Tim Ashworth | Inside the Metro Barn: VP500, Opaline S, Press Car HLS & the Van That Never Was

The Old Car Lady heads to Tim Ashworth of Stockley Classics for a barn tour. Six Metros, all rare, all significant, all in various states of readiness. Tim walks Sam through each one: what it is, why it matters and whether the maths will ever add up.

A one-of-six VP500 with the certificate and the champagne long since drunk. A reimported opaline S with its original 1982 invoice. The 200th GJW press car in vermilion. A Kawasaki green go-kart with Type R seats and a bored-out engine. And the Metro van BL should have built but never did.

Featured Stories

The VP500: One of Six Left: Built to celebrate the 500,000th Metro. All black, gold stripe, pepperpots, full leather and a bottle of champagne on delivery. Five hundred built. Six remain. Tim has the certificate and plans to restore it next. Sold with a fresh bottle.

The Opaline S: A Left-to-Right Reimport: Bought new in Belgium in 1982, converted to right-hand drive and sold back into the UK by an official importer. One owner from new. Original purchase invoice: £3,996. Steel sunroof, beige cloth instead of the standard strobe upholstery, 40-odd thousand miles, garaged all its life. A true garage find.

GJW 200: The 200th Press Car: W-reg, vermilion, number 200 of the 200 GJW press cars. Tim is appealing for anyone with BL archive material from the early 80s to get in touch.

Kermit: The Kawasaki Green Go-Kart: Started as a 998cc Metro L, bought on eBay, collected down the M6 on a jerry can. Now running a bored-out engine, Type R seats, no rear seats, carbon bonnet and a side exhaust. Sam has asked for a track day at Oulton Park. They are doing it.

The Van That Never Was: Ex-Midlands Electricity Board 998cc Metro van, now running an MG Metro turbo engine, MG body kit, turbo alloys, pearl white with full colour coding. Tim’s version of the MG Metro van Austin Rover never built. It always gets attention at shows. It will start first time.

A Nod To

Tim Ashworth at stockleyclassics.com. Appeal for BL press archive photos of GJW cars. Red MG Metro turbo Mark 2 coming to Stockley Classics soon. Oulton Park track day in Kermit: stay tuned.

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This has been a Worth A Listen Production.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Can you explain why these cars are so important and so unusual?

SPEAKER_02 0:04

So these are my project matros. There are certainly some of them. They need restoration. The reason why I bought these is because they are rare versions of the Matro.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

They are early ones. They're all Mark Ones near near enough. This one is a 1982 S. So it's a 1300S.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

So this is a really rare car anyway.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

This is very rare anyway. It's a Mark I. But this one, you'll see, is a wire edge.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

That's after the introduction of the MG Metro. The MG Metro took over from the original 1300S.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

You know, I get really confused with the badge engineering participation at the time. Is this an Austin Metro? Is this an MG Metro?

SPEAKER_02 0:46

This is an Austin Metro. Okay. Yeah, this is Austin Metro. This was superseded by the MG Metro. This is a very late S.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Because they ran them alongside at one point.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Yeah, near enough. They were winding down production of the S and they started production of the MG Metro because the MG Metro really took over from the S. This one is a 1300S. The interesting thing about this one is that back in the 80s, it was cheaper to bring cars in from abroad, from Europe, than it was to buy in the UK. Okay. This is one of those. This was bought from an official importer of metros. This metro went abroad first, normally to Belgium or to France, and then they were re-imported, converted to right-hand drive, and this is one of these.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

So we get lots of left-to-righty with E-types and Asters. I've never seen a left-to-right costing.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

This is one of those and it's opaline, is this light green colour? No, it hasn't got the traditional S upholstery. The original S's, 1300 S's, have strobe upholstery. This one's got standard beige cloth interior.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Has it been replaced?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

No, it was like that from New. And why would I? I'm guessing because it was an export model that it was slightly different.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

So this one has been started. It does run. It's one owner from you.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Ramwen Parks. One owner from you.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

