The very definition of bare bones, General Motors offered a version of the Suzuki Cultus in both Chevrolet and Geo form, in this case, it’s a 1988 Chevrolet Sprint Metro. The seller has this bottom-tier economy car listed here on eBay in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they have a $6,000 buy-it-now price listed. For the record, yes, that’s more than this car cost new, but a Hemi Cuda was only $4,600 new, so there’s that.
I don’t know if it’s a case of badge-grabbing or why the Chevrolet badge seems to be missing on some of these cars, some have a Chevy bowtie on the upper front black plastic piece and some don’t. This is another example of one of these Sprints not having any bowtie badges. The sides of the fenders say Sprint Metro, and those are decals, so they’d be hard to steal. This one has a few paint issues with the right front fender as the seller shows here on YouTube.
We’ve seen a few of these cars, but they were the Sprint Turbo version, which was quite a different car from this Sprint Metro, the base model. As the base model, it was the cheapest one available at around $5,700 new. That’s around $14,300 in today’s money, that’s not a lot for a new vehicle. The Chevy Sprint was also a Geo Metro here in the U.S. after 1989, but there was also a Pontiac Firefly in Canada, and other makes in other countries. They were all based on the Suzuki Cultus in this era. The seller says that there is no rust, but it needs a paint job. Add that to the asking price and, ouch. I mean, I could see if this were the top-of-the-line Sprint Turbo in this incredible condition, yeah, six grand all day long in 2022, but maybe not for the base model.
They say that this somewhat used (to be polite) steering wheel cover has been on there since they got it, but I may have pulled it off for the photos, not that it would make that asking price any easier to digest. The back seat looks like new but they mention a tear in the driver’s seat. This one has a five-speed manual transmission and they were known for getting 50+ MPG.
Now, this is a clean engine bay! This is Suzuki’s 1.0-liter three-cylinder which would have had a whopping 48 horsepower and 57 lb-ft of torque. At only 1,500 pounds, no wonder these things get 50 mpg. This looks like the nicest example that a person may ever find, if anyone is looking for one, that is. Have any of you owned one of the Suzuki Cultus-derived cars such as this Chevy Sprint Metro?
Yea, I owned a Sprit to fix up and flip the car. I would have no interest in a 3 cylinder carbonated corn popper though. Gone is the feedback factory carb with a Weber asking it’s place. Would be willing to bet she is not a 50mpg machine and cold blooded without carb preheat. I think the seller didn’t see gas prices are under $3 in some areas so what’s the point of a little rattle can now?
Speaking of that 3-cylinder powerhouse, I test drove one of these WITH AC. As soon as I hit the air ON switch the RPM’s went up about 27,000. I instantly knew it had about 3 cylinders too few.
It’s funny how I know this will be a Scotty write up before I even click on it. It’s a good write up and I’m always interested in plain Jane econoboxes from years past. As for the price… I recently picked up an 08 Toyota Corolla with 93,000 miles for my daughters first car. $5400. Worth it? Probably in todays market. It’s clean with no rust and seems well looked after. Or, OR we could have had this Metro for the same money. I guess if someone just has to have a decent Pre Geo Metro then their ship has come in.
The Corolla was probably worth it.
This Spirit, not so much.
I had, over the years, three Metros…all bought used. All sold me for about $1000. They are good cars to drive – if you can live with the limited power. All of them, three-pots. Low gearing (with a manual) and high redline meant, in the city, you seldom felt underpowered. I’d had an Escort and a Pinto that were worse, in use.
Problem is, these just didn’t hold up. About a hundred thousand miles was all that engine was good for. Back then, there were other Metros in boneyards to donate the seldom-wanted three, as a replacement. Now they’re all gone.
Even the lowest, smallest Toyota, made in the last 30 years, will double that life. Even though it’ll be nowhere nearly as thrifty.
I’d be interested at a third of the price; but even then, it would be a risk. When the engine goes, what do you do? I never heard of anyone rebuilding that motor – it’s an aluminum Suzuki engine, and the labor involved to do a rebuild, would make it cost-prohibitive.
Gak, here we go again,,the farm I lived on in N.Wis. the guy “collected” these. He had 4,,,1,,um,,good one,,and 3 parts cars. All were the 3 cylinder, his “good” one was a stick, and they ALL had over 200K. They would rust, like axles fall out, and he would get them for nothing. In a rural setting, people that did a lot of commuting, especially to work( an hour each way is not uncommon), these were a hit. IDK about 50,mpg, but low 40s for sure. Naturally, they racked up a ton of miles. Usually a deer whack killed both, but if you managed to escape that, they were good cars. These were very popular with messenger or pizza delivery, clearly this was neither, as not many of those survived. Again, hobby meltdown looming? While it’s not collectible by any means, with the current car offerings, if any, you’d think $6grand would take it. Apparently nobody really cares about gas prices, or so it seems.
Oh, just one more thing, a different friend, that never saw a Metro, refused to believe any car had a 3 cylinder anything. You can imagine his surprise when I opened the hood.
Should have shown him a vintage Fiat 500 with the two cylinder engine and an Isetta with its one lung powerplant.
Yeah, this was N.Wisconsin, where ANY import was a tough sell, even one with a bowtie on it. Oh, they stood firm, we won’t give up our Impala for this crap,,well, as the jobs dried up, people had to go farther and farther for a job, and guess what? Hello Geo. Ned Flanders drove a Geo, the type of person most likely to buy one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EFS6WmxQQ
l had one of these for about one season then sold it. I believe they had very good 3-cyl. engines and I do believe they went way over 100,000 miles easily if they were cared for.
