News : ‘New’ Metro Cabrio unearthed in Germany

Keith Adams

Rover Metro Cabriolet (1)

AROnline‘s Deputy Editor, Alexander Boucke, has just spotted this beauty for sale not far from his home in Germany. The car, a 1995 Rover 114 Cabriolet is unusual enough, especially in mainland Europe, but what makes this one especially exciting is that it has a mere 58km on the clock – it’s effectively a new car.

Okay, so there aren’t many details in the advert on German eBay, but we know that the car was still in stock in a German Rover Group dealer, which went into administration – and the car was never sold, instead being hidden away by the garage owner. The car has subsequently changed hands a couple of times since then, but it has never been registered in Germany.

However, that leaves any German fans who fancy this with a bit of a problem – it can’t be registered new there, as it’s not Euro IV or Euro V. Alexander tells us that it would be impossible to run this car there, unless they could claim the car has been registered in the past and the paperwork has been lost.

Fortunately, for British fans who fancy this car, we don’t have the same barriers – although you’ll not be able to have a 14-plate Metro on your drive, you could buy and recommission this and then end up with a new, time-frozen N-registered example. Mind you, we’ve saved the best news for last – and, in a way, that’s what’s tempting us into buying this one ourselves. The price is €1450 – call it £1300 give-or-take…

Are you feeling brave?

Rover Metro Cabriolet (2)

Keith Adams

23 Comments

  1. Purists would cringe but for anyone who fancies it & has an aversion to LHD cars, there must be no shortage of donor RHD dashboards.

  2. Wow, I’d love one of these… I’ve always prefered the look of the Metro cabriolet over the 100. I wonder how much it would cost to import and convert to RHD?

    But considering it’s only got 58km on the clock, it doesn’t appear to be in the best condition.

  3. The car is a true survivor, personally I think that converting it to RHD would be a crime. The car should be recommissioned and left as original as possible. How many LHD examples do you think are likely to still exist?

  4. IIRC this is one of the few cars with a symmetrical bulkhead, isn’t it? So in theory a LHD to RHD conversion should be simple and not need too many parts.

  5. Does Germany not have type approval based on date of manufacturer, rather than registration?

    Do all kit cars etc. have to be Euro 4 certified?

    On the Saab forums someone was having issues registering a 9-5 estate pre-production prototype as they weren’t type approved in Sweden, but was able to TUV it in Germany.

  6. It would single vehicle approval (speedometer in miles , headlights changed etc) which would not be an issue unlike an imported Twingo a few years ago.

  7. The SAAB issue wasn’t emissions/type approval based, it was because the Swedish government had been told it was a vehicle that should not be registered – they had a specific block on it, rather than it not meeting requirements.

  8. @Richard Kilpatrick – Comment 14:

    Well said. This Metro has an interesting story to tell, so why compromise its originality by converting it to Right-Hand Drive. If people can’t respect that then this car is clearly not for them.

    It is a bit like one of the owners of the last Land Rover Discovery Series 1 to be built (originally in the Heritage Motor Centre collection) and fitting LPG to it, presumably because they knowingly could not afford to run it (or could not justify its fuel costs). Buy any other Discovery instead and leave the one with the most originality and historical interest alone. Sorry to digress from the Metro theme with this follow on paragraph.

  9. 58km!! Given it’s actually changed hands a couple of times since being ‘hidden away’ by the dealer just how has this happened?! Not even registered!

    I’ve currently got a very keen eye on a 1993 R8 216 Cabriolet (with new hood). Thought it’s 40k miles was low!
    The only sticking point is ridiculous insurance quotes. However, if I get a better price on Monday it may still be mine. Prepared to pay a bit over the odds on the insurance – then I’ll have two low mileage Rovers/MG Rovers on the drive for a total purchase price of £4495 – wow!!

  10. Well.. after 2,5 years, a new fuel tank and fuel pump, this car is now in Holland ! 🙂 We will fit a new hood since the original has cracks all over the place and register it in Holland 🙂 It’s now in the hands of a friend of min who will be using it through the summer, and after that it will become mine 🙂
    It has done around 2000 km’s in the mean time, but it still feels like a new car ! 🙂 Ohw, and being in Holland it will obviously stay LHD.. And it will definitely show up on Rover/Metro shows in the UK this year or next year! The first aim is Pride of Longbridge 2017 😀

      • Thanks! It will definitely be loved! I have several friends in the UK that own Metro’s, so I will be joining them on trips to shows in the UK! It seems the mk3 cabriolet has never been sold in the UK? So it will stand out there in between the mk4 cabby’s! Can I upload photo’s here when it’s done? Or maybe write an article including pics on this website?

    • Hello,

      I am planning to go there, just not sure if my work lets me free up the time.. If I do go, I’ll be in my MG ZT-T, how do I recognize you?

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