One owner from you. And I've got the original purchase invoice, and I bought it from uh the family of the chappie that are passed on, unfortunately, who bought the car back in 1982. He paid the grand summer £3,996 for it because I've got the invoice. And he spec'd.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Not a small amount of money.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Not a small amount of money. Absolutely. I'm not sure whether he spec'd it or whether I'm guessing it was fitted to the car when it was re-imported, but it has got a very rare steel sunroof there. £40,000 miles from new, a true garage find, actually. So I will get round to that one eventually.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

So traditionally we call those the Austin sieve with the factory sunroof. But this one obviously has lived inside all the time.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

It's lived inside, yeah. It was garage from new, and unfortunately, when the chap who bought it passed on, he lived in his garage for a while longer before I bought it. So very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

A clearly a project car.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Another project car. This is a very early Metro, Mark I. Austin again then. Austin Metro. This is an Austin Metro HLS. So it was top of the range. This colour is Vermilion, which was superseded by Cinnabar Red.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

The same as the mini Vermilion. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Yeah. You'll see it is a W Reg. It's a pre-production stroke press car by GJW. GJW, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

So if you go on any of the old videos or any of the old footage or photographs of press launches and press cars, you always get the same GJW.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

They built 200. And this one's number 200.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

That's an S.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

That's an S.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Is that for sport or special?

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Sport Sport? Sport.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

What's this high luxury sport? What's this one?

SPEAKER_02 3:37

HLS. Yeah. I think HL was Highline Special. Highline special. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

BL did like to confuse us a little bit, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02 3:45

They did. They did. Absolutely. Yeah. It's open to interpretation to some extent, but we think it's back to the Maxi of the day in the 70s when they had the Maxi HL. Yeah. The HL was Highline. Yeah. So therefore, the followers that HLS will be Highline special.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

So we're missing a few bits of pieces like wings and bonnets.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Well, yeah, but I have got all of it. It just needs it's a complete restoration, this car. It needs a ton of work.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Oh look. Laylum Metro? Charming. Just charming finding stuff. Like I get almost as excited about finding bits of the file as I do the cars and the things.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

So that's a Minnie Haynes manual, that's. So that's that's how we know it's an HLS gun because I've got the HLS.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

So one thing I do love, which is very 70s, 80s and very British Leyland, is everything you need to know is in a little pocket. A little pocket. A pocket guy.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Absolutely. A pocket. So that's a 1275. Original engine. Original engine. Okay. Yeah, original engine. UK car. I'm trying to find a photograph of this being used by the press and have scoured the internet and scoured various magazines, can't find anything. I found one with GJW in this colour, can't find this one in particular.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

So should we launch an appeal? If anybody knows anybody who has got access to archive records of British Leyland from the early 80s, and you can find us any information about this particular press car. Moving on to number three. Number three.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Number three project.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

One, two, three, four, five. So moving on to number three, and there's five of these very exciting cars to look at today. Yeah. What's the story with this one? How excited? The van's got the van as well. So what's the story with this one?

SPEAKER_02 5:20

So this one is an Austrian Metro Vanden Place VP 500. So it is the top of the tree.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

The Rolls-Royce.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

The Rolls-Royce. So they threw a load of extras on these and they built 500 of these particular models to celebrate the 500,000th metro being built.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

How much more than the standard would you pay for a VDP for a Vanden Plot?

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Well, new.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

I think they're probably about somewhere between 500 and 1,000 pounds more than a normal Vanden Place.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

And then there will have been another premium on this being a limited edition one as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

I guess that premium was probably built in that. Okay. Actually. The limited numbers, where you get the pepper pot alloys, you get full leather upholstery, you get upgraded in car entertainment, you get sunroof.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

And this is an automatic gearbox?

SPEAKER_02 6:03

No, manual.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

They're all black, they're all manual, and they all had the gold stripe down the side with the pepper pots. In the day, these were a fantastic looking metro. Yeah. This one is a little bit tired, but again, it needs restoration, but it's a rare car.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

I think you've been very kind.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah. It needs a bit of getting at, it needs a bit of settling. But we've had this one running as well.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

So it it will be done at some point.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

They made 500 of these originally. How many do we know of?

