Another trip down memory lane for me, my late grandfather had a earlier Rover Metro 1.1c so all very familiar place to be. An excellent review as always Sir.
2 of Those blank switches were for the roof on the convertible models. Not sure what the bottom one was for though. The binnacle was also used on the pre convertible rover metro and two of them were for the rear wash wipe when the older column stalls were used.
Yes, the binnacle is very similar to the Mark II Metro from the 1980s, but I think there are some changes. The blank switches now do make a bit more sense, thank you!
It's funny how some objects, not just cars, can appeal to me aesthetically. I instantly really like this car. It's pretty outside, the interior is equally so. How nice to see Paisley fabric instead of black plastic. I even prefer car body paint colour to black plastic. In my case, the fewer electrical "systems" the better. Less to go wrong really appeals to me. I imagine it predates the introduction of OBD but am not sure. It's a pity about crash worthiness but what the heck? I ride a bicycle so maybe I am inured to worry. I admit the appeal maybe in part due to the Metro 1.0L that I owned when in the UK. So what? Romance is a fine thing. Finally, the car's condition is a credit to its owner.
Glad you enjoyed it, sir! This was the pinnacle of the Rover 100 in my opinion, although I would have preferred the airbag, the leather seats and the nicer instrument pack, all of which were options on the 114 GSI. Lots of old cars don't perform very well in crashes, I suppose that you just have to be careful. Stuart has kept this one really well.
British Leyland /Austin Rover / Rover Group certainly got a lot of mileage out of the Metro design over 17 years. Pun intended. I too was surprised that this lacked a rev counter. One would expect it on a supermini with alloy wheels and electric front windows. Perhaps the factory workers had to use up whatever instrument binnacles were available in the parts bin, given that this is a very late example. At least they found some slabs of 'walnut' to go on the dashboard!
I think they may well have just slapped whatever they had together towards the end, sir! An interesting specification nevertheless. It's good to learn to drive on a car without a rev counter, though, as it is a useful skill to be able to operate one without it.
Well, if you look on the Sensible Secondhand Reviews/Classics playlist, you will find four different Metros that I have driven, including an MG and a Vanden Plas... Thank you for watching!
My uncle had many Metros and Rover 100s as he could get them discounted through British Aerospace. When they went out of production he was ‘forced’ to ‘upgrade’ to a 200. Which actually had less room in the back. My dad also had one. A 111i Kensington in blue. Handling was great, steering was just weird. It weighted up at all the wrong speeds. It also had a lot of play straight ahead. You could waggle the wheel (TV driving style) and the car would stay straight. I think with the 1.4 it would be quite nippy. Surprised about no Rev counter in a GSi, tut tut.
Sir, we did enjoy ourselves once again! British Aerospace did own the Rover Group for a few years, so I am assuming that is where the discount may have come from.
Hello Joseph , My mother Had an M reg one in the same colour 5 dr SLi 1.1 I think it was ? I'm sure it had a drivers airbag ? it was 20yrs ago now like . I remember it would overheat sometimes and then go a long time before it did it again ! Rust in the end at the MOT sealed its fate .☹
I understand toward end of the line, this model of metro was available with a…………..diesel engine. I bet that is super rare now. I went in a mk2 metro….1.4 not sure if 16v or 8v….that was very similar, and actually very nicely finished (think it had a rev counter). I liked it. I always thought, after that point, we should give a pat on the back for the people who transformed original metro in metro 2 & later the 100. They really are a very nice upgrade to what was otherwise an old design. They did everything they could bar introducing a completely new car…..which wasn’t on the table due to costs. Other very rare example = facelifted vauxhall nova 1.5 turbo diesel…I only saw (or heard) one of them. The rover 100 series was replaced by the ill fated CitiRover….a real budget car from India with a rover logo nailed to it and priced way way to high. I actually quite liked the look of them tho…very modern looking almost mini MPV.
No Mr Rumming the forbidden fuel Metro & later 100 were available from 1992, long before the end of production. Buuut we don’t talk about diesels on this channel 😂
The 1980 Austin Metro was a great design, a real Tardis inside and a wonderful drive. The 1987 facelift was an even better driver but was starting to feel crude and small compared to the Renault 5, Peugeot 205 and Nissan Micra. The 1990 Rover Metro finally did away with the truck/bus steering wheel angle, brought amazingly compliant suspension, comfortable front seats and the ultra smooth K Series. The Rover 114 GSi was the ultimate Roverised luxury version of a fantastic wee car. What the Rover 100 was lacking in space, technology and modernity it more than made up for in quality and character. NCAP simply killed a fine car that was a very economical environment friendly before its time. A real sad loss
Sir, I would have wanted to have a leather interior, a rev counter and some other refinements, but this was a very nice car nevertheless, which was very dated by the end of production in 1997. However, they were still selling relatively well.
