For those interested in old cars.

[MrWolf]

The gearlever problem on Metros was the same thing as Maestros, a nasty plastic bush supporting the remote shifter that wasn't up to the job (but was no doubt approved by the ARG accountants) unless you had a diesel Maestro, then the gearbox mounting wasn't man enough either. The result being that the engine would fall backwards onto the remote shifter, so that you would only be able to limp along in second and fourth. 

 

[alastairq]

IIRC? 

There was a lady who used to race a [later] Metro [Which became the Rover100?], and made full use of the existing regulations [and the parts bins] to get a diesel Metro....which ran Peugeot components , rip out the Pug diesel engine and replace it with a Pug 1.9 [GTI?] engine...A good way of getting a small, lightweight hatchback for whatever race series it was in...

 

For a hatchback I'd always prefer a Renault 4.

I had one back in the 1980's....revenge on my family for their forcibly persuading me to give up my motorcycle....

It had a top speed of around 70 mph [good enough for the M62]....I never needed to get home any quicker.  [850 cc Ventoux engine]

 

It was at its best being driven flat out everywhere [still returning a healthy 40 mpgs]....which probably accounted for their reputation for being driven by absolute loonies?

 

Overtaking stuff was best done using the technique of ''charging the tailgate''.....guaranteed to elicit much tutting and worry [on the part of others.....my main concern was how long the Yeee-Haaaa would be going to last..]

 

It could be abused like a builder's wheelbarrow....I was quite careful when washing it, in case the wings fell off...

I really loved the gearchange....achievable without the need to remove the hand from the steering wheel [IE, unpeel my locked fingers?]

Really great for my then-commute, 20-plus miles across country, narrow lanes, mud, etc for the most part.

 

I seem to recall one of the go-faster mags of the day, actually producing a tuned Renault 4, which had an engine from  the bigger Renault 5 fitted...

 

Anyway, I loved it....nothing like those other man-bags that passed for motorcars of the day [or subsequently]

 

[MrWolf]

I too liked the Renault 4. I have always fancied having the van version, the older the better. (I prefer the early lemon wedge grille to the Lego brick version) 

A girl who I was friends with at university had a Renault 6 - when did you last see one? Even in the late 80s it was an obscure relic. That too spent most of its time as a van, hauling recording equipment about, or drunks. It was unbreakable.

[russ p]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

 

Did someone pay that because it was the one that he wanted when he was 17, but had to put up with his gran's old 1.0 Merit with a boot painted Jamaica yellow? 

It did of course have a Halfords exhaust trim and a Max Power sticker...

 

 

The thing is these days you don't find many good eighties hot hatches under10k and anything a bit special goes through the roof.

I have a maestro EFi in the bodyshop at the moment and spending money on things like that in the past was just because it was something an individual wanted, not anymore its actually an investment. 

I also have a mint MG ZR TD115  with every extra I gave 2k for it three years ago and have been offered way more than double for it on a number of occasions but where do you find another 

[Rugd1022]

Memories of Metros abound, they were everywhere round our way, now all but gone. There's still a 'Kensington' ltd edition one knocking around in my parish driven by the old boy who bought it new. My sister had a silver / red MG Metro in 1990, I remember begging her to let me borrow it to run an errand when my 1970 Mk2 Mini wouldn't start one Saturday morning, after much pleading she gave in and handed me the keys saying ''don't you dare break it...''. Off I went to pick up a guitar from a mate's house, being as careful as I could then on the way home I was momentarily distracted by an absolutely gorgeous goth girl walking by and promptly ran into the back of a brand new Granada Scorpio outside Rugby School, totalling the front of big Sis's poor Metro. Poor Sis was in tears when I told her! Luckily a neighbour managed to fix the damage for her but my name was mud for weeks afterwards.

 

Anyone remember the John Cooper specials....?

 

 

 

 

[Fat Controller]

3 hours ago, alastairq said:

IIRC? 

There was a lady who used to race a [later] Metro [Which became the Rover100?], and made full use of the existing regulations [and the parts bins] to get a diesel Metro....which ran Peugeot components , rip out the Pug diesel engine and replace it with a Pug 1.9 [GTI?] engine...A good way of getting a small, lightweight hatchback for whatever race series it was in...

