1985 Works MG Metro 6R4 – Classified of the Week

Let’s get the elephant out of the room. This is an MG Metro, and it is a quarter of a million pounds. That is a lot of many pounds. All the pounds, possibly. But, this MG Metro is worth it, because this is a Metro 6R4. A proper one. Not just a homologation built machine. This is C874EUD, the final works chassis to be be built, as we understand. Of the final batch of cars, C868EUD and C870EUD would go on to be driven in competition by Malcolm Wilson and Tony Pond, with C874EUD being used first as a test and development car, before being used as a recce car by Wilson and Pond. It might not have been strictly competitive in those early days, but it was part of the team, and it played an important role. Plus, it was still every bit the 410bhp Group B animal as the cars with Wilson or Pond stickered on the side windows.

Wilson would go on to sell C874EUD to privateer Donald Milne. With Group B then outlawed, it made no sense for Wilson to keep it. Milne, however, capitalised on his purchase and pressed the Metro 6R4 into competition (clubman). Milne, noted as being one of Colin McRae’s mentors, competed in seventeen rallies, and even won the Esso Scottish Rally Championship in 1991. After its time with Milne behind the wheel, the Metro 6R4 went to Welsh gravel-thrower, Peter Lloyd, who also competed in the car on the regular, though it was still Milne’s car. He sold it in 1994 to James Leask who kept it for nine years in a private collection, after which it was sold once again.

It was at this point, in 2003, that the Metro 6R4 was returned to its 1985 works specification. Everything was overhauled, from the suspension, the interior, the exterior, the brakes, the drivetrain and of course, that snarling 3.0 turbocharged V6 engine mounted in the back, delivering power to all four wheels. The whole thing was finished with the Computervision livery of the time. Currently in tarmac spec, it sits on wide 16-inch white wheels and looks every bit as menacing today as it did back in the 1980s. It has all the FIA and RAC paperwork and is a bona fide, proven, real deal Group B monster. They don’t come more pure, more proven or quite simply, more visceral than this. It is quite the thing.

With only seven laps of shakedown under it, this Metro 6R4 is fighting fit and ready to go. But more than that, it’s a rolling, utter celebration of a different time in rallying. Of course, the Group B era is tainted with tragedy, but for a moment, before things got too wild and too out of control, it was glorious. Lawless, chaotic, noisy and brash – yes. But also brilliant. It produced cars like this. A 410bhp, all-wheel-drive MG Metro. A METRO. There is a lot to condemn from Group B, but there is also a lot to celebrate. This car is an example of that.

Whether or not you choose to use it in anger is very much up to you. You’ll need some serious racing hips to get in, and with an engine pressing on the back of your neck, you’d better like things hot. If you can handle the assault on the senses that this Metro 6R4 will bring about, you’ll love it. The reality is that a modern WRC car would trounce anything from Group B. They’re faster, they handle better, they’re safer and they’re just more advanced. But, even while a modern WRC is no picnic to be in (they’re monstrously loud), they’re nothing compared to a car like this Metro 6R4. A screaming, shouting, angry beast of a… yep… Metro. The ’80s, man.