SPEAKER_02 6:29

I think there's six left. Six? Six. Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

To what do we owe that? The rotten scrappish scheme.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Rot, scrappish scheme, just not seen as being very collectible.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Six left.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah, I saw one for sale on Caran Classic about six months ago. How much was that? That was that I thought that was spectacularly well priced actually, because it was so I think it was about six grand. And I thought that's really good value for that for such a rare little car.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

See, you're paying six grand for a really nice sensible mileage VDP metro anyway. So that doesn't sound daft money for one.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

No, it wasn't. For memory, it needed some TLC. Okay. But I think it also had an MOT on it.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

An MOT?

SPEAKER_02 7:09

Had an MOT in it, I know.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

MOT. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Yeah, so.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

That's a rare thing.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

It didn't hang around long. It came and went within 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Into a collection.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Into a collection, yeah. And I do know of another one actually, which is number one that was built. Uh so number one was built, well fortunately at some point in time it was vandalised, so it was written off. But that is still out there somewhere. And I'll show you the little laser-etched number that's on the window. So that's how you know it's a proper VP 500.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

I love a limited edition rod actually because I just think that they are super rare. Yeah. Particularly when they were cars that weren't particularly extraordinary in period, they survive, like we see here, one of six in in much lower numbers. But I presume this does this have the fancy plate that tells you what number it comes in the sequence. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

And it came with a certificate when it was new. Have you still got the certificate? Yeah, you still got the certificate. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

So when you ordered your one of five hundred special black with fancy gold stripes and abandoned floor interior, what what what did you get?

SPEAKER_02 8:11

You got a certificate.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

And you also got a bottle of champagne. Fortunately, the champagne's been then gone. But you've got the certificate.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

But if you ever sell it, you need to hand it over with a glass of champagne.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Oh, definitely. With a bottle of champagne. Absolutely, but I don't think I'll ever sell it.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

So this is your personal collection? Yeah. The old special cars.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, all special cars, absolutely. Once you get the Metro bug, there's no escaping it.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

I've dipped in and out a few times.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

So this one's a late Mark II. It's less of a project actually, because up until twelve months ago I was riding around in this.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

So when you say late Mark II, what sort of yeah are we talking?

SPEAKER_02 8:44

8990. Yeah, it's a late Mark II prior to the introduction of the K-series. So what's the deal with the uh what the deal with that was the end of the 80s, Austin was disappeared in terms of a name. Um they hadn't adopted the rover name. So consequently, towards the late 80s, you've got metros, maestros, and montagos that were just badged as that. They weren't rovers, they weren't Austin's at the time, they were just badged as a metro.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

So, Tim, I know that all your cars are rare or special or collectible for a reason. Yes. Why is this on your list?

SPEAKER_02 9:17

So this one is a rare model in that it's a late Mark II Metro Sport. So towards the end of Mark II production, they introduced both the GTA and the Sport. Okay. Both those cars had the MG Metro engine in. So this is basically a fairly basic Metro L spec, but with an MG Metro engine, which means he's got a bit of poke.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

So not only did you have an MG Metro, but you also had the Metro GTA, which ran the same engine, and you also had the Metro Sport, which ran the same engine as well. I did have a Metro GTA, but I sold that.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Maybe one that got away that, but that's a different story.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

So I've got a question for you, right? Let me budge on this year. The one thing that always confuses me uh is the badge engineering and the variance of what essentially is the same car. And why did they do that? Does anyone ever got to that?

SPEAKER_02 10:09

A lot of it is historical because it's something that BL was fame for, or Austin, or Morris, or Wolseley from the 60s.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

We do it like this because we've always done it like this.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

They've done it and they thought you think back to the 60s, you had not only did you have the Austin 13.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Well the Roots group, the Roots Group, but all the time. The Roots did it as well, yeah, absolutely. Is it Helmanim or a single chamois?

