What this all meant was that British Leyland had produced probably the best and optimum package with the base materials to hand. Road testers soon heaped praise on the car, rating it as good, if not better than the current state of the small car art, the Ford Fiesta. Aided by snappy TV advertising aimed at the emerging yuppie market, the Fiesta Mk2 was an immediate hit. The plant was soon at a standstill. They were joined later by another 150 men. Most attention was drawn to the high economy 1.0HLE model, which was claimed to be the most economical car Europe in flag-waving adverts. Angry groups of Metro workers stormed through the Longbridge plant, smashing windows and doors in protest at the management’s stopping production of the new car. Mechanically, ADO88 was to use the A-Series engine and gearbox-in sump: the classic Mini arrangement, but variance was made on the suspension. This resulted in a more stylised and aerodynamic car. Find the best deals for Used Cars. It settled on an updated Mini with a hatchback, called the ADO88 – the only problem was that it didn’t clinic very well with potential buyers. Search. Pulsar silver with flint grey. Austin Metro Car Badge. Work rapidly got underway on the ADO88 (so named because its wheelbase was planned to be about 88in) and, because costs were to be tightly controlled, many carry-over parts from the Mini would be used. It formed the basis of the Austin Metro […], ADO74 – the first attempt by British Leyland at replacing the Mini never saw the light of day. When Donald Stokes announced John Barber as his number two, the ADO74 was put under further – and decisive – scrutiny. The Austin Metro, launched in October 1980, was heralded as the saviour of Austin Motor Company and the whole BL combine. The lack of cash in the company was to blame for this – Metro’s in-sump gearbox would have to remain – and remain it did until 1990. The club attended the 4th National Metro and Mini Show at the British Motor Museum. When Sir Michael Edwardes and the new Austin-Morris chief, Ray Horrocks looked at the ADO88 for the first time in January 1978, both realised immediately that it needed re-evaluation. He correctly asserted that his Mini/ADO16 package was the way to go forward with small family cars, but felt that the idea needed expanding somewhat in terms of practicality from the Mini. Even today, these facts seem almost impossible to believe. Much play was made of the 83mpg fuel consumption figure that the AA had achieved in steady-speed tests on the HLE – read the small print and this amazing figure was achieved at a steady 30mph, not really related to real-life driving. Other workers went on strike in sympathy and, within a few days, 1700 Metro workers were out and 2600 laid off before the dispute was resolved. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? Normal working did not resume until 5 January 1981, and the dispute had cost BL at least 5000 Minis and Metros in lost production. Congratulations to club members Edward Westby, Tom Morley, James Barnes, David Collins, Colin Corke and Jamie Field for their successes in the Concours and Show ‘n’ Shine. CarSite lists over 382,817 Used Cars online, updated daily, find the Cheapest Used Austin Metro local to you! I had Austin and MG versions of the Metro. Back in 2010, Autocar met with the Austin Metro’s designer and took a trip back to the early 80s – and even spotted a Metro with a boot… In 1980, the UK nation was in the grip of Metro mania. 1899 Parts Original car spares for AUSTIN METRO at … Logic and hindsight dictated that this was the way to develop a new small car, but as BMC was adopting whole scale range-on-range replacement of model ranges, this appealing idea was never pursued. The difficulty over seats has been simmering for several weeks. The weekly output of about 6000 Metros, Minis and Allegros was almost double the plant’s output in recent years. Despite being older than the Metro, sales of the Fiesta had proved resilient. Secondly, in 1983, both the Fiat Uno and the Peugeot 205 were launched – two seminal cars which were to completely transform small car buyers’ expectations. He wanted to deliver the promises that he had given to his management. Cheap and fun, familiar mechanical package, Five-door Metros and the first facelift were unveiled. This is a shame because, had some weight been taken out of it, a fifth door added and more modern styling, Austin could have had a Supermini of the classic mould on the market years before Renault and Fiat got in on the act with the Renault 5 and Fiat 127. Jaguar’s UK sales in November have risen by 50 per cent compared to the same month last year with a total of 1463 models sold. What was good news for British Leyland was that the Metro was an instant sales success (unlike the Mini), fighting tooth and nail with the Ford Fiesta on the British market place and winning new sales for the British company. Although warranty claims were running at high levels, the sheen of the new car was only slightly dented. The cheapest model was £3,095, undercutting