 

For a hatchback I'd always prefer a Renault 4.

I had one back in the 1980's....revenge on my family for their forcibly persuading me to give up my motorcycle....

It had a top speed of around 70 mph [good enough for the M62]....I never needed to get home any quicker.  [850 cc Ventoux engine]

 

It was at its best being driven flat out everywhere [still returning a healthy 40 mpgs]....which probably accounted for their reputation for being driven by absolute loonies?

 

Overtaking stuff was best done using the technique of ''charging the tailgate''.....guaranteed to elicit much tutting and worry [on the part of others.....my main concern was how long the Yeee-Haaaa would be going to last..]

 

It could be abused like a builder's wheelbarrow....I was quite careful when washing it, in case the wings fell off...

I really loved the gearchange....achievable without the need to remove the hand from the steering wheel [IE, unpeel my locked fingers?]

Really great for my then-commute, 20-plus miles across country, narrow lanes, mud, etc for the most part.

 

I seem to recall one of the go-faster mags of the day, actually producing a tuned Renault 4, which had an engine from  the bigger Renault 5 fitted...

 

Anyway, I loved it....nothing like those other man-bags that passed for motorcars of the day [or subsequently]

 

I had a R4 that someone had re-engined with a R5 engine, back in the early 1990s; it had a top speed just into three figures, but at that speed, the handling was 'capricious'. I drove down to Beaujolais for the vendange one September in under 7 hours; the most major problem was that, every time I had to slide the passenger window for the péage, the thing fell out. I had to scrap the beast in the end. The engine was sound,  but the body was like old lace.

The most useful feature was the gearstick; ideally located to hold a bag of toffees..

[alastairq]

The choke broke on my R4..to be replaced by a passing wire coat hanger. Or a bit of one. With a loop on one end to hook one's finger through.

That remained with the car when I sold it [to a pig farmer..]

R4s were one of those cars where one simply didn't spend money, if there was summat to hand that would do instead.

I like that sort of motor....cannot be doing with 'searching for the correct colour knobs' and stuff...

[RJS1977]

I had my first few driving lessons in one of the later Metros (shortly before they sprouted a stick-on grille and became the 100 series), then had further lessons from my father in our Mark 1 Fiesta. I can remember that the Fiesta took quite a bit of 'getting used to' after the Metro, which was rather more forgiving, but I got the hang of it eventually! 

[MrWolf]

A friend's pride and joy was an almost new bright red Metro GTA, she'd only had it about three months when some smackhead stole it and rammed it into a wall whilst escaping the police. 

She was absolutely heartbroken as it was her first decent car. The insurance company eventually settled, but to add insult to injury the wreck sat in her front yard for twice as long as she had driven it. 

When in typical fashion the seat back snapped off my Maestro van, she gave me the seats and the stereo out of the GTA. 

I told her that the insurance company owned the car and might take a dim view. She picked up a hammer and smashed the driver's window before phoning the insurance company and giving them a roasting about people looting the wreck and they better fetch it quick.

It worked!

[russ p]

3 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

Memories of Metros abound, they were everywhere round our way, now all but gone. There's still a 'Kensington' ltd edition one knocking around in my parish driven by the old boy who bought it new. My sister had a silver / red MG Metro in 1990, I remember begging her to let me borrow it to run an errand when my 1970 Mk2 Mini wouldn't start one Saturday morning, after much pleading she gave in and handed me the keys saying ''don't you dare break it...''. Off I went to pick up a guitar from a mate's house, being as careful as I could then on the way home I was momentarily distracted by an absolutely gorgeous goth girl walking by and promptly ran into the back of a brand new Granada Scorpio outside Rugby School, totalling the front of big Sis's poor Metro. Poor Sis was in tears when I told her! Luckily a neighbour managed to fix the damage for her but my name was mud for weeks afterwards.

 

Anyone remember the John Cooper specials....?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd love those signs for my garage! 

[russ p]

6 hours ago, MrWolf said:

The gearlever problem on Metros was the same thing as Maestros, a nasty plastic bush supporting the remote shifter that wasn't up to the job (but was no doubt approved by the ARG accountants) unless you had a diesel Maestro, then the gearbox mounting wasn't man enough either. The result being that the engine would fall backwards onto the remote shifter, so that you would only be able to limp along in second and fourth. 