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Exactly. Exactly, exactly. But in the 60s you had the Austin 1100, you had the Morris 1100, yeah, version. You had an MG version.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

So so that bad engineering carried on through the 70s, but obviously because Biel wasn't making any money in the 70s, that was canned, so that's why you lost the wolvesly version of the princess.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Do you think people just had a brand loyalty? There was a time where there was a time when people bought a make of car because the parents had one, the grandparents had one, the great parents, they were Riley, they were a Riley manner, they were a Wolvesy man, or an Austin man.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

So they just were an MG man.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

So they made the same car but badged it.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Badged it differently and the MG Metro was incredibly successful. But the other reason why they did it was to give the Mark II Metro just an extra few years before they introduced the K-Series Metro.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

So they were filling a gap.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

They were filling a gap for a couple of years to make sure that just to make it as attractive as possible. Because don't forget, by the late 80s, the metro being introduced by nine in 1980, which in the 70s, you've had new things coming through towards the late 80s, which in terms of the car per se were miles better than the metro. Yeah, no, certainly the mark one and mark two in terms of engineering, development, safety, and all the rest of it. But so they had to give it some extra legs until they got the K series launched.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

I think that there was a great deal of loyalty and a respect for the MG badge, the MG name, as there was for the Mini. And I think losing the MGB traditional MG range and the mini as it was at the same time just opened the doors, just made just opened the doors wide open for MG and mini fans that had a gap to fill.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

The traditionalists in the MG community will throw the hands up and say, Oh, the MG Metro, the MG Maestro, the MG Montego, not proper MGs. They actually saved the brand, they saved MG. You had that two-year period between 1980 and 1982 when there was no MG that you could buy.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Listen, I think people are very fickle about Carname. People very proudly drive a mini now. Hate to break the news to your kids, it's a BM it's a mini badge and it's a mini. So I think it's very easy to get wrapped up in, oh, is it a real mini? Is it not a real mini?

SPEAKER_02 12:40

It's just bad, it's just badge engineering at the end of the day. And you can understand why they did it.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

So something like this, they didn't sell huge amounts of these Metro Sports. Okay. They didn't sell huge amounts of GTAs, but they fitted a gap and they've they met the demand at the time.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

So this is significant in terms of the metro history.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

I get that now.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

But in a rare model as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

And what's the mileage on this? Because this looks like Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Actually, this one's done over 90,000 miles. This is one of your higher mileage on it. And it's still on it's still on the original engine and it goes stink. It's really good.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Again, I think you're being very kind.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

The reason why I say it goes like stink is because it's got a real it's got a big bore exhaust on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

So it's sounds like it's going like stink.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

So you've got an MG Metro, you've got a nice big carbon net, and you've got a loud bore exhaust on it, and it's just it just sounds great.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Did you boy racer that up or did it come too?

SPEAKER_02 13:32

I yeah, the old the old exhaust was on its way out, so I found an excuse to buy a nice big boar exhaust.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

The only one I could find was big boars. I know. Would you like to do that?

SPEAKER_02 13:41

I know, it was terrible. It was terrible. Actually, but even finding a standing exhaust these days for a metro is tough going. I would imagine. For Mark I, Mark II, it's quite difficult.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yeah. I think with a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

I will come back to you on that because there is a specific exhaust that you have to have for the VP 500.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

And I managed to get one. And there's a story in there. There's a story in there. There's a story there. There's a story there.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

So we're moving into the depths of the barn now, into the back corner. So, Tim, I'm going to sit with my cat with this one and say non-original colours.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Correct, correct. No Kawasaki Green in the BL colour palette from 1982.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Also, I'm just going to have a punt and say non-original headlamps on this one too.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

No, original headlamps, actually. These are original. Oh, the spotlights. Oh no, they're not. Oh yeah, they're not. Oh no, they're not. They're not. And neither are those there.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

So you've been at the boy racer box again?

SPEAKER_02 14:26

I've been at the boys racer box, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

It's like the dressing up box for metro.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

And in fairness, actually, I think it could be right. I don't think these are original either, because it would have had the inset smaller lights, because this started life as a fairly basic little metro in silver. So Mart 1 again. Mot one, yes, Mart 1. Austin, absolutely. Started life as an Austin Metro, I think it was a one litre L in the day. The baby. The baby. Yeah. So I bought this very much as it is. I won it on eBay probably about seven or eight years ago now.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Tim, you do know when you win things on eBay, you haven't won them, you still have to pay for them.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

Well it has to go up to price to keep it.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

I win cars on eBay. And then I think we're not really winning, is it?

