Beschreibung
Walk into a Rover dealer back in 1990 and you could drive away in a shiny new Rover Metro 8v GTa, in day gone by. This could be the next best thing?
THE story of the Rover Metro is one of missed opportunities and a convoluted development programme. The car offered genuine innovation in the face of strict cost control. In 1987, British Leyland was forced to cancel a Metro replacement because it couldn’t afford the development costs. Instead, it introduced an uprated Metro in 1990, which featured the more modern K-series engine. Updates would come in time, but even from the off the Metro proved to be hugely popular thanks to its blend of space and affordability. By the time production was called to an end in 1997 due to poor crash test results, Metro sales, including MG and Rover versions, had exceeded 2 million.
The new-for-‘90 model GTa replaced the Austin Metro GTa and sported a naturally aspirated K-series engine with single-cams and a lively 76bhp. The little British hatchback went head-to-head with the likes of the Peugeot 205 and Ford Fiesta “S” and the press loved it.
The performance handling was sweet too, partly thanks to the fitment of anti-roll bars. “This Metro is now very definitely grip-orientated. Deploying 185/ 55 section Dunlops at each corner of a car weighing under 2000lb means you can squirt through bends with indecent haste,”
This must be one of the few remaining unmolested examples of the Rover Metro GTa in early 8 valve carb form.
This car is offered for film hire, magazine shoots, advertising and photography work. Please call Richard for further information.
