Austin Metro City

Brilliant classic, without the price tag

If you have dreamed of entering the Cassic Car world but are put off by the (frankly disgusting) prices demanded by some of the British pieces of tin, then the Metro is the car for you.

So very briefly, why should you have this as a classic?

1) Almost identical running gear to a Mini - without the price tag!

2) Street Cred - again due tot he Mini's popularity, there are plenty of them dotting around towns. People never see Metro's any more so they really do catch peoples' attention. Some of my favourite things I've heard whilst driving in it is "I used to have one of them", or "your dad learned to drive in one of these"

3) Kind of covered in point 1, but it's an A-Series lump, the most produced engine ever known. Most people over the age of 40 can do anything on these. Most mechanics on this can be done with ease. They aren't precision built engines so they're ideal to learn on.

4) You will get to mess around with bodywork as they do rust. Great for a bit of welding practice. On this note, the interior slips out quite quickly so you can really get to work on it. The wings are bolt on and parts are fairly cost effective.

It's a good father son project, that demands a bit more respect due to its rareity. And of course, it is a very affordable starter classic.

My best advice? Make sure you buy one that looks good. The ones that look rusty on the outside WILL be rotten beyond belief as soon as you start taking bits off. If you buy a good one, no matter how good it looks on the outside, it will still be rusty! (Good old BL hey?!) However don't spend too much on a "mint!" one. As I said, expect even a minter to have some body issues - it will.

To give an example I paid £500 for mine with tax & ticket. It had been used but not abused, just not had much attention paid to it. It was at the right point for a restoration to start without needing to dip the shell and remove the engine.

The drive is hilarious by the way. I'm going to give it some very high star ratings because as a classic, it's brilliant. It's not something to use all year around because of it's habit of rotting away; it isn't one for taking your kids to school in or carrying massive loads. But it's a great summer car and project (and the seats are very comfortable for those longer expeditions)

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