SPEAKER_02 15:06

I just You know what we say, you're like, when you buy a car, you think probably the prudent thing is to go and get it fetched and get it transported back. No. I thought, no, no. I spoke to the owner and he said, well, it runs and drives, okay, I'll come and get it. Or went to collect it.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Journey of Jeopardy.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Journey of Jeopardy, back on the M6.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Jump pack in a and the jerry can.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

That's fine. It was absolutely fine.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

It often does in the world of good. If they are if they are in good shape, mechanically a good long run often comes through it, doesn't it? Italian tune-up.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Italian tune-up, and this thing really shifts because it's been stripped out. So it hasn't got any back seats anymore. It's got two Honda Civic type R sports seats in the front. It's got a bored-out 1275 engine. So I think it's running either 1293 or 1310. I'd need to check. Blisteringly fast then. It's nippy. It's nippy. It keeps up with the traffic and it's got a side-mounted exhaust as well, which I'll show you later.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

So all these modifications were done obviously before it came to you. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Was it I put the lights on. I put the lights on and I've carbon wrapped up on it.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Was it raced or was it shown?

SPEAKER_02 16:03

No, it was just a bit of fun for it for people. Cool. Now this is not the tidest metro you'd ever see, but I just love it because it's such good fun to drive.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yeah. Little go-kart. So this is your go-kart.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

This is the go-kart. And whilst it's not as much of a project, certainly as the other Mark ones have got, um, because up until twelve months, six months ago I was running around in it. Because it's twin carbs, the twin the carbs just need setting up properly.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

And I'll do that.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

So no plans for m demodifying.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

No, no, absolutely not. It's a toy. It's a toy, it's a bit of fun, it's loud, it's uncomfortable, but it's great fun. It's great fun to drive.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

So in terms of the upgrades and the modifications, does that add value to it or does it detract value from it?

SPEAKER_02 16:49

It well That's a moot point, really. It depends what people want. If they want an original 998 Metro L from 1982, this isn't the car for them. Yeah. But if they want something that's been tricked, and tricked sensibly, is a bit of fun and is a bit loud and a bit uncomfortable, it's just horses for courses, really Sam.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yeah. So where do you stand on the purest V Philly Boots It's Your Own Car stance with Metros?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

I think if you bought the car, it's up to it's completely up to you what you do with it.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

So things like that one of six VDP 500, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Would you feel a bit sick in your mouth if somebody Yeah, that needs to be taken back to original, really, and done originally because it's such a special car.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

So I tend to judge each car by its own merits of modification. I hate to see a rare, the one of the last few's not preserved, but then like you say, if somebody owns the car, their car.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

It's your decision, it's your money, it's your time.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah. I'm also a big fan in making your car your own, making it your pride and joy, making it suitable for your lifestyle and your approach.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

And this is why I do, I see the merits in things like this, which look great fun to me.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Yeah, they are good fun. I think the other thing with this is it's just so unusual as well. When was the last time you saw a Kawasaki Green Metro? That's why I've seen a few out there.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

That's what I've seen. It's the first one I've seen. The reason why I asked you whether it had been raced, it looked like it'd been on the track to me. You've got the toe point.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Um, you've got the bonnet off, you've obviously got stripped out, it's very lightweight inside, you've got racing seats. And I wondered whether at some point you were planning on doing some track days in it. And if you are coming up. Should we do it? Should we do it should we in it?

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

So Tim, you've saved this one till last. Yes. White metro?

SPEAKER_02 18:39

White metro with a twist. Actually, it's a couple of twists, actually.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Come on, grammar.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Okay, so Twist number one.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

It's a van, it's a metro van.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Okay, but that's twist number one. Twist number two is that in a similar way to Kermit, the green one that's been tricked. So this one has as well. So when I bought this, it was a bog standard metro 998 van.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

So, Tim, I'm guessing at some point this had some sort of utility company delivery.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Yes, so back in the days with when you could get the history of a car from DBLA in terms of previous owners before GDPR. So I asked for the report, and it transpires the first owner was Midlands Electricity Board. And there were hundreds of these running around the Midlands, little white troves, and they were used all over the country for with local councils, local electricity boards.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

B BT have a little bit more. Yeah, but BT had them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Absolutely, absolutely. So this one started life as a white 998 van. Okay. This one has been tricked slightly in that it's now running a 1275 MG Metro engine, MG Metro body kit, MG Metro turbo alloys, and everything's been colour coded as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

We quite often talk about metros having different engines than the one they were born with.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Are these really easy to swap? Do they just slum back in again? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

So it's not a big job to break to a 1275.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Not a huge job. And it does make a world of difference in terms of performance.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Does it add or detract from value if these aren't matching numbers? Because I know in my world a lot of the time we all we matching numbers will add value. But does a big engine add the value or does the original small engine?

