My word, that is close. After 620 votes, the Sebring won it by just 14 votes. Truthfully, I’d take the E-Class knowing full and well how rarely I saw them booked in for anything other than routine maintenance, brakes, and the odd suspension component, but that wind-in-the-hair experience certainly holds a degree of romance. Anyway, let’s grab a glass of Ribena and see what I found on Gumtree.
1989 Metro 1.0 City – £2,795
Engine/drivetrain: One-liter four-cylinder engine, four-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel-drive Location: Ashford, UK Odometer reading: 19,000 miles Runs/drives? “Very well,” apparently How do you effectively replace the Mini? As it turns out, the solution in the end was to go premium. Nevertheless, the R53 Cooper was far from the first time someone tried to replace Alec Issigonis’ little gem. In fact, Austin tried several things before settling on LC8 as its mass-market supermini, otherwise known as the Metro. This little supermini had a promising start, with a period of time atop the UK sales charts and Lady Diana Spencer being a Metro owner. However, things unraveled after a few years when everyone realized that the Metro was yet another shoddily-built British Leyland product with a propensity to rust.
That legacy’s a bit of a shame because the Metro was reasonably clever for a car that launched in 1980. Check out those driver-centric interior controls with HVAC sliders right up next to the instrument cluster. In addition, it used BL’s clever Hydragas suspension with pressurized nitrogen-filled spheres taking the place of traditional springs.
Now, £2,795 may seem like an awful lot of money for a car with a reputation for being a bit shit, but this particular Metro promises to be a gem. It’s claimed to have just one owner since new and have covered just 19,000 miles. By American standards, that means it’s basically new.
Granted, low mileage doesn’t mean cosmetically perfect, and this Metro seems to have fallen victim to an unfortunate parking incident. Just look at that rear bumper fitment. Still, everything else from the pristine B-pillar decals to the very clean upholstery looks perfect, so this might be one of the nicest Metros you can get your hands on.
1994 Vauxhall Cavalier LS 1.8i – £2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter four-cylinder, five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel-drive Location: Dumfries, UK Odometer reading: 112,484 miles Runs/drives? Absolutely Despite the Cavalier nameplate once being a common sight on American roads, the Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier shares virtually nothing with the J-body cockroaches that seemingly run badly longer than most cars will run at all. However, despite occupying a more upmarket position than the Chevrolet Cavalier, the Vauxhall Cavalier was still a true car of the people. Let me explain.
Way back in the 1960s, the British government stopped considering company cars as taxable benefits as a way to spur on industry. Income tax was quite high, so one way to reward employees was to give them a company car, and family sedans were the ideal company car of the day. Of course, steady reforms eventually caused this tradition to largely fizzle, but company cars weren’t especially uncommon in the early half of the 1990s.
At the turn of that decade, the Vauxhall Cavalier was a prime pick, with trims like this 1.8i LS given to reasonably successful sales reps. Is it really surprising that a practical five-door liftback was a prime choice for scurrying up and down motorways shilling toner or other business supplies? Best of all, it was reportedly a decent car, winning What Car? magazine’s Family Car of the Year award in 1989 and 1990 back-to-back. With a drag coefficient of 0.29, it was reportedly quite quiet, and filled with soft-touch plastics before it was cool. Of course, by the time this 1994 model had arrived, Ford had fired back with the crisp Mondeo. Just like how the Cavalier showed up the then-aging Ford Sierra, the Mondeo blew the Cavalier back to the turn of the ‘90s. Still, this one appears rather well-kept, covering a reasonable 112,484 miles. While the plastic trim has faded, the paint still looks cherry, and the styling seems to have stood the test of time.
On the inside, this Cavalier is a touch scabby. The owner reports that some trim bits like the A-pillar panels need a bit of gluing, but that they’ll “try to get round to sorting these before sale.” Otherwise, the gear knob is missing, but a new clutch and MOT until November 2024 is sure to allay some fears. So, which lesser-lauded British peoples’ car would you put your money on? Are you going for the sales rep special or getting brave with a bit of BL tin?
(Photo credits: Gumtree sellers) I might even be able to sell the Cavalier to a local postal worker without losing my shirt. The Metro belongs in someone’s collection – not mine, but someone’s – being driven around town occasionally. (Well, maybe a lot more than that if Mr. Harrell’s in the market for another…) https://live.staticflickr.com/1276/4707393028_2f92e771f5_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/3114/5716601092_8192732189_o.jpg I don’t know anything about either of these cars but I chose the Cavalier. I think it looks better and in the hypothetical situation of me importing it to the US, it would be much more usable here than a 1.0L Metro. Plus the novelty of having a very different type of Cavalier here would be fun too. It wouldn’t have been worth developing if it only took the place of the springs; it instead takes the place of both the springs and the shock absorbers. Cavalier for me. Eeny meeny miney moe. I guess I’ll pick The Metro. As it is, I’ll happily take the Metro. Trust me, it’s the Cavalier. The Metro was designed in the 70s and is essentially an updated Mini. It used the same A-series engine (albeit upgraded to “A plus”) and the same sump-mounted 4-speed gearbox. This isn’t the vastly improved “Rover Metro” of 1990 which had the properly interconnected suspension for a much improved ride, plus the K-series engine and (at last!) a 5-speed box. Even so, it still crumpled like paper in a crash. As well as being 2 whole size classes larger than the Metro, the Cavalier really pushed the repmobile category forwards. No it didn’t handle as crisply as the Peugeot 405, but it had great build quality, a nice interior, loads of space, and was available that amazing red top engine. Seems there’s a bit missing between the airbox and the intake… I do realize that a lot has happened in the world (and in the car world specifically) in the past several years, so it’s possible that our British friends have been hit by car shortages just as hard as we Yanks have and those “cheap car challenges” would be very different if filmed today. Back in the early 2000s I bought a lot of cheap cars, a £50 BMW E30 320i, a £700 RX7 FC, Nissan Silvia for £700, £100 E30 325i, £600 535i, another RX7 but with a 4.6 V8 for £500. All of those cars would sell for 10k plus now. There are cheap cars out there, but nothing fun or interesting. Price seems a little high, though. My brother’s Metro was an “MG Metro” and was “sporty” in that it had red seat belts, but in all other ways still terrible (and slow: 0-60 in 10.7, top speed 103mph). While the one I drove was definitely broken: I read a thing once about Lotus Engineering and one of the handling assessment tests they did was to throw half a turn of steering lock on to a car at speed (50mph I think?), let go of the wheel and measure how many wobbles it would take to straighten itself. A good car would correct almost immediately. The only car they ever tested that got progressively worse over-corrections until it inevitably spun was a Metro. The Cavalier though, especially a 1.8, is just a car. Nothing more, nothing less. A slightly bigger Astra, which is what most Astra drivers aspired to. I chose the Cav. Especially with it’s magic 23 month MOT (MOT is only valid for a year).
