1989 Rover - Austin Metro MG Turbo review from UK and Ireland

Oil leaked from everywhere.

Head gasket blew twice.

Overheated in traffic.

Jumped out of 2nd gear.

Various instrument failures.

Rust (at 7 years old!).

As a fan of the A series engine, having owned two Mini's, I can honestly say that bolting a turbo on to it was a complete mistake. Used as much oil as petrol, overheated at the slightest sign of traffic, and blew two head gaskets in a year.

The car was quite lively, but had the mechanical integrity of a lump of blu-tac!

Handling was go-kart like with really nice steering, but the driving position was awful, and the interior would have held together better if it was made out of paper mache. It was also rusting to nothing by its 7th birthday.

I was actually pleased when it got stolen and rammed into a bollard in a car park at about 40 mph, as it saved me the conscience testing prospect of having to sell the heap to some other poor unsuspecting mug. As a final insult, it kicked me in the privates with a trade value at 7 years old and 60,000 FSH'd miles of just £500.

Never again will a Rover product pollute my driveway. Unless it's another Mini of course...