It’s always highly entertaining to walk around the parking lot at automotive-related events. We did just that yesterday at the 2015 edition of the Historic Monte-Carlo Rally and stumbled upon a Austin Metro Vanden Plas parked next to a Saab 96 that presumably dropped out of the race. From memory, this is the first and only Metro Vanden Plas that we’ve seen in the past decade.
The upscale Vanden Plas model was added to the Metro lineup in 1982. It stood out from the run-of-the-mill Metro thanks to additional standard features like a cassette player, power windows, wood trim on the door panels and the dashboard and a more comprehensive instrument cluster. Vanden Plas buyers with change left over could order leather upholstery, fog lights, an automatic transmission and even a trip computer. In many ways the Metro Vanden Plas previewed today’s crop of premium sub-compact hatchbacks.
The Vanden Plas was initially launched with the Metro’s 60-horsepower 1,275cc four-cylinder engine. A 72-horsepower version of the 1.3-liter sourced from the MG Metro came standard in 1984, though Vanden Plas models equipped with an automatic gearbox retained the 60-horsepower mill.
The French version of Howmanyleft doesn’t even list the Metro as a car, let alone the Vanden Plas model, so we can’t imagine that more than a handful are left. There is not a single example for sale in the national classifieds, though there is a wanted ad from a man who is – presumably – desperately looking for one.
The example we photographed yesterday is in remarkably clean shape save for minor dings and sizable dent on the passenger-side door. The interior was equally clean and it didn’t emit the slightest puff of smoke when the owner started it up. The registration number was issued in 2005 so it’s difficult to tell exactly when it was built but we can narrow it down to between 1984, when the four-door Metro was introduced, and 1990, when production ended.
Greetings,
Endless hours of entertainment with your most excellent articles. I particularly enjoy thetread that runs through articles each week. One question: what is the French equivalent of HowManyLeft please?
A French reader (also Auto Universum blog aficionado), Thierry Derrien
Hey, thanks for the kind words.
Here’s the French version of HowManyLeft:
http://www.utac-otc.com/fr/ctvl/bilan_veh_3.asp?marque=144&modele=405
It doesn’t serve the same purpose so it’s not as precise but the end result is similar: you can tell how many examples of a specific car went through the Control Technique in the past few years.
http://www.utac-otc.com/fr/ctvl/bilan_veh_3.asp?marque=144&modele=405
368 Fuegos, as it turns out. It might not be 100% accurate because I don’t know if it takes into account cars with a Carte Grise Collection that only have to go through the CT every five years. I need to look into it.
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Metro’s of this vintage are super rare anywhere – rust gets them all sadly
Yeah, it seems like most of them were gone and forgotten by the late 1990s!
This will be a late 1987 or 1988 model as it has the grey leather interior (introduced March 1987). The Vanden Plas was cut in late 1988 and replaced with the GS. It is likely to be a 1987 model as it still features ‘AUSTIN’ on the boot.
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