Austin Metro
The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced from 1980 to 1998, first by British Leyland and later by the Rover Group. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro.
The Mini Metro was intended to complement and eventually replace the original BMC Mini, and was developed under the codename LC8. The MG version of the Metro was named "Car of The Year" 1983 by What Car? magazine, and later once more, as the Rover Metro, in 1991.
During its 18-year lifespan, the Metro wore many names: Austin Metro, MG Metro and Rover Metro. It was rebadged as the Rover 100 in December 1994. There was also a van version, known as the Morris Metro, and later, the Metrovan.
At the time of its launch, the Metro was sold under the Austin brand, and from 1982 MG versions became available. During 1987, the badge lost the Austin name, and the car was sold simply as the "Metro". From 1990 until its withdrawal in 1998, the Metro sported the Rover brand name.
Although the R3-generation Rover 200 had originally been designed as a replacement for the Metro, it was not marketed as such after its launch. The Rover 100 finally ceased production in 1998, being outlived by the original Mini that it was meant to replace. 2,078,218 Metros of all types were built.
Austin/MG Metro
Plans for a replacement for the Mini had been afoot within BL since the early 1970s, but none of the concepts conceived got beyond the initial design stages, largely due to a shortage of funds at British Leyland, and its eventual bankruptcy and government bailout in 1975. The modern supermini market had evolved during the 1970s, with earlier small cars like the Mini and Hillman Imp being followed mostly by cars of a two-box hatchback configuration, beginning with the Fiat 127 in 1971 and Renault 5 in 1972, with the next five years seeing the arrival of similar cars including the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, as well as the Vauxhall Chevette from General Motors which was also available as a saloon and estate in addition to the hatchback. These cars gained a decent-sized market share in Britain and most other European markets.On 8 October 1980, BL introduced the Austin Mini Metro. The roots of the Metro lay in an earlier project denoted as ADO88, which was intended to be a direct replacement for the Mini. However, poor reception of the ADO88 design at customer clinics and the increasing dominance of superminis in the ADO88's intended market segment forced a major change in the project's focus. In late 1977, BL chairman Michael Edwardes ordered that ADO88 be given an eleventh-hour redesign to make it both larger, and less utilitarian in appearance / more upmarket in nature. It thus became BL's first supermini rather than an economy car. The revised project was given the designator LC8, and the definitive Metro design would ultimately emerge under the leadership of BL's chief stylists David Bache and Harris Mann. LC8 would replace the more upmarket, lower-volume Clubman versions of the Mini and the lower-spec, smaller-engined variants of the Austin Allegro. The ADO88 project had experimented with new engines and suspension systems, but, with limited time and budgets, LC8 would reuse much of the Mini's engineering and borrow the Hydragas suspension system developed for the Allegro. The floorpan and core structure of ADO88 was retained largely unmodified, but every external panel was changed as part of its transition into LC8.
However, while much was shared conceptually with older BL models, LC8 would see these design elements heavily re-engineered and modernised. For instance the A-Series drivetrain was extensively updated with new materials and tooling to become the A-Plus, while the new car would feature 12-inch wheels, and all LC8s would have servo-assisted four-piston front disc brakes with fully split hydraulic systems, as opposed to the entry-level, standard Mini which at the time still had 10-inch wheels and drum brakes all-round. These new drivetrains, wheels, brakes and many other featured developed for the LC8 would be introduced on the Mini not long afterwards, updating the 30-year old design at minimal extra cost, and providing highly desirable economies of scale, given the anticipated sales volumes of the new car. This would make it cost effective for the more basic versions of the Mini to remain in production as an entry-level model for BL, continuing in the market niche originally intended for ADO88, while allowing the LC8 to aim higher, and compete head-on with the generally longer bodied superminis of other brands.
Following the Ryder Report, which prioritized the ADO88/LC8 project, Longbridge was expanded in 1978 with a £200mn robotised body assembly line to enable it to produce the new model, which it was hoped would sell 100,000 or more units a year in Britain alone. Production of the smaller Mini and larger Allegro was also pruned back to enable the plant to produce as many units of the Metro as possible, with the Allegro finally being axed in 1982 to make way for the Maestro.
The hatchback bodyshell was one of the most spacious of its time, and this was a significant factor in its popularity. The space-efficient interior was also lauded for the novel 60/40 split rear seat, which was standard on higher-specification models. The original Mk. 1 Metros also featured David Bache's signature "symmetric" dashboard design, where the main dashboard moulding consisted of a shelf onto which the instrument binnacle was simply mounted on the left or the right hand side: this arrangement saves the tooling cost of two separate dashboard mouldings for right and left-hand drive models. Initially, the Metro was sold as a three-door hatchback only, with a choice of 998cc or 1275cc petrol engines. The 1.0 and 1.0L cars, and the van that came out later, had recessed headlamps with indicators and sidelights in the bumper, whereas the 1.0HLE, 1.3S, and 1.3HLS had headlight and indicator as one unit, which was flush-fitting.
The name was chosen by a ballot of BL employees. They were offered a choice of three names, "Match", "Maestro" or "Metro". Once the result was announced, the train-and-bus manufacturer Metro Cammell objected to BL's use of the Metro name. The issue was resolved by BL promising to advertise the car only as the "Mini Metro"; however, after a while "Mini" was dropped from the name.
