1985 Austin Metro

[disgusted]

Hi I'm Pete and this is my Austin Metro Vanden Plas with 24k miles.

Bought in 2005 as an auto with no engine or gearbox, rebuilt and tuned an engine for it, swapped the car to manual and stuck the engine in ;D









Engine is 1310cc, Swiftune SW5 cam, Maniflow LCB exhaust manifold and 2" system, mildly ported inlet manifold, MG Metro head, K&N Cone air filter, oil leaks LOL.

Also owned:

Rover Cabriolet



1.6 K-series engine, 136k miles

Previously owned:

Volvo 850 T-5 Auto:



Volvo 340 (great in a gravel car park LOL)



Also used to have a 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub which was more a pile of bits than anything else, now sold.

Now I am looking for a Sherpa or LDV Pilot to convert into a camper van, and I have a Rover L-series engine waiting to go in it..

Always wanted a Triumph Dolomite Sprint as well, one day..

[grumpybadger]

Looks a tidy little metro, luxury spec too.

[hislowhighness]

Hi your Metro is something else!! have a 40k miler myself and enjoying that "retro" vibe.
will be putting some photos on here soon.

[Deleted]

hey nice metro. WHere are u located? I got some metro bits here i put up for grabs a couple of weeks ago FREE, No one was interested i just aint got around to binning them yet if your interested.

[rmad]

My missus had a 4dr VP Metro a while back. It was a great car. Does that leather interior mean it's a '500' edition?

[Greg]

Thats brilliant, really love the VP wish they made a 3dr version

[BiAS]

That's a very nice Metro, the cow looks like it's in very good nick too.
I'd always thought the VP500s were 2 door only, so is the cow in your one an optional extra?
There's a Pilot for sale here

*edit- Ah, I see you found the Pilot already!

[dollywobbler]

Howdy - nice to see you here and that you've still got the Metty. Wasn't it up for sale recently? Shame people don't get more excited about Metros!

[disgusted]

Thanks for the replies

weblefeck- all the way down in Kent, thanks for the offer though.

The Mk1 VP (82-84) was a 3-door only, same sort of thing but with the early nose and without electric windows. VP500 was based on the Mk1 so yes was a three door, but they were all black. 84-on were five door only.

This is a Mk1 VP (pic from Google):

lh3.ggpht.com/_PFjMi5EIaeM/RfXMWBbpSuI/AAAAAAAABEE/iu-qWSMZuw4/s800/Austin%20Metro%20Vanden%20Plas%20front.jpg

My seats are the same as the ones in the VP 500 and are MG Metro seats trimmed in leather, mine are a factory option which was pricey at the time!

The photos are from last year flatter the car a bit, it is generally in very good condition but does have slight rust on the bottoms of the doors etc and also not shown is the headlining has been glued up and isn't very neat, the engine leaks oil, the sunroof has just started leaking and the speedo cable snapped a couple of weeks ago. All good fun though and to be honest I have had very few problems with it in the time I have owned it.

Hi Ian, good to hear from you, yes I had too many cars last year and put the Metro up for sale, but I took it for a run one day and changed my mind!

I am on lots of forums either as Disgusted or as MCi Automotive and also I run the Hydragas Register website, so I might know some members from other forums.

[Retro_Will]

Afternoon Pete, glad to hear you changed your mind on selling the Metro, any plans on bringing it to the Gathering next month?

[Captain Slow]

Welcome in Pete.

[xbo11ox]

Nice one! Hey you don't have any Rover metro hydragas bottles knocking about do you? I need one for my GTa.