Beauty or blasphemy? 

The MG Metro 6R4 might not have been the most successful of Group B cars, but the British Leyland-built bruiser is nonetheless part of the fabric of rallying’s golden era. This particular example is number 189 of the 200 built to homologate the 6R4 and was delivered in 1986 to an enthusiast who clearly did not intend to take it rallying. Coated in its original factory wax, the car was safely tucked away for a decade before it was offered to the recently closed Donington Museum, where it resided until 2002. The next – and final – owner did not buck the trend. He’s offering the car, which shows just seven miles on the odometer, for sale via Silverstone Auctions at its Silverstone Classic Auction on 27–28 July. There’s a major quandary facing this Metro’s lucky new owner, however: does he or she refrain from driving it and preserve its time-warp condition, or simply give it the once over, ensure everything is mechanically sound, and use it as the people who designed it intended? We’re genuinely in two minds about this one… 

Photos: Silverstone Auctions