Metro
Launched amid a barrage of patriotic fervour, the Austin Metro was for two brief years, Britain’s most fashionable car – it proved a continued success for the company, too, racking up over two million sales (of Rovers, too) during its 17-year production run. Here’s its story.
The cars : Austin/MG Metro development history
Launched amid a barrage of patriotic fervour, the Metro was for two brief years, Britain’s most fashionable car – it proved a continued success for the company, too, racking up over two million sales during its 17-year production run. Sadly, its success alone was never going to be enough to stop BL falling further behind [...]
July 23, 2011
· 
Keith Adams · 
15 Comments
Concepts and prototypes : Metro saloon
Although it seems inconceivable now, in the late 1970s, when the mini Metro was being developed, it was being groomed to replace the original Issigonis-designed Mini, a car that remained in production until 2000. For all those die-hard Mini owners how didn’t believe they needed a hatchback, BL developed a saloon version of the Metro. [...]
July 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 22 Comments
Prototypes : LC8 Metro
Metro style emerges LC8 was not an entirely new supermini by any stretch of the imagination, using ADO88 as a starting point. The project was basically a restyle job – with Harold Musgrove cracking the whip over the Austin-Morris development team, ensuring that it was in production by the proposed launch date: the Birmingham Motor [...]
June 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · One Comment
Supermini projects : ADO88/LC8 drawings
Metro uncovered A fascinating find uncovered recently on the AR forums – engineering drawings of the ADO88 and LC8 projects… The differences between the original car and the pre-launch facelift are clear to see – and the fact that these drawings of the ADO88 were produced at all clearly shows just how close to production [...]
June 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Supermini projects : ADO74
The original Metro One project, many faces: a wide variety of styling exercises were produced before ADO74 was cancelled in 1973, as British Leyland could not raise the £130m needed to produce it. The project suffered from having indecisive leadership – it was led by Harry Webster, but because he had worked previously at Triumph, [...]
June 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 7 Comments
Supermini projects : ADO88
The Metro route Shortly after the demise of ADO74, the “Mini replacement idea” was yet again brought down from the shelf for further investigation. Unlike ADO74, which was new from the wheels up, ADO88 would use the Mini’s A-series engine plus transmission-in-sump layout. The reason for this was cost – ADO74 would have cost an [...]
June 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 2 Comments
Buying guide : Austin/MG Metro
Fancy a Metro? Here’s Dale Turley’s guide to what to look out for… Years produced: 1980-1990 Body style: 3 and 5 door ‘Supermini’ hatchback, 3 door hatchback ‘van’ Engine options: 998cc and 1275cc A+ Series, 1275cc A+ Series (turbocharged) Transmission options: Four-speed manual and four-speed automatic, front wheel drive Brief overview The Austin Metro is [...]
February 25, 2013
· Keith Adams · 38 Comments
In-house designs : Aluminium Metro
A lesson in lightness FOLLOWING the success of the BL Technology developed lightweight ECV3 project, it was decided to evaluate a system of manufacturing for building aluminium structured vehicles and then test the structural integrity and durability. This Metro is one of six vehicles built as replicas of steel production vehicles, and employs the system [...]
June 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
BMC>MG’s Top Ten sellers : 1952-2005
Keith Adams WITH THE number of BMC/Leyland/Rover cars on our roads diminishing rapidly, we take stock of the successive companies’ ten most popular cars during the post-war years. Some of these numbers are going to shock you, simply because the cars are so rare on the road now. In fact, even the latest car on [...]
November 16, 2010
· Keith Adams · 56 Comments
Car of the month : December 2008
The final Car of The Month for 2008 goes to yet another overseas reader, Todd Fitch from Seattle, Washington, USA, who also wins the AROnline award for the being one of those near-obsessed fans who is an inspiration to the rest of us. If you still need persuading that Todd’s a sucker for the cause [...]
December 1, 2008
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Car of the month : January 2007
Up-spec Metros like this are rapidly disappearing off our roads – claimed by a combination of rust, antipathy and Mini owners in need of updated motorvation for their prides and joys… Thanks to enthusiastic Metro fan Peter Melville, one 1986 Vanden Plas has been saved from the ignominy of the scrap yard, and has been [...]
January 1, 2007
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Car of the month : October 2004
Developed with the help of Lotus in 1982, the MG Metro Turbo was BL’s answer to the Fiesta XR2 and Renault 5 Gordini. The Metro proved an excellent basis for the hot hatch project thanks to its stiff bodyshell and proven mechanicals. The Turbo engine development was particularly successful; so much so, that engineers needed [...]
October 1, 2004
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Archive : BL increasing Metro production target to meet heavy demand
By Clifford Webb The demand for BL’s Metro car is so great that Sir Michael Edwardes, the BL chairman, now proposes to use the whole Longbridge plant for its production along with the older Mini. This is a last-minute change in the business plan submitted to the Government on Monday to enable BL to increase [...]
October 29, 1980
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Archive : BL chief to ask for £325m state backing
By Clifford Webb Midland Industrial Correspondent Sir Michael Edwardes, BL chairman, will be going to the Government next week for a £325m vote of confidence in the state-owned motor group. Riding on the success of the launch of the Metro, he is seeking £175m to put a potentially more profitable medium saloon codenamed LC10 into [...]
October 21, 1980
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Archive : Mini Metro launch set for October
By Clifford Webb British Leyland’s new Mini Metro will be launched in October with an updated version of one of the company’s existing engines. Later models may be powered by a Japanese Honda engine. The deal has not yet been completed, but reliable sources suggest that the Honda power unit will be built in Britain [...]
March 6, 1980
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Archive : Car junket rap
DAILY MIRROR Car Junket Rap British Leyland are going on a £1 million spree to launch their Mini Metro car. But they sailed into a storm of protests when it was discovered that they are spending the cash on flve-star cruises. The 25,000-ton Vistafjord-one of the most luxurious ships afloat – has already been booked. [...]
October 26, 1979
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Archive : Metro must make it
MOTOR Metro Must Make It Mark Snowdon, Director of Product Development at Austin-Morris talks to Jeremy Sinek about current and future model plans. ‘Our product planning has been aimed at a scene in which the real price of petrol will steadily increase. We’re going to have pressure for more miles per gallon, yet at the [...]
August 25, 1979
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Archive : How participation went sour at Longbridge
THE GUARDIAN How participation went sour at Longbridge As BL’s labour problems bring the troubled motor group once again to the edge of a financial precipice, NICK BOULTER – a civil servant who spent 15 months on the finishing lines of the ‘Mini’ – gives a shop floor view of Participation. In early 1976 serious [...]
April 9, 1979
· Keith Adams · No Comments
