Back in the early 1980s, British Leyland’s Austin Metro had begun to appear everywhere - even Lady Di drove one - but 1982 saw the introduction of the version everyone wanted, the MG Metro.

At this time the MG name, so long the bastion of affordable English sports cars, had become associated with the ancient and tired MGB and desperately needed a new model to invigorate the brand.

This period very much signified the rise of the hot hatch and BL cleverly used the MG badge to introduce a sporty, yet affordable, version of the Metro to compete with the likes of Ford’s Fiesta XR2.

The execution was slick, with a 73 bhp version on the venerable 1275cc engine and a smattering of MG badges and red highlights, and in 1983 it won What Car? Magazine’s ‘Car of the Year’.

This lovely 1990 MG Metro, nicknamed Monty, is completely original apart from its upgraded cross spoke alloys - a very sensible upgrade considering that the metric tyres that the Metro would have been originally supplied with...