METRO IN NYC!
James Walshe heads across the pond to meet a Metro owner in Manhattan
From driveways in Dundee to the backstreets of Bristol, the Austin Metro was a staple of British motoring for decades. Sadly for the USA, British Leyland’s supermini never made it across the Atlantic so Metro sightings are unheard of... unless you happen to visit NYC. If you do, you might just end up seeing me at the wheel of mine.
I often use my 1981 example (imported a few years ago) and find that it makes for a great three-season commuter and, while I live and work in the borough of Queens, I do drive unusually often for a resident of public transit-friendly NYC. The Metro is never anything less than brilliant in the Big Apple, which is something the team at Practical
Classics wanted to demonstrate, in this, the humble Metro’s 40th birthday year.
Our morning out in the Big Apple would take us on a whistle-stop ride past all the major sites, then onwards to parts of town very much off the tourist trail. I’d be joined by Practical Classics Deputy Editor James Walshe, whose job it was to capture the spectacle of a Metro in Manhattan with his camera.
The day begins with a customary hellish traffic jam en-route from my apartment in Ridgewood – in the bustling borough of Queens, via the Midtown Tunnel. I arrive late to a favourite haunt of mine on 9th Avenue – the Sullivan Street Bakery in Chelsea – where I find Walshe tucking into a pile of gourmet pastries. My lateness doesn’t seem to have bothered him at all, as judging by the crumbcovered plate, he has made good use of his time.
Metro metropolis
We set off south towards Lower Manhattan, with the conversation naturally turning to a car that actually came about thanks to my enthusiast father and fellow writer, Jamie Kitman. I was already keen on Brit classics, having grown up in the passenger seat of anything from an MGA to a Jaguar Mk2. At some point, dad kindly began fetching copies of
Practical Classics for me while away on business trips, then gifted me a subscription and, in response, I’d go off on monologues about how badly I wanted an Austin Ambassador. It was during my freshman year of college when I accompanied him to the port in New Jersey to fetch his new purchase – this ’81 Metro L, bought sight unseen from fellow UK writer Richard Bremner.
As I learned more of its history, I started to really fall for the Metro.
‘Project LC8’ morphed out of numerous concepts and was unveiled in Britain in a patriotic frenzy on October 8, 1980. Some still can’t help but mention the subsequent reliability and rust issues that plagued it but, given its impressive eighteen year life-span, the Metro had clearly been designed well enough to outlast many a rival. There’s no getting away from the aged pushrod A-series engine though – first seen in the Austin A30. The characteristic whine adds to the cacophony of New York traffic and there’s an added shriek of excitement from Walshe when we pass the ‘Friends’ apartment building on the corner of Grove Street and Bedford Street. The Metro’s Hydragas suspension does a great job of soaking up NYC’S infinite (and scarily deep) potholes as I swing the car east at ‘Triangle Below Canal Street’ – these days one of Manhattan’s most expensive and desirable neighbourhoods.
Ahead of the game
Driving around New York City can be a little scary in such a small car, but the trusty A-series’ impressive low-end torque makes for easy stop-start driving and, thanks to the Metro’s slim pillars, airy cabin, and large rear window, I can keep an eye on drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. That visibility is extremely handy in Manhattan’s dense Chinatown and even better when we cross Brooklyn Bridge. The Metro’s windows create the perfect frame for a view of Brooklyn’s shores, Manhattan’s skyscrapers, and the Statue of Liberty in the distance – quite a sight, even for a cynical New Yorker like myself.
There’s time for a quick coffee at my sister’s brownstone apartment in Brooklyn Heights, having
easily found a parking spot for the car among the bloated Escalades, before a blast back across the iconic bridge. This time, we turn right and head up through the crowded Lower East Side and East Village, dodging potholes and stopping briefly at La Delice – a cake shop opened in 1935 and evidently regularly frequented by Walshe. ‘Sod Lady
Liberty. You can’t come to New York without going to La Delice’. He skips back across the street to the Metro with armfuls of freshly baked cookies. We shoot past historic Ukrainian restaurants, skirt trendy yoga studios and dart around waiting taxis and J-walking pedestrians. Once back in Midtown, crowds of eager visitors queue for the Empire State Building, as waves of people emerge from Grand Central and we eventually make it to Times Square. The reaction is truly bizarre, as it always is. James perches himself on a traffic island with his camera – aware that the cops might kick him off at any moment – and I do a number of circuits around this iconic intersection. swamped each day by around 400,000 pedestrians.
Tourists point with glee at the passing Metro, while the locals smile warmly. We conclude the more bemused glances we get are most likely to be Brits - a suspicion that is confirmed when one guy is heard bellowing to his wife in a London accent: ‘Christ! Look at that! It’s a bloody Metro!’
A rare beast
The car is rarely identified correctly in the States and very few note its connection to the Mini (which has a surprisingly solid following here). Instead, most imagine it to be a VW or a Lada. I have always been intrigued by the Metro’s classless identity. It was an affordable car often purchased by mothers and thrifty types, yet it was similarly popular in posh circles.
Prince Charles bought an early red example for Diana when they were dating (now on display at the Coventry Transport Museum). The Metro is a simple car to own. Mine’s needed very little attention, aside from recharged displacers (many thanks to Ian and Dawn Kennedy in the UK) and a carburettor rebuild.
Our little whizz around Manhattan concludes at the site of another 40th anniversary. While 1980 marked the start of a new and exciting digital decade, it also signalled the end of another era. In 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had something of an epiphany which inspired some significant life changes, including John’s departure from The Beatles and, shortly after, the UK. The couple made their home in New York, residing at the Dakota Building until John’ was fatally shot outside the front entrance.
The Metro expired seventeen years later, following a successful life serving two million buyers new – and countless more used during the Eighties, Nineties and beyond. Before we part ways on the edge of Central Park, James and I agree that the Metro really is one of the true greats. Familiarity for you Brits may have made some people forget how important this innovative little car is to your automotive history. The Who’s Who list of celebrated British engineers and designers behind the Metro’s conception had succeeded in creating a beautifully packaged automobile that honourably continued the UK’S legacy of affordable, stylish, and riotously fun small cars. Happy birthday, Metro!
‘It was bought by thrifty types, yet was also popular in posh circles’