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Metro at 40

Discussion in 'Everything Else Heritage' started by GWR4707, Oct 20, 2020.

  1. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Quite interesting piece.

    https://metro.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/
     
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  2. jsm8b

    jsm8b Part of the furniture

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    Horrible cars !
    Two abiding memories for all the wrong reasons.
    Firstly taking a slip road on the A442 in one (at about 40mph) and thinking it was going to turn over it was so unstable,
    Secondly having to drive to Old Windsor in one and then back since my boss had booked me on the wrong course (bless him), he'd had the same car the previous week and it had broken down on him, wasn't properly repaired, and on my way home the exhaust blew up on the M54. The worst thing for me though was the offset of the pedals which at 6 ft 4 made driving one a very uncomfortable;e and painful experience.
    They were pool cars and very much abused but poor maintenance did little;e for what was an awful car.
    All ny own opinion I'm sure somebody loved them
     
  3. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Philistine ;):D
     
  4. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Can remember sliding along the brick red leather seats in my mums aged from about 5 to 7 always red hot in the summer and bloody freezing in the winter!
     
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  5. The Green Howards

    The Green Howards Nat Pres stalwart

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  6. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    Got to agree with that. My Dad had one from new and rust started appearing after just a couple of years!
    Another abiding memory was driving along one day when the engine cut out. Pulled over and opened the bonnet to have a look while Dad tried to restart, and noticed a little curl of smoke from the side of the engine compartment. . . just where the wiring loom ran. A closer look soon revealed the melted wiring! Cue a call to the AA.
     
  7. goldfish

    goldfish Nat Pres stalwart

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    That is truly gopping.

    I learned to drive in a Metro, and for reasons unknown, my Mum went through a succession of them (favourable family relations with the local dealer a factor I expect). Many notable firsts achieved within, none of which I'll be going into on a public forum.

    Favourite was this one in dashing metallic silver/grey, which could achieve unimaginable speeds on the country roads where I grew up, and was the source of numerous wry comments from the mechanics, gently suggesting incidents at MOT time Mum might not otherwise have been aware of (eg have you been in a ditch? Did you know the left wheel is an inch behind the right? We've not seen that done to a sump before, etc.).

    s-l1600.jpg

    Simon
     
  8. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

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  9. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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    My dad had a Mini Metro back in the late 80s/early 90s. Metallic blue paint, which must've been very strong as it was the main structural component of the body of the car!
     
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  10. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Likewise learnt in one which I then inherited as my first car. It was a 1300 which had started life as a van but subsequently had windows put in the back along with a rear seat, albeit the upper mounts were not fitted so if you broke hard the seat folded up! It rusted in front of your eyes (eventually ended up the steel from a fridge forming most of the rear arches) but I loved that car as it was my first freedom and also the scene of much growing up!

    Lowlights included the gear selector separating (due to missing rolled pin) meaning I could only engage reverse and had to reverse home about a mile (one advantage of living in the sticks) whilst highlight was keeping up with a Lotus Carlton in the outside lane of the M40! She also transported us around the UK Three peaks in 24 hours without missing a beat!

    I cannot find it now but I recall reading a story about an elderly lady going into a dealership and being a brand fan buying either a 6R4 or a Ford RS200 (might have been a Sierra RS500), because she wanted the most expensive in the range as that was whatb she always bought.
     
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  11. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Can I make you an offer for the film rights to your Metro story??
     
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  12. simon

    simon Resident of Nat Pres

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    Had one in the early 80s. Rusted away as they all seemed to, although the parents of the people opposite is turn up in one every now and then so a few must survive on the roads.
     
  13. ilvaporista

    ilvaporista Part of the furniture

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    Likewise I learnt to drive in one with the BSM triangle on the top.. I was taken on the A3 with strict instructions not to go above 60 as the high speed would blow the triangle off the roof.
    Also the car from which I got out of in the middle of Guildford High Street when the instructor started shouting and swearing at me.
    I went back for the following lesson and was told I had a new instructor as the previous one had alcohol problems and had crashed the car through a shop window after having a difficult pupil that day... It even made the headlines of the Surrey Advertiser back in 1982.
     
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  14. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    When they were learning to drive my brothers used to like to go on The Portbury Hundred - the road from the M5 into Portishead & see how fast they could go before Dad grabbed the handbrake
     
  15. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Not many https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?page=1&q=metro
     
  16. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    My wife had one, a Motability car, towed a small caravan all over the country. It was the later shape 1.3 GTA version, and needless to say, it was worked hard towing but never gave any trouble for the 2 years before it was changed.
     
  17. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    Dreadful cars. One of my friends at Sixth Form college had one and he gave me a lift in it quite often. It rusted from the inside out. The head lining in the roof was grey when his Mum gave him the car. It started going brown after a couple of months.
    On one occasion he parked it at the top of a quiet road opposite the college. The road had a slight gradient. When we left college in the afternoon the Metro had moved down to the bottom of the road. Luckily it had rolled into the kerb. He had the handbrake checked the next day. It was a very similar model to the one shown below and the same colour.
    [​IMG]

    Sent from my I3312 using Tapatalk
     
  18. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Every car my father or I has ever had has had a brown roof lining. It is not however a question of build quality.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  19. paullad1984

    paullad1984 Member

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    My brother had one I seem to recall, at the time we had a B reg Talbot Solara. Now there was a car built to go on!
     
  20. 2392

    2392 Well-Known Member

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    It always makes/made me smile, that the car it was supposed to replace, out lasted it in production. And the model? The classic Alec Issigonis Mini. The car that I like as not, no doubt many other members learned to drive with...........
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2020
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