Registration: E869 VWM
Chassis: SAXXFZWM9BD613126
Odometer: 21,000
Transmission: Automatic
MOT: August 2026
- A credible 21,000 miles odometer reading
- Offered with 4x original Vanden Plas wheel discs
- Very clean interior
If, in a parallel universe you needed to have a small alternative to a Rolls- Royce - loosely speaking, this is what the Vanden Plas iteration of the Metro offered. Essentially, it harked back to offering opulent-style in a small package, a trend that been the Vanden Plas’ forte (originally a 19th century Belgian coachbuilder - Plas as in ‘grass’). The name went from British roads in 1989, continuing in North America on Jaguars and on China’s Nanjing Automobile products for a time. Vanden Plas variants of BMC, BL and Austin Rover products of old, to make a generalisation, were retired bank manager-types who had given up their XJ-6. Today, they are an attractive quirk of the British automotive industry, and they certainly have a following as a collectable and of-a-time.
This Austin Rover Metro Vanden Plas was first registered in the retirement seaside haven of Southport on 18th January 1988. In highly practical 5-door Metro form, with a tilting glass sunroof, it had all the wood veneer trim you’d ever need. In current ownership since 2022 and with just 5 recorded former keepers, this is likely to be one of a handful of Metro Vanden Plas on the road today and with the odometer displaying a very low and credible 21,000 miles!
Wearing Beige with Beige, for the full Vanden Plas colour explosion, it even possesses Beige seatbelts and Beige velour upholstery, along with the original-fit Philips radio cassette player, quartz clock and with central locking, and electric windows – but just up-front for the Lady and Lord of the house. It has a wonderfully ‘untouched’ feel to the interior. The engine is the usual 1275cc A Series mated to the 4-speed AP automatic gearbox that had been developed for the Mini.
On the exterior, the paintwork presents well overall, however, there is some cracking and some corrosion on the rear bumper and some cracking on the front bumper. The original Vanden Plas wheels were metric and hard to find tyres for (manufacturers attempted and early design of run-flat tyre), so, today the car wears 13” Metro Turbo wheels (with some corrosion and scrapes), however, the original Vanden Plas wheels discs are with the car.
We are grateful to the vendor for the following information: I have added chrome tape to the side strips as the original had degraded. The nearside passenger door’s central locking is ‘lazy’, however, it often works after 3 turns of the key, but can be locked with ignition key. The car starts after 3-4 seconds with full choke and warms up in about a mile. The engine seems to like the SU carburettor regularly topped up. The car was driven to the auction venue with no issues.
There isn’t a service book present, however, we have service invoices from August 2025 at 20,816 miles, from August 2024 at 19,726 miles, and from October 2023 at 19,250 miles. A new battery was fitted in 2023, with an invoice on file.
The paperwork also includes the current V5C and MOT, previous MOT certificates – showing low-use and mileage since 2022, parts invoices, Metro handbooks, old tax discs and a Haynes service and repair manual. Sadly, for the vendor, he is only selling due to not being able to get in and out of the car. ‘E869 VWM’ now seeks a new custodian looking for something different and the last hurrah for the Vanden Plas special in the UK.