its main rival, the Ford Fiesta, by £65. At this point in development, it soon became clear that management were becoming increasingly excited by the car, recognising the fact that it had the potential to comfortably out-sell both the Marina and the Allegro. Small car development was still very much in its infancy, buyers were still only reluctantly downsizing, as a result of the Second Fuel Crisis of 1979. After this, the Metro was the recipient of a running programme of development. The company Metro-Cammell insisted that BL could only use the Metro name, if it was pre-fixed with the “Mini” moniker. The Austin Allegro had only been on the market for 18 months and there was a great fear that, if the size of the car was not tightly controlled and allowed to grow, as had happened with the ADO74, it would seriously encroach on the Allegro. Within minutes of the track being stopped, workmen began to storm through the plant, hurling car components through windows; knocking over racks of parts and terrifying female staff in adjoining offices. Around the time of the formation of British Leyland, a low-cost overhaul of the A-Series incorporating an Overhead Camshaft cylinder head (dubbed, unoriginally A-OHC) was being planned to giving the smaller-engined cars in the group a badly-needed fillip. for BL's embattled dealers. Having narrowly avoided a strike over pay, BL found itself back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Private buyers began to see the Metro as a product from a bygone era and sales slid year on year. It proved a substantial success for the company, racking up more than two million sales during its 17-year production run. Are parts available for these classics? Car Specs > Austin > Metro > 1.0 Browse Car Specifications... Acura Alfa-Romeo Aston-Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bugatti Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Citroen Dacia Daihatsu Dodge ds Ferrari Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Kia Lamborghini Lancia Land-Rover Lexus Lotus Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Opel Peugeot Porsche … Thankfully, the arrival of the new management and the very poor showing in customer clinics were the catalyst needed to get the required changes made. Its creator, Sir Alec Issigonis, had been planning an expansion of his Mini concept since the late 1960s, but production reality was little more than a pipedream. They managed successfully in five weeks. Sales started to slide; General Motors and Ford divided the company car cake between themselves in the small car market. Loved the car, but it was the worst and unluckiest car I ever owned. Nissan Qashqai Station Wagon Tekna 1.3 DIG-T 140 5d only £16,000 31,000 miles. Speaking in 1987, Dr Alex Moulton, the father of Hydragas, stated that Spen King wanted a more conventional suspension system on the Metro and so Moulton was unable to develop the system thoroughly for the Metro, being constrained by cost and time. The Metro was now seen as a car that was almost a size class below these cars and lacked the sophistication of these new European cars. Now the package was all-but finalised, David Bache, fresh from the successes of his world-beating Rover SD1 was brought in to oversee the final styling and production engineering of ADO88: the Metro was now entering the later and drastically vital stages of development. People finally had a modern and efficient British car that they could buy – and not feel they needed to justify buying on grounds of patriotism. Austin Metro Car Aerial. By 1987, the die was cast: a further revision of Metro with a K-Series engine and re-developed Hydragas suspension. One picket said: ‘Today’s trouble was always on the cards. It had brewed for weeks. The dispute was quickly resolved, but it showed how fragile industrial relations were at the time. As was the case of all cars that endured a convoluted gestation period, the ADO74 proposal was revised to fall inline with constantly changing market conditions. Because of some very smart thinking, it was also roomier than the Mini. Although the two cars look very […], The BMC A-Series engine did service in a variety of cars for almost 50 years, during which time it was available in a bewildering variety of capacities and states of […], Ever wanted a full breakdown of BMC>MGR production figures, but didn’t know where to go? The one thorny issue that rose again out of this process of review was that the Mini was now 13 years and needed replacement with a new supermini. 