From late 1982, there were also van versions, known as the Morris Metro. From late 1985, after BL discontinued use of the Morris name, the van was sold as the Austin Metro 310; after the Austin badge was also dropped from the car models, it became simply the Metrovan 310.
A two-door saloon model was included in the Metro's development, which would have been similar in concept to the Vauxhall Chevette saloon and the Polo-based Volkswagen Derby. However, by the time production of the Metro began, it was decided not to include a saloon version, this niche being filled by the Mini remaining in production; also because only a few of the Metro's competitors were available as a saloon.
BL's last all-new mass-produced car before the Metro's launch was the 1976 Rover SD1.
One of the consequences was that there was enormous public interest in the car from well before its launch. The company chose to stage the launch presentations for dealers and major company car buyers on board a cruise ship, the MS Vistafjord. This launch event took place over a three-week period in September 1980 sailing between West Gladstone Dock in Liverpool and the Isle of Man, where guests could drive the car, so long as sea conditions allowed them to land by tender as there was no dock facility for the ship. The news broke in the national newspapers a full year ahead of the public launch with The Sun, among others, carrying the story. It was finally revealed to the public on the press day of the British Motor Show with the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, in attendance.
The Metro quickly proved popular with buyers, a 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer being the car's first celebrity owner and was widely believed to have been a gift from her fiancée - the then Prince Charles, and the car was a feature of many paparazzi shots of the future princess taken before her marriage to Charles in 1981. Even then, during the early part of its production life, it was the best selling mini-car in the UK, before being eclipsed by the updated Ford Fiesta in 1984. Its clever interior design made it spacious considering its dimensions, and Hydragas suspension gave surprisingly good ride and handling. Its updated A+ series 1.0 and 1.3-litre OHV engines hardly represented the cutting edge in performance, but they were strong on economy.
In its best year, 1983, more than 130,000 Metros were sold in Britain, only the Ford Escort and Sierra outsold it. This was despite the arrival of a host of new superminis on the British market that year – the Ford Fiesta received a major facelift, and four all-new superminis went on sale in Britain between April and September.
A major TV advertising campaign was created by the London agency, Leo Burnett which came up with the headline "a British car to beat the world". The advert also featured the similar-sized Fiat 127, Renault 5, Volkswagen Polo and Datsun Cherry as "foreign invaders" and the voiceover spoke of the Metro's ability to "send the foreigners back where they came from". Following the launch of the Austin Maestro in 1983, less of British Leyland's advertising was focused on the Metro. The Maestro initially sold very well, but within five years sales were declining sharply, although it remained in production until 1994.
During 1981, British Leyland confirmed that the Metro range would soon be expanded with more luxurious and high performance versions. The Metro range was expanded in May 1982 to include the luxury Vanden Plas trim level on the Austins and higher performance MG Badged versions; the MG Metro marked a quick comeback for the marque previously used on sports cars until the Abingdon plant making the MG B closed in 1980. The Metro Vanden Plas featured higher levels of luxury and equipment, while the slightly more powerful MG Metro 1.3 sold as a sports model. The Vanden Plas variant received the same MG engine from 1984 onwards. The luxury fittings marking out the Metro Vanden Plas took the form of a radio-cassette player, electric front windows, an improved instrument panel with tachometer, and a variety of optional extras such as trip computer, leather trim, remote boot release, and front fog lamps.
The changes between the MG engine and the standard 1275 included a modified cylinder head, with larger valves and improved porting, altered cam profile and larger carburettor leading to a 20% increase in BHP to 72 bhp. At the October 1982 Birmingham Motor Show, the MG Metro Turbo variant was first shown. With a quoted bhp of 93, 0–60 mph in 9.9 seconds, and top speed of this car had few direct competitors at the time, although the growing demand for "hot hatches" meant that it soon had a host of competitors including the Ford Fiesta XR2, Peugeot 205 GTI and Renault 5 GT Turbo. This model had a few addition modifications bolted on over the normally aspirated MG model to give an additional 21 bhp. Aside from the turbocharger and exhaust system itself, and what was a relatively sophisticated boost delivery and control system, the MG Turbo variant incorporated stiffer suspension, and an uprated crankshaft of nitrided steel and sodium-cooled exhaust valves.
Both MG variants were given a "sporty" interior with red seat belts, red carpets and a sports-style steering wheel. Early Turbo models also benefitted from a boost pressure gauge: in pre-84 models this was an in-dash LED gauge, relocating to an LCD gauge mounted in an overhead console for early Mk. 2 facelift models. The Turbo also received alloy wheels, wheel arch extensions and front spoiler, and prominent "Turbo" branding. While it retained rear drums, the front disc brakes were changed to ventilated discs, with ventilated front disks being standardised and adopted by all variants from Mk. 2 onwards. Later MG variants were emblazoned with MG branding both inside and out, which only served to fuel claims of badge engineering from some of the more steadfast MG enthusiasts. Others believed that this sentiment was unfounded, particularly in the case of the Turbo variant, due to the undeniably increased performance and handling when compared to the non-MG models.