antiLeixo 4 years ago
MINI MINI MINI MINI MINI
ladaladaladalada 4 years ago
Cheers for posting,,Tony Pond ,great guy.
wheelzwheeler 5 years ago
Excellent video, cheers for posting that up!
MetroMartin 5 years ago
To be fair the 205 T16 is pretty far removed from the "normal" 205. Difference is that Peugeot made their 200 homologation T16 specials for road use. Austin/Rover/MG just sold theirs to other rally teams and drivers, and to rallycross as well.
fulanilovincriminal 5 years ago
stunning vid
ianclapham 5 years ago
What a great car! But as a marketing move, I can understand people buying a 205 based on rally success. But buying an austin metro because of the 6R4? I dont think so, its too different to the standard car imho!
adamfruitcake 5 years ago
The same would work for any car, metro included if its in the public eye for the right reasons I see no reason why rally sucess would work for the 205 and not the Metro.
MetroMartin 5 years ago
thanks for this....Tony Pond was THE man...
FM77 5 years ago