1989 MG Metro GTI 'Project Pride' Speed Record Car

At Iconic Auctioneers we do thoroughly enjoy the weird and wonderful, and this little Metro manages to seamlessly be both. This is the original, factory built, high-performance Metro, engineered to break various speed endurance records, some un-broken since the 1930s, remaining almost exactly as built by the factory. ‘Project Pride’ took place ahead of the official launch of the MG Metro GTI at the 1990 British International Motor Show, designed to compete in the ‘hot hatch’ market that’s so synonymous with the late-80s and 1990s. The GTI was a development of the earlier MG Metro Turbo and MG Metro 1300 models, aligning with the shift toward modern fuel-injection systems helping enhance performance and efficiency.

This Metro GTI is rather special. It's one of two cars built by MG to take on and contest a number of land speed records, doing so with flying colours. In late-1989, a voluntary team of enthusiastic Rover Group engineers worked with the company management to produce a modified version of the new fuel-injected Metro with the intention of contesting the Class F (1,100cc-1,300cc) records. They succeeded in increasing the power of the 1,396cc twin-cam, K-Series engine from 95bhp to 140bhp, along with a resilient fuel delivery system, a specialist roll cage, and a number of other performance variations meaning, in still air, the car was capable of speeds up to 135mph. Some 500 people ended up being involved in the project and 6,500 hours were spent preparing the car to the required level. The project was incredibly well executed and, despite achieving all their objectives and some publicity at the time, the teams success appears relatively unknown and has slipped under the radar, until now.

Supervised by the RAC, the 24-hour event took place at Millbrook Proving Ground in June 1990 with the two cars continuing to lap the high-speed bowl, despite heavy rain as darkness fell, until all 21 Class F records for had been broken. Within the car's history file is an official list of all the records broken, all impressive, but the final one seems remarkable - 2,911miles 1,727 yards in exactly 24 hours at an average speed of 121.33mph. This is a genuine figure as the RAC Observers were watching very carefully to ensure the cars were always at least 100 yards apart, precluding slipstreaming.

Once the usual competition roll cages had been fitted to the cars by an outside specialist, the cars went to Cowley Body Plant, where the tinsmiths installed the large competition-style fuel fillers on each side (combined flow rate 26 gallons of unleaded in 15 seconds), the large bag tanks, and aluminium firewalls. The cut outs made for the installation of the racing petrol fillers, were found in the car during recommissioning, and those, plus the original exhaust, are included with the car.

The car on offer here is the is the only one to survive in its original format and condition following the event. It presents in excellent condition, having covered just 3,356 miles from new. Its state of preservation is commensurate with it being kept in a de-humidified garage for over 20 years and recently mechanically recommissioned using nearly £2,000 worth of consumable parts, including replacement of the four petrol pumps and the brake servo, as well as being freshly MOT’d. With the exception of a new stainless-steel exhaust, no changes have been made to the car. It starts easily and runs at tick-over once it is warmed up a little with the petrol pumps performing as the should.

This is an outstanding opportunity to own a record-breaking MG, a unique piece of motoring history with outstanding performance for a car of its size. A road-going, record-breaking 'works' car at today's guide seems remarkable value.