If the frames, where the lower control arms mount, wouldn’t rust, many more Metros would be on the road today.
These cars were great for this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling
PS- Howard you should show your friend an old Chevrolet Colorado with the five cylinder engine.
Howard–Where in N. Wisco did you reside?
I had a New 87 Turbo Sprint bought for the wife.
Same motor only turbo…..that thing would scoot nicely!!
They made them white or red in 87 ( just the Turbo ones) NO AC in So Cal can’t believe we lived with that with trips to Vegas but we were young.
9 gallon fuel tank and about 50mpg or so.
This one’s wearing 13″ wheels off a slightly newer 1.3L Suzuki Swift.
The Sprint Metro was a special extra-stripped model offered only as a 2 door starting in midyear 1987 and through 1988, it was the only Sprint with all-vinyl seats and this nose was unique to it (although similar to the 1985-6 standard model’s in that sealed beam headlights were used). It may have come only in white, I think metallic bright blue was also offered and in either case the interior came only in gray (if you’d bought a “regular” Sprint in that color it had a lighter blue interior).
I learned to drive stick on one of these.
Love it. Buddy had exact same one
Used to go to hockey 🏒 games in it.
2 guys and the gear.
I had a 4 door Chevy Sprint in high school, worked as a courier in the summer so wanted good fuel economy. Survived my first and only car accident in it – rear ended a jacked up 77 Trans Am at 40 mph while changing the radio station. Trans Am barely had any damage, and funny enough, they didn’t total the Sprint. 16 stitches to the forehead and a two weeks later I was back on the road. Burned the clutch out a year later popping the clutch to do burn outs in the senior parking lot. Had that replaced then the tranny froze up in the middle of traffic a year later. Replaced that with a used rebuilt transmission, and put a total of 115,000 miles on it and traded it on a 91 Civic base with no air and no radio! Loved econoboxes back in the day!
This is stupid, but it is consistent. What will be the next vehicle being priced to the point of ridiculous just because people believe everything they read about collector car prices.
A real tin can car. You get hit at anything above 30 MPH and you are going to get hurt bad. Everything that can be done to reduce weight so as to get better fuel economy was done, including thickness of body metal. You could put a dent in the fender almost by leaning on it.
OK, I admit it – Im weird, but I loved my Metro. It was a well built Inexpensive (not cheap) no-frills car and it could be fun to drive. Playing Boy Racer with its 5 speed wouldnt get you a ticket and still get mid 40s mpg. Its was easy to fix and maintain and despite my not very gentle driving it had 165k on it when I sold it
I had a 1988 Chevy Sprint as my commuter car and love it. no A/C, but had a radio. Bought it new and put over 250,000 miles on it before some yoyo plowed into the back of me on the freeway and totaled it. I was getting about 55 MPG with the manual transmission. It was actually pretty quick since it was so light. If I was not retired I would be interested.
Bought one new in 1999 still drive it on occasion, getting tough to get in & out.
Been a great 3 banger base model Chevy.
Only major repair was a 5 speed replacement & an engine seal & gasket kit
High 40’s to 50 was easily possible with conservative driving now mid to high 40’s
is about all it’s good for, 265,667 miles &
still ready to go wherever I want.
I had a Tubo Sprint, fantastic little car. BTW my current Corolla Hybrid gets 53 mpg. I know, it cost a lot more money but just shows cars have come a long way in the past forty years.
Looks like it could compete in the Soap Box Derby with that 48 hp.
Good thing the course goes downhill.
I had one with a 5 speed. I beat it bad. I sold it with over 250,000 miles to a friend of mine. He’s still driving it with 320,000 miles and getting 43mpg.
I’ve been driving a ’93 Metro convertible for the past 21 years. They are surprisingly well-engineered cars. The engines are easy to rebuild, but if you treat them well, you can easily get over 200K miles on the first engine. I belong to a national group, and we meet several times a year. We host one of the big events here and in October we had fourteen Metros, Swifts, and other versions at a big competitive car show. My friend’s perfectly restored ’89 Turbo Swift won the prize for sport compacts. This price does seem a little high, but the prices are rising.
I would be interested in the name or your national Sprint group and how to be in contact with them. I currently have (3) Sprints and assorted parts from a dozen that were parted out.
Girlfriend had a Geo Metro base with tag board trim and one rear mirror, same drivetrain. She worked at a newspaper and would haul three 300 lb. Pressmen to lunch just prove the car could. Picture the clown car routine… geared well for town, had stay ahead of your revs to get it up hills without bogging, but zipped up and down I-5 on the flats with no effort and 50+ MPG, depending on wind speed and direction. Lasted well over 100,000 miles on non salted OR roads, and ran well when traded. Great for what it was. 😉
i have 86 that still runs has decent body if interested manual 2 door you can have 1200.00 car is complete
Do you still have your ’86 jim?
I would be interested. How do I reach you?
i have 86 that still runs has decent body if interested manual 2 door you can have 1200.00 car is complete.
have 86 for 1200 2 dr decent body nanual 3 cyl still runs when i parked it have extra parts head carb sprint wit chevrolet on rear
We had 3 of the Geo Metros. 2 New and 1 Used 1992’s. Not a bad car for use around your City/County. Wife drove her New one for 3 years with out a trip to the Shop. The Used high miles one (daughter drove) kept loosing #2 Cylinder Spark Plug. After several months I found that the PCV was dumping directly into the Intake Runner for #2. After moving it to the bottom of the TBI and running a 1/2″ tube from the Air Cleaner Box to the Valve Cover that issue never came back again. Mine was hardly driven, as I was a OTR Trucker and never home. It had only 9,210 