A Group B — yes, one of the infamous Killer Bees — rally car with only 7 miles showing on its odometer will headline Silverstone Auctions sale July 26-28 at the Silverstone Classic sale, the auction company has announced.
The car is a Metro 6R4, so named for its 6-cylinder engine, built to Rally specifications and its 4-wheel drive system. Only 200 such cars were produced for the World Rally Championship.
This one is No. 189 and, according to Silverstone Auctions, was sold from Austin Rover Group on December 5, 1986, to an enthusiast who had it transported to his home in Oxfordshire, where it was put away, still coated in factory wax.
A decade later, the owner offered the car on a long-term loan to the Donington Museum, where it was exhibited for seven years. The car was sold in 2002 with five miles on its odometer. The new owner has had the car for 17 years and told Silverstone Auctions that the two additional miles came from running the drivetrain while the car was on jack stands.
The car has never been registered for road use and still has its fender flares and other body components in their unpainted from-the-factory state.
“This Metro 6R4 is effectively an ‘out-of-the-box,’ brand-new car and could possibly be prepared for rallies or rallycross,” Silverstone Auctions said in announcing the consignment, “but with this incredible story and such minimal miles, this could be the only one in the world in this condition and therefore who knows where its future value may lie.”
The car will be sold with its original assembly manual, original purchase correspondence, photographs and letters from the original owner to the Donington Museum.
