Austin Metro Development 3

[densthedaddy1]

I only have one thing to say about the Metro...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha­hahaha... ooooooooh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha­ha.

[densthedaddy1]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha­ha

[greenbike15]

All that work and still it turned out shit

[Mr220393]

One thing I would say is the metro had an extremely tall engine bay, due to the A+ engine being extremely taller than its rivals, this gave an old fashioned driving style which felt like you where driving a double decker bs.

[ABri591]

This is just amazing i cannot spot anything i dislike about this video it makes me so happy.

[marshalllucky]

the mini metro was a truly beautiful car, nippy,reliable,well built and so comfortable, even on the longest journey. In short a very desireable car that people are now queueing up to buy whenever they come up for sale second hand even paying more than the asking price !. PS have you seen my metro for sale on ebay ;-)

[silver760]

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.

[Hiessetiff]

@silver760 mine must have been a good one then, very little rust and watertight (but yes gutless). Shame I had to cut her up but the engine lives on...............

[zebedep]

I like the music at the start of this clip, it's trying to emulate Kraftwerk's Autobahn I assume.

[burmesecat3]

My dad is in this vid!!!!! yeah

[rajithaify]

that's too much work for a shitty car.

[turricaned]

@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... :)

[LuapIbiza]

In the Netherlands the Metro was too expensive. For the same money you could buy a solid VW Polo, a reliable Toyota Starlet or a modern Ford Fiesta.

[carzmine9]

WOOW METROS OWNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!

[psykotanks]

This just feel so 80's :-) Was'nt it a Rover-version of the Metro as well?

[mauricevanmourik1982]

@psykotanks

Much later there was the Rover 100 Series...

[psykotanks]

@mauricevanmourik1982 Thanks for the help ! :-)

[WINSTANLEYOBXa]

Great video! I wonder who the music is by?

[U5096]

thats an awesome synth-driven soundtrack. very 1979/1980

[sharomanet]

@U5096 Yes, it is actually great. Wish I could get hold of those tapes.

[wackymacs]

Fantastic 3 videos - a really good insight into the manufacture of what was a great British car. It is a shame that Austin didn't foresee that their rust protection and the quality of steel was poor, resulting in bodywork that just didn't last with the UK's harsh wind/rain/snow. As far as I know, finding a original well cared for Metro Mk1 is incredibly hard now, most seem to have rotted away a long time ago, like most other 80s cars. :(

[CountryPug]

Thanks for the post, i have an 87' Metro which I'm working on atm. Great to know some of the history behind it.

[james6033]

thanks for a great and intresting series.

[unigateman]

so what happened, after came the maestro, and the last mestros were badged rover and fitted with jap engines.

BL made 2 decent cars, the last of the Rover SD1s and the Stag, with a rover engine

[mcigroup]

The last Maestros weren't badged Rover and never had Japanese engines. The Rover Metro never had Japanese engines either, it had the Rover K8 or K16, or Peugeot-sourced diesel engines. You must be thinking of the SD3 (200-series), which had a choice of either the 1.6-litre BL S-series or the 1.3-litre Honda unit.

The Stag didn't have a Rover engine, it had a Triumph 3-litre V8.

[unigateman]

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.

[dannyisso]

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

[BLHeritageFilms]

Thank you!

[kazimann]

Does the blonde come with the car!?

[BLHeritageFilms]

Dont think so

[dannyisso]

LOL xD...imagine if she did come with the Metro.... :) :)

[BLHeritageFilms]

hmm i wonder if she rusted as badly as the car :D

[dannyisso]

good one! Lmao! xD maybe she was prevented from rust with waxoyl??? :) LOLxD

[BLHeritageFilms]

Ziebart Rust Proofed from new :D

[dannyisso]

yeh! xD :) :)

[sharomanet]

"A realistic answer to a worsening world fuel crisis. Cars that are smaller, lighter, fuel concious, refined and offering not just a large interior space, but space with the versitility to suit the varying needs of family motoring."

More relevant today than ever. The Americans have only just cottoned on to this!

[ukeuro23]

yes sad they had so much right...the US car industry has just about done everything wrong and an American car can't compete with what they import...amazing but proves Rover are not alone in not getting it right...

[sharomanet]

Part of it definitely is (even though most models have one already), but why so many buttons?

[sharomanet]

At 4:42 what exactly is that machine? A digital clock, or that plus more, such as trip counter, fuel consumption etc?

[BLHeritageFilms]

I think its a clock, but looks a bit big for that.

[mickeymoose76]

Fuel computer, stop watch, temp readout etc..

[kazimann]

Must have been a rare option on the cars.

[cornflakes002]

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

[BLHeritageFilms]

Thanks for the info

[sharomanet]

Thanks for bringing light to this. I wanted to think it was a trip computer etc but found it hard to believe a 1980 Metro could have such a thing! :)