The Metro Owners’ Club at the British Motor Museum

If you are travelling home from the British Motor Museum and crave a certain amount of style and dignity, then a Metro Vanden Plas 5-Door is the ideal car. There is the hide upholstery, the walnut-veneer door cappings, the electric windows, and the pop-out sunroof. Ian Mackenzie’s VDP is a Metro of Metros, complete with the sound of the A-series engine at full pelt. 

The A-Series engine was once a part of daily life as avoiding Sigue Sigue Sputnik records blaring from Our Price and craving the Little Chef Olympic Breakfast. This was one reason why riding in Ian’s Vanden Plas was such an intensely nostalgic experience – and why the Metro Owners Club rally was such a triumph. Not least because the first Metro I encountered was one I never saw in the metal when it was new. 

Those readers who remember when the Metro made its bow in October 1980 will probably recall the original line-up - ‘Standard’, L, HLE, S and HLS. Of these five, the S was most seldom sighted when new. British Leyland clearly intended it as a rival to the Ford Fiesta 1.3S, but it never quite caught on, for all its side stripes and entertaining upholstery. Yet, there in the metal was the black Austin Metro 1.3S owned by the BL expert Colin Corke, and further along the line-up, a second example in yellow. 

In fact, all Metro variants appeared to be represented at the British Motor Museum. There were late-model Rover 100s, the MG – the car that revived the Octagon badge in 1982, limited edition versions, and trim levels for every rung of the corporate ladder. There were also colours that were as “Early 1980s” as the first series of The Young Ones: Applejack must be one of the most appealing Metro shades.

The 1992 Rover Metro owned by Ben Woodridge was a further reminder of how they appeal to owners too young to remember their heyday. Ben was born over ten years after the Rover 100’s demise, and he is just one of a new generation of Metro enthusiasts. The fact that I could still remember the launch commercial made me feel very old.

To arrange such a display is a testament to everyone in Metro Owners Club. Any event is the result of days, weeks and months of planning, and one of this scale is the product of volunteers giving of their time to create an unforgettable day. So many once-familiar cars of the Metro’s generation fell prey to scrappage schemes and general neglect, but the MOC has tirelessly maintained its profile.  

Incredibly, this was not the sole event on the 5th of July at the British Motor Museum, as this was also the venue for the Colt Car Club display. But before I headed towards the various tempting Sapporos, Galants and Lancers, I was once again reminded that Alan Partridge could not have been more misguided in his motoring opinions.

With Thanks To - Ian Mackenzie