SPEAKER_02 20:17

I think again, if you're going back for originality and matching numbers, that's where the value is.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

I've probably detracted from the value of this van by doing what I've done. But again, it comes back to the argument, well it's my car, I can do what I like with it. And I actually believe that this is something that Austin Rover should have done in the day. They should have made an MG metric.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

This was the van that never was and should have been.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Absolutely. They should have done it. And they did actually end up doing it. So with the Rover 25 MGZR, when they introduced the MG Express.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Eventually.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Which was the van version of the 25.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Do you not find that that sort of the British Leyland the hangover was always around about five years. Everything was probably about five years later than it should have been for the PL. They almost recognised the market requirements just that little bit.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Just a bit too late. Yeah, so with the Rover 25, they had the MG sorry, the Rover Commerce, which is the 25 van.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

They had the MG Express, which is the MG ZR van.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

This is my take on an MG Metro van. So had the stickers done to to reflect the fact that it's a MG Metro van. In the right type as well. So this one's probably hasn't run for probably twelve months. I think I'll probably jump in this and it'll start straight away. Because it's such a reliable little car, this. And I've been to shows in this, it always gets lots of attention. I've had it painted pearl white rather than a normal white as well. And yeah, it's just a great little car.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

The beauty of they were company vehicles at one point, weren't they?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Oh yeah, disposable company vehicles.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

But they were like driving a car. Yeah. A lot of vans feel quite agricultural and quite industrial, like the four escort vans, for example. Like a van, not a full escort. Yeah. I think the odd metro van I've ever come across. Yeah. You forget you've got a van behind you. It drives. I think because they're so light, you don't have the weight. Yeah. And because they didn't change the engine or the gear bot, it doesn't feel like a cultural, does it?

SPEAKER_02 22:15

No, it doesn't. It's a bit more boomier than a saloon because yeah, I've got less less insulation, particularly in the back area.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Bit of an echo.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Bit of an echo. There is a bit of an echo there. But you know what? Supremely practical as well. And I've had lots and lots of stuff in the back of this when they've taken it to shows and things, and it's been great. And it'll puddle along at 7075 all day because it's got the 1272.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I'm assuming that yet again they neglected to put a five-speed gearbox.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Of course, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Owling up the motor.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

We never actually got round to that with the A-Series engines. It was only with the advent of the K-Series that they got the benefit of the five speed.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Do you think that's why so many turbos blew their boxes?

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Yes, yes, we've talked about that before, haven't we? They did some minor upgrades to the gearbox, but they didn't really bite the bullet and do it properly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Just give it a big boy.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

So consequently, that that accounted for a lot of turbo, MG Metro turbo gearboxes just blowing up.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

So what's the plan? What's on the menu for all of these?

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Have you got this one's done. It just needs an element of recommissioning. Okay. I haven't been out in it for about six to twelve months. So that one's a simple one.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

This one will be jump pack, air and the ties and page. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Absolutely. And maybe a service as well. Yeah. Kermit, probably the same with that one, the Kawasaki Green one. The Sport, probably the same with that one.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Okay. So, Tim, despite the fact I've said we're coming to look at all your barn fines, these two really essentially are the only serious projects.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

These three, yes. It's the S, the HLS, and the VP five hundred. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

So what order do you tackle them? Have you decided?

SPEAKER_02 23:42

I'd like to say the VP five hundred next. Okay. If I'm honest. And I should have done that by now. It's just that my world's been overtaken by events. And I'm caught in a little bit of a perfect storm at the moment of less time to do stuff and increase any cost to pay people to do it. So I think I could quite happily spend not happily, but I could quite easily spend 10 grand on restoring each of these.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

What are they going to be worth at the other end?