1983 was the year of the Metro, but in 1984 the Fiesta regained its crown as Britain’s best-selling small car and then steadily pulled away, selling some 150,000 units alone in Britain in 1987, when total Metro production for the year was 161,285. Austin Metro Car Bars. […], This William Towns-styled Metro-based, mid-engined roadster brought the concept behind the MGF to fruition some 10 years earlier… Looks pretty racy, too. As a result several thousands more were sent home by management. Initial unease with the Metro started immediately after the ‘honeymoon period’ of late 1980 and early 1981. Total cost of development: £30million. A second trim and rectification line had just been started, necessitating the movement of some workers. The Mk2 Metro referred to above appeared in October 1984, but production at Longbridge was once again halted for 16 days during the November 1984 pay dispute – that was the final big showdown with the British Leyland Combined Shop Stewards’ Committee, which resulted in a decisive victory for Austin Rover Chairman Harold Musgrove. Unlike ADO74, the new car would not be as large as the competition such as the Renault 5 or upcoming Ford Fiesta, but would, by necessity, be bigger than the Mini – Griffin insisted on this set of parameters. What made the Metro excel in this context was the eagerness of the 1.3-litre models; sharp steering and good ride quality and keen roadholding – in its higher model variations, the Metro was a genuinely fun car to drive. The trouble occurred when 500 assembly workers were laid off for the second time in a week because of the shortage of car seats. The 9X would prove to be the last design from Alec Issigonis. What potential customers in Paris and the UK were telling the Marketing Department in no uncertain terms was that the car looked too unsophisticated. Hydragas had distinct packaging advantages over the industry standard arrangement adopted by all the Metro’s rival manufacturers (and the 9X and ADO74 predecessors), lending more interior and under-bonnet space to the Metro. One group of about 30 went to The ‘Kremlin’. The net effect of this was that British buyers were faced with the choice of the 1976 Fiesta or 1980 Metro; imported small cars were gaining ground, but not significantly so. Created as a Group B … Not surprising really same engine and the Metro was a bigger car. The build quality did improve year on year, as did the equipment level, but these changes kept the Metro at a merely competent level – and unavoidably it did fall behind class standards. Longbridge was at a standstill and thousands of other workers were laid off. The Metro was initially available in a plethora of trim variations, ranging from 1.0 Basic model to the 1.3HLS model. BL said at the time: ‘We are still checking reports of damaged cars, but so far we have not been able to establish that anything significant happened in that respect. The package was designed for simplicity of assembly and low-cost, benefiting not only to the manufacturer, but also the customer (through low purchase price). Project Ant (above), which never received its own ADO number, was known as the Barrel Car because of its convex flanks. The strike lasted two days and workers returned to a stockpile of 6000 seatless Metros. What had been seen by potential customers at the Paris customer clinic as the prototype’s uncompromising shape led to every external panel being revised. Where can you get cheap classic car insurance? It was, though, too late in the development cycle to make any drastic changes the car. https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Metro-Classic-Cars/29751/bn_59530660 It is worth noting that Barber made this decision on the eve of the October War and the ensuing fuel crisis. Find your perfect car on ClassicCarsforSale.co.uk, the UK's best marketplace for buyers and traders. To be fair to Spen King though, BL’s market share was falling so rapidly that everyone in the company must have felt compelled to rush the development of the car – and just get it into production – such was the sense of urgency. Great Savings & Free Delivery / Collection on many items In the end, three projects were forwarded to management: After review by the BL Board, Project Dragonfly was the first and most easily eliminated. This was more than a simple panic-induced pre-launch facelift. As a result the Metro production line was stopped. Originally under the Austin marque, the first model was designed in just over six weeks. We had a huge turnout of around 70 Metros which made a great day – thank you everyone for coming. Austin/MG Metro (LC8) Launched amid a barrage of patriotic fervour, the Austin Metro was, for a couple of years at least, Britain’s most fashionable car. Several police cars were sent to the plant, but did not enter. However, by early May, this had resulted in a strike which came after 45 trim shop workers walked out over a 500-cars per week increase in production targets. The MG Metro 6R4 was Austin Rover’s entry into Group B, the controversial rallying category that gave us a series of spectacular cars before being banned at the end of 1986. To do that, it needed to deliver the Ryder Report, and hope that Callaghan’s Labour government would foot the bill. Many early cars have been robbed for Mini parts, so beware those that are not what they claim to be. This situation only lasted a short while, thanks to success of the car, and was conveniently forgotten by both parties. Why Edd China was right to quit Wheeler Dealers, Video: Scrappage scheme classic car graveyard uncovered. This