 

 

The later diesel maestros like my van had a completely different gearbox mounting arrangement getting rid of that awful one in the crossmember 

[MrWolf]

Mine was on an F plate. By which time Austin Rover had made three different mountings, I know this because I was given the wrong one by the dealership, despite reference to the serial numbers.

I was used to simpler things such as Bedford who used basically the same mounts on the JC, PC, CA & CF  models from 1938-86, only spending money on modernising the gearbox internals, which was generally a good thing.

[Hobby]

9 hours ago, MJI said:

Small hatches of that era. Metro was OK, a decent enough drive, Fiesta early OK would not buy one, later gear lever was horrific, stuck in your leg in top. Nova 1.2 was quite good.

 

7 hours ago, PatB said:

To be fair to the Metro, I bought a couple of 1.3 autos on behalf of my mother, Minis and Metros being the only small autos available used in any numbers back then, and the 1275 lump dragged it from awful to acceptable, in spite of being hamstrung by the gearbox. I still didn't like the feel at all though. 

 

Had a 1.3L Metro back in the middle 80s, great little car, nippy and cornered well. Also had a 1.2L Nova (with boot - we had a young family) which i also liked. My only experience of an early Fiesta was next doors when we went on a long trip for some stock car bits, it was OK but best described as "tinny" compared to the other two.

 

Small autos? My daughter learned to drive in a Clio auto, one car both of us regret getting rid of, it was a super little car!

[MrWolf]

Mk1 and 2 Fiestas? I think that I would prefer a 107E anyday. I have driven, mended and welded quite a few, though never owned one. On the sporty jobs, the metal was usually dangerously rotten behind the plastic body kits and MOT testers had to ignore it. The brake manifold was interestingly sited to collect dirt and rust just ahead of the offside rear wheel and if you clipped the kerb with the rear wheel, you bent the rear axle. First indication being rapid wear on the rear tyres and an even greater tendency to hop on bends. Popular though, when you think about how many were stolen and stripped of their sporty trim and wheels and I did like the look of the early Sport model.

The Clio was quite a good little car, despite its clattery and typically French engine it was nippy, easy to chuck about and easy to park. It was another one that chavs liked to steal. I remember the massive crowd around the Renault stand at the motor show and the realisation that cute smart and funny Nicole, the girl from the Clio adverts was dishing out signed photos.

The new Clio has a definite case of middle aged spread and is advertised by a ginger lesbian who reminds me of a potato.

Still, that's progress....

[Northmoor]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I remember the massive crowd around the Renault stand at the motor show and the realisation that cute smart and funny Nicole, the girl from the Clio adverts was dishing out signed photos.

The new Clio has a definite case of middle aged spread and is advertised by a ginger lesbian who reminds me of a potato.

Still, that's progress....

I rather like the latest advert, it reflects our time (no interest in the car though).

Estelle Skornik (Nicole) would have turned me down though because if she'd prefer a Clio to a Ducati 907, there was no future for us.

[PatB]

A mate had a rather tired 1972 R4 about 30 years ago. It was quite nice to drive and ride in, but I helped him do the timing chain and still have nightmares about the experience. The need to remove the engine, the wallful of special tools required and the dozen different chain tensioner designs shown in the manual (and his still managed to have a different, and unobtainable, one again) conspired to render it an unpleasant experience. 

[MrWolf]

I find it quite funny how advertisers are absolutely falling over themselves to be "inclusive" and crowbar every minority group they can think of into adverts. 

I hope that the PC bandwagon isn't built on 1987 Fiesta rear axles, otherwise we will have e repeat of the collapsing Holden Ute in the old Fosters advert.

Apparently Ms Skornik was a fan of motorcycles. It might have been worth the risk of getting shot down?

[duncan]

I had a Metro then a VW Polo, wish I had kept the Metro, far better car to drive, better brakes, better road holding & didn't rust as badly or as fast.

