The Rover Cooper was like watching a once-great ’60s band still touring while drawing their pension. The MG Metro was the new wave and a much more worthy successor.
The Rover Mini Cooperproves two maxims: “Youcan have too much of a good thing” and “You can’t relive the past”. As big a fan of old Minis as I am I just find it hard to raise much fondness for the Rover-built products of the 1990s, and the Coopers have always left me part frustrated, part disappointed. On the other hand an MG Metro is always a pleasant surprise and is, I feel, a more genuine successor to the original Cooper models of the 1960s – but I will get back to that point.
The basic Austin Metro garnered rave reviews and very strong sales, but I’ll be the first to admit that the MG version, launched in March 1982, did not get the same esteem, never properly squaring up to rivals such as the Ford Fiesta XR2, let alone the likes of the Peugeot 205GTi. But, here’s the thing. British Leyland sold over twice as many MG Metros as they had expected – instead of MGs making up 10 per cent of annual production, until 1985 they were forming 22 per cent. Whatever the model’s relative failings, the MG Metro found a lot of happy buyers, and that’s because it ticks a lot of the same boxes that the original Mini Cooper did in 1961 but that the ’90s recreation did not.
Denne historien er fra December 13, 2017-utgaven av Classic Car Buyer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra December 13, 2017-utgaven av Classic Car Buyer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Staff Classics
REPORTING ON: Alfa Romeo GTV
Rootes Group - The Golden Years
The Rootes Group’s finest years commenced immediately after the end of the Second World War with the launch of a handful of brand-new models and lasted until the company was absorbed into the Chrysler empire in the middle of the following decade
MG ZT
The MG ZT was more than a Rover 75 in sports shoes. Much, much more. It was a performance saloon par excellence and today makes for a superb classic sporting bargain
MG Display Controversy
A classic vehicle insurer met with a mixed response at the Classic Motor Show when its display stand depicted a 1998 MGF apparently crushed by a WW2 Hellcat tank. But was this a sacrilegious act against a classic car, or an inspired promotional display?
Extra Ordinary
Exotics are usually the go-to classic investments, but a recent trend in everyday cars means more common street sights could be the way to go
Alternative Go
As the internal combustion engine’s fate seems in question, we look back at its past challengers
Death Of The Sports Car?
Another manufacturer belies its heritage to switch to SUVs
Cool Coupes
Every manufacturer was in on the ’90s coupe trend, stylish two-doors in abundance. But nearly three decades on, which are worth investing in?
Classic Scenes
Writing this as news reports bring us images of Sheffield residents trapped overnight in shopping centers by floods, we were struck by this image from October 1987.
500 Not Out
We identify some modern classics in danger of extinction... and the older cars which massively outnumber them