followed by an extended three-week Christmas break, as a recession in the continental car market was hitting sales. Metro Hatchback. The Metro was badged as an Austin, MG and Rover Metro during its almost two decade long run. The Metro was now being produced at a rate of 3500 cars a week and took 9 per cent of the UK car market – half of BL’s sales. The organisers of the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, have decided to postpone the 2020 event. Then you've come to the right place. The Metro suffered from carburettor maladies, poor starting, dealer apathy and it was not long before these stories started getting into the press. austin metro city 1.0 in lipari blue ,(paint code jpe 666), one of the very last metro's to be fitted with the world famous bmc / leyland "a" series engine. Opinion : Peugeot 104 – the true Mini replacement? Griffin was very strict on the space efficiency goals for the new car – it was a priority that he continuously reminded his Engineers of. The optimum A-Plus engine was the 1275cc version so, unlike the original economy model, this engine was used with a higher final drive on the gearbox – obviously, a five-speed gearbox would have been used if the company had an existing one that could fit in the A-Series sump (as there was no money to develop such an item). The ’83 version of the HLE was to have and MG-style rear aerodynamic spoiler and engine/gearbox modifications. The Metro as it would become only emerged when the company yet again dusted off the idea of producing a ‘supermini’ in late 1974. ... View all View all Austin cars for sale Featured Cars for Sale. Discontent, which had rumbled among the 130 seat assemblers on the day shift for weeks, ended in a strike on the preceding Thursday. Much in the way of company resources were thrown at replacing the Mini, but the saddest example of what might-have-been was undoubtedly the Austin 9X, as designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, arguably the only man who could create a ‘Super Mini’ having been responsible for the original. In February that year it was Britain’s best-selling car and, to mark this important news, on 10 March Metro production was halted by a walkout of 200 storemen in protest at works police searching the houses of two of their colleagues in a search for stolen parts. Talks are taking place with the works committee to try to resolve the problem but we have stated that the assembly line will not be restarted until the seat dispute is resolved.’. NEC classic motor show 2020 postponed due to Covid 19 concerns, Classic car auction house Coys goes into administration, Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. Unfortunately, BL would still have to fight a running battle with the British Leyland Combined Shop Stewards’ Committee, the unofficial body that claimed to represent the BL workforce. Austin Metro Vanden Plas . It was one project, but had many faces: a wide variety of styling exercises were produced before the programme was cancelled in 1973, as British Leyland could not raise the £130m needed to produce it. Shown to the public for the first time at the British Motor Show in Birmingham, the Metro was available in 998cc and 1275cc versions of the A-Plus engine. The company halted production for a three-week period, but then resumed at the normal rate of 4025 Metros and 1000 Minis a week. By mid December 1980, BL was planning to recruit 1000 extra workers to boost Metro production in preparation for its European launch. By 1980, the template for the small car had been set and was exemplified by the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta: transverse engine, end-on gearbox, front-wheel drive, three-doors, 1.0-litre entry models and 1.3-litre premium models. At launch, demand for the Metro was insatiable and with weekly production now at 2500 and still working up, this was not enough. At this point, the ADO88 project was renamed LC8 (for Leyland Cars), in order to tie the car in with the upcoming LC10, but also to reflect the car’s changed focus. […], Frazer established itself as a new car company in 1981, offering this fabulous-looking Tickford Metro, which was first shown at that year’s London Motorfair. By the start of 1968 and very much in the background compared with wider company events, the wonderful little car began to take shape. The revised Fiesta Mk2 came with new engines and the all-important five-speed gearbox that the Metro did not have. 7 Austin Metro Cars from £3,995. Will my 2000 Mercedes-Benz SLK appreciate in value if I keep it in good condition? Twenty-one years after the launch of the Mini, it gave BL a much-needed modern supermini to compete with the recently launched likes of the Ford Fiesta , Vauxhall Nova , VW Polo and Renault 5 . The management had pressed unsuccessfully for output to keep pace with the big demand for the new car and claimed that a few seat assemblers were refusing to work properly so that the day shift was achieving only 80 per cent of its target output compared with the night shift’s 98 per cent.