[MrWolf]

My C registered City X didn't have a speck of rust on it. My sister was persuaded to buy a sensible car for commuting (Instead of 1965 Ford Zodiac ) so bought an L registered Metro in white ( a 100 ?) It would have been three or four years old and within a year it looked like an old trawler with rust streaks everywhere.

So being sensible, she replaced it with a South African VW Karmann Ghia.

I had an F reg Polo Fox "Bread van", the body was mint, but if you drive it hard, the oil light came on when you decelerated. My then girlfriend had a MK3 Fox, smashed it up several times (we "jigged" it in my garage the second time using bits of railway sleeper and the screw jack from my Bedford CA.) It had but one annoying bit of rust around the exhaust pipe hanger on the boot floor, which fell off, leaving the exhaust dangling.

Even she couldn't kill it though, despite volunteering to fetch several car engines and dismantled motorbikes in it from all over the country.

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I find it quite funny how advertisers are absolutely falling over themselves to be "inclusive" and crowbar every minority group they can think of into adverts. 

I hope that the PC bandwagon isn't built on 1987 Fiesta rear axles, otherwise we will have e repeat of the collapsing Holden Ute in the old Fosters advert.

Apparently Ms Skornik was a fan of motorcycles. It might have been worth the risk of getting shot down?

It is very odd that nowadays every advert has a “range” of skin colours in every family depicted, almost as if they are afraid to  go one way or the other.....for crying out loud, we are adults.....it really doesn’t matter.

[Dagworth]

5 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It is very odd that nowadays every advert has a “range” of skin colours in every family depicted, almost as if they are afraid to  go one way or the other.....for crying out loud, we are adults.....it really doesn’t matter.

Then why are you posting about it? Seems it really does matter.

[boxbrownie]

3 minutes ago, Dagworth said:

Then why are you posting about it? Seems it really does matter.

I posted because of a previous post, simple as.....leave it there....

[Erichill16]

When I leaned to drive my dad said he’d take me to the local industrial estate  to teach me clutch control, he said it would be a waste of money learning it from a driving instructor. Our car at the time was a Polo, the mk2 bread van type and I managed ok with it, however when I got into the BSM Metro I was hopeless. In the end the instructor took me out in our polo and I passed the test driving it. My first proper car was a company Nova and the offset steering wheel looked really odd and I always thought the Metros steering wheel was a bit too much ‘Horizontal’. My first new car was a Polo, but a 1.3L coupe S in ‘Calypso’ metallic, it was one of the last ones and I had to have the steel sunroof option. I really liked that car but it didn’t last too long as I was doing starship mileage at the time. Unfortunately my future wife has a Nova Merit 1.2 and it went just as fast.   

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

I posted because of a previous post, simple as.....leave it there....

 Sorry about that, it was my fault really. It seems that you can't make a factual observation taking the p out of the establishment without someone trying to turn it into a witch hunt.

I'm not 100% British and also classed as disabled. Hopefully that ticks a box or two, at least I got my covid jab early. 

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

When I leaned to drive my dad said he’d take me to the local industrial estate  to teach me clutch control, he said it would be a waste of money learning it from a driving instructor. Our car at the time was a Polo, the mk2 bread van type and I managed ok with it, however when I got into the BSM Metro I was hopeless. In the end the instructor took me out in our polo and I passed the test driving it. My first proper car was a company Nova and the offset steering wheel looked really odd and I always thought the Metros steering wheel was a bit too much ‘Horizontal’. My first new car was a Polo, but a 1.3L coupe S in ‘Calypso’ metallic, it was one of the last ones and I had to have the steel sunroof option. I really liked that car but it didn’t last too long as I was doing starship mileage at the time. Unfortunately my future wife has a Nova Merit 1.2 and it went just as fast.   

 

I had learned to drive around my neighbour's garden in an Austin 7, clutch control on those can be a work of art!

I then went onto a disused airbase in a driving school Peugeot 205GRD. It was almost impossible to stall. 

Out on the road in my dad's old Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier 1600, which had a very long clutch travel and a torquey engine, I soon got the hang of it.

I was distracted no doubt when learning to manoeuvre the car by the knowledge that there was at least a foot more bonnet than what you could see. I am still proud of the fact that I never dinged that shark nose!