Despite their efforts for perfection,the Metro still leaked like a sieve.Rainwater would pour in around the windows seals,door seals and if you were unlucky enough to have a sunroof fitted it it poured in around that too.Turning the turd brown vinyl covered cardb'd trim panels into soggy masses that went moldy.Rust was a terrible problem,if they had used galvanised sheet steel for the entire car, waxoyld the sills and cavities plus proper undersealing,and bonded glass,it would have been sorted.
I looked up MAB 623T on the DVLA website. The last time it was taxed was 31/01/1992. Interestingly it hasn't been registered as scrapped so it must , I assume, be sitting in a lock up/museum/garage somewhere? It doesn't come up as an Austin, but does as an Austin Morris,
Did I hear right? Are they implying the metro was as aerodynamic as a Porsche! Was the Porsche going backwards or did the metro rust away while the Porsche was being tested? ;) Thanks for sharing. If nothing else these vids are a great insight into the work which went on and the attitudes of the era. Fascinating seeing now obsolete machinery being described as cutting edge and a real reminder of how far things have come in quite a short period of time in terms of technology. Unfortunately complacency was one of the prevailing attitudes in BL which doesn't really come across in the films, but was probably the death of British owned motor manufacturing. The foreign owned manufacturers developed their models and addressed the problems, whilst what was then Rover where still essentially selling a car originally designed and conceived in the 70's (though re-engined in the 90's as the 1950's engine was well past its sell by date) and still recognisable as such despite the facelifted body shell, in 1998 by which stage the polo was in its 3rd generation and the fiesta its 4th whilst the Nova had been replaced by the Corsa. Though each generation of these cars weren't really entirely new they where at least updates of the previous cars with current styling both inside and out - inside and out the rover 100 was recognisable as a Metro which given the reputation the Metro had made for itself over the years was not a good thing! Unfortunately by the time it was realised that things needed to change the investment to do so just wasn't there and Rover where stuck with the mini and the metro/100 (cars designed decades previously) as their small car offerings. BMW pulling the plug and taking the new mini design (where much of the investment had gone to) leaving Rover with just old Honda designs didn't help matters either!
I've never read such BL hating bullshit. It was a brilliant car for it's time, tried and tested A series through to snappy, free revving K series engines, great handling, a hatchback, practical, reliable and boasted an 18 year production run. It rusted in exactly the same way as an equivalent Fiesta or Nova did of that time! That goes for any BL car made! The Japanese stuff corroded before your very eyes! BL cars were more reliable than other makes of that era. Look at the BMW Mini, garbage, weak gearboxes, failed timing chain tensioners, failed power steering pumps, electric glitches, use a litre of oil every thousand miles! Scandalous in a modern vehicle, thrown together rubbish, if Rover had made it (and it was their idea, to redevelop the Mini, they drew it up) it would have been far better built than BMW did it.
Flawed and badly built. The metro was typical of BL cars atrocious products. The driving position was awful and the steering wheel placement was offset and uncomfortable. The cars rotted within months, not years of being sold from new,!! BL knew that the front air valance behind the registration plate particularly rotted really severely and quickly and did nothing to rectify it for years. Crap cars that lost their admirers because of dismal build qualty.