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Less than 10 grand. And that's that's and that's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Therein lies the rub. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

There's a rub. As I want to do these, at the moment, the way the market is, it's a hard decision, not a head decision. If I'm hoping to make money on these cars on the back of them being restored, then there's no point. Never there's no point doing them. I think there will come a point in time where the maths add up, but it's not going to stop me from doing them.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

No. So you told me once that you had an idea that you wanted one of each of the five.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

Yes. Just one of every metro. Every every have we ticked most of those boxes? I think over the course of the last ten years, yes, I probably have ticked most of the boxes.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Your grand plan, what metros do you want to end up with in your collection? Finished and restored.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

I need to get some rid of some cars. I can't keep them all. Number one because of the storage, and number two, because of the cost of restoring some of them. So the three here.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I went down from 20 to 2 about 18 months ago. It's a wrench, but once you've done it, it's a weightlifter. It really is.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

You never look back.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

No.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

So I need to do, I need to do some. But what I want to do, I do want to restore these. So I've now concentrated my efforts on the early metros that I've got. So anything else that if it's not on Mark I or Mark II, they can go. And even some of the Mark IIs might go.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

So Tim, I know that you are a dealer, obviously, you've got Stockley Classic, though at some point we're going to see some of these pop up on Stockland Classics.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yes, absolutely. The Red Turbo Mark II that you've seen before. Yeah. I need to get an MOT on that. It'll be a bit of a wrench to let that one go. Because I bought that as a bit of a wreck, to be honest, and I spent lots of money and time on it. But I can't keep them all, and I've decided in my own mind if I'm going to keep any at all, when it comes down to it, it'll be the Mark Ones that are keep.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Tim, the way I view it is that it's our hobby and it's cheaper than a golf club membership. If you end up restoring a car, enjoying every minute of doing it, and losing 500 quid. Yeah. You spent 500 quid on your hobby for the year.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Not the end of the world. Not the end of the world. Absolutely. And of course you only realise that loss when you sell the car.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, and I think it's different. It's different on your business stock, on your on your on the company cars. But I think when it's your own cars, you have to take the view that the profit isn't important if you're going to do it and enjoy it and not worry about it.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

That's what I tell myself when I'm doing another portion I'm doing.

unknown 26:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Doesn't matter, it's my hobby, it's fine. Tim, you show me five amazing metro cars and your one amazing metro car. If you had to keep one. If you were going to a desert island and you're allowed to keep one of your metros.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Not including your turbos that are.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

Who's your favourite child? Probably the VP five hundred.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Who was your favourite child?

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Probably the VP five hundred, because it's such a special little car, it's so rare. Obviously appointed. And I just think it it just looks a great. It's a great example. Or it will be a great example when it's done.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

And of all of them, including your turbos and your 1300, which is your favourite child?

SPEAKER_02 27:16

The MG Metro Mart 1.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Is it really?

SPEAKER_02 27:19

It is, it is. It's just so reliable. It's such a great little car. It's not particularly fast, but it gets down the road fine. It's got lots of character, you've got the raspy exhaust note.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

The thing with the Metros, which I love, or the thing with any car like this that I love, is that you're not going fast, but you feel like you are. You are. You really feel like you are. And that's the fun. It's not it's not how long it takes you to get from A to B, it's how much fun you have.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

And it's not just about the smiles it puts on my face, it's about people who see it, and it takes them back in time. Because they might think the other week I was up in Preston with a mate, his dad used to have a wire-edged black one in the day, and he got all dewy-eyed when I rocked up. He said, Can I have a sister?

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Make a grown man cry about you.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

And it just takes them back. It takes you back to 40 years. It does. So when you were in your twenties and you had one.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

And it just brings it all back. And it's great to be able to do that. That's part of the joy of having a classic car. It's not just about doing it for yourself, it's about sharing the passion.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. It is. It's a very wonder thing, and it can bring a great deal of joy and put a smile on a lot of faces. And plus, you always get less out of junctions, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 28:26

You do always get, oh, you get waved at, you get flashed at. Sometimes for the wrong questions. And what's about when you're driving?

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Tim, thank you ever so much. Absolute pleasure as always. I would love to come over as you're doing them as well and just document it. I think it would be fabulous to see them as and when they get back on the road.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

I'll get there.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

And I'd love to go for a little hull climb if you're going to take you on that show. Should we do it? Shelzy Well, shall we come?