If someone told you they had sold a 40-year-old Mini Metro at the weekend, you’d probably expect them to tell you it sold for £425. But this one has changed hands for a thousand times that figure.
That’s because this is not just any Metro.
The one in question is an MG Metro 6R4 rally icon; one of the most extreme racing cars produced during motorsport’s fearsome Group B era of the 1980s and one of only nine works team vehicles.
Registration C870 EUD sold for a whopping £425,500 at auction in Sywell, Northamptonshire, on Saturday, marking a new world record for this extremely rare model.
Not just any Mini Metro: this is one of nine factory MG Metro 6R4s built for the 1986 Group B World Rally Championship, and one that competed in one of the most fateful races of the cutthroat 1980s era.
The impressive rally car was sold by Iconic Auctioneers to become the most expensive example in history to change hands.
The MG Metro 6R4 was designed in 1985 in association with the Williams F1 team, with just 20 ‘Evolution’ competition cars built along with 200 detuned road versions, which were required as part of the regulations for the 6R4 to qualify to participate in Group B.
Of the 20 racing machines, only nine were used by the official team; with chassis 207, one of these cars built to the “latest asphalt specifications.”
He campaigned the 1986 World Rally Championship season, which would become the most disastrous of all and ultimately spell the end of the unrestricted racing series.
The car is still finished in the factory ‘Computer Vision’ livery, as it was when it debuted at the ’86 Monte Carlo Rally, driven by the late Tony Pond and his co-driver, Rob Arthur.
Then only another work would appear, a fateful one.
Registration C870 EUD sold for a whopping £425,500 at an auction in Sywell, Northamptonshire, on Saturday, marking a new world record for this extremely rare model.
The MG Metro 6R4 was designed in 1985 in collaboration with the Williams F1 team, with just 20 ‘Evolution’ racing cars built along with 200 detuned road versions. Of the 20 racing machines, only nine were used by the official team; chassis 207 is one of them.
The 6R4 has been kept in full period specification throughout its life, which partly explains the spectacular auction.
With the exception of being used in two demonstration events by the seller and owner over the past 22 years, it appears to have only been driven four times since it was retired from competition. Much of the last two decades have been spent on display at the Williams F1 Museum.
Iconic Auctioneers says they “have been informed” that the car was never crashed, despite being raced by privateers in rallycross events after it was sold by the factory team.
The 6R4 has been kept in full period specification throughout its life, which partly explains the spectacular auction.
With the exception of being used in two demonstration events by the supplier and owner over the past 22 years, it appears to have only been driven four times since it was retired from competition.
Much of the last two decades have been spent on display at the Williams F1 Museum.
The auction house said: “Enjoying the distinction of having been a Group B car in two WRC events, including Monte Carlo, together with the fact that it remains in the latest specification developed during the period means that, in our opinion, the C870 EUD is undoubtedly one of the best examples currently available.
“Its exceptional originality and full ownership history represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors.”
Power is delivered by a 410 HP turbocharged Rover V6 engine located directly behind the driver’s seat.
Bolted to the stripped body, the 6R4 features a lightweight chassis and is wrapped in an incredibly lightweight, if somewhat flimsy, body.
The Group B rally ended before there was time to develop the 6R4 to seriously compete for a title. The series was suspended in 1986 after the tragic loss of three spectators and dozens of injuries at the Portugal rally that year.
Given that it was raced in two WRC events, including the iconic Monte Carlo rally, and is maintained to the latest specifications developed in the period, it makes it “certainly one of the finest examples currently available”, Iconic Auctioneers said before the sale.
Power is delivered by a 410 HP turbocharged Rover V6 engine located directly behind the driver’s seat.
Bolted to the stripped body, the 6R4 features a lightweight chassis and is wrapped in an incredibly lightweight, if somewhat flimsy, body.
While this would have made them afraid to run at full speed from a safety perspective, it is a tremendously fast car.
Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in less than three seconds, four-wheel drive and a short wheelbase meant incredible straight-line speed and agile steering and quick changes of direction.
As such, the MG had all the ingredients to take the battle to Group B rivals of the time, including the Audi Sport Quattro, Lancia Delta S4 and 037, Peugeot 205 T16, Renault Maxi Turbo and Ford RS200.
Unfortunately, the Group B rally ended before the 6R4 could be developed to seriously compete for a title.
The series was canceled at the end of 1986.
It came after the tragic events at the Portugal rally, which led to the loss of three spectators and dozens of injuries when Ford factory driver Joaquim Santos crashed his RS200 into a crowd.
The Rally of Portugal was the second (and last) appearance of this 6R4 in a WRC event.
It was driven by Marc Duez until Austin Rover Group immediately withdrew the C870 EUD from the Portuguese round after the spectators were confirmed dead.
Group B was put to bed once and for all and the series was also reeling from the death of Finnish driver Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto, who died in a fireball accident after crashing off the road in the Tour de Course in France. just a month after the accident in Portugal.
As Group B is still remembered today as one of the most exciting eras in motorsport, the cars that competed in it are prized objects. That’s why half a million pounds for a Metro is a better deal than it might seem on paper.
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