MG METRO v FIESTA XR2

MG METRO

When the Metro finally bowed out in 1997 in the guise of Rover 100 after the ignominy of a catastrophically poor NCAP showing, it was some way past its sell-by date and indeed the Fiesta was by then in its fourth generation.

In the beginning though, the Metro was a real contender, giving some credibility to that advertising strapline ‘a British car to beat the world.’ Developed at a massive cost by BL, including a £200m investment in Longbridge and a £30m update of the A-Series engine, the Metro was originally intended to replace the classic Mini and naturally a Cooper-style go-faster version was expected.

At launch, the Metro was offered with four different engines: a low-compression 998cc in 41bhp