Austin Metro
The 'Metro' was an small family hatchback automobile produced by British Leyland, (later Rover) and sold mostly in the UK.
Originally launched in 1980 as the Austin miniMetro, it was intended initially as a replacement to the Mini although it was much larger, and a vastly less inspired design. The car, which was developed in the late 1970s used the classic BMC powertrain, with either a 998cc or 1275cc A-Series engine with sump mounted transmission, front wheel drive and Hydragas suspension. A four-speed automatic became available in 1982, and the car was by this time known simply as "Austin Metro". A minor facelift in 1984 gave the Metro a new dashboard and a 5-door derivative.
The second edition of the car, launched in 1990, was a major departure, and used Rover's new K-Series engine, a Peugeot end-on mounted gearbox, and the Hydragas suspension was heavily revised to improve ride and handling. Export models were called the Rover 100.
The performance versions of the Metro achieved some success in the hot hatch market after the Group B rallying success of the Metro 6R4 variant.
Early Metros suffered heavily from poor build quality, rust problems, and some interesting design flaws, including petrol tanks which leaked fuel onto the rear wheels during hard cornering and painted wheels which proved too slick for the tyres to retain their grip, leading to inevitable braking and handling problems. All this lead to a poor reputation for the car which it was unable to shake, although the 1990 Mk.2 version was a much better car all round.
In 1995, the car was slightly facelifted and renamed "100 series" in the UK to bring the Metro into line with the rest of the Rover line-up, but it didn't fool anyone, who could still see that it was very clearly the 15-year old BL design. In 1997, crash test footage carried out by a German motoring magazine showing the Metro almost being frontally destroyed in a 40mph collision was shown on national television. Sales of the car dried up almost immediately, and production was axed by Rover's now-owner, BMW.
The larger Rover 25 (née Mk.3 Rover 200-series) was intended during development to replace the Metro but instead was slotted above it. Rover recently replaced the Metro?or rather, re-entered the segment?with the Indian-made CityRover, based on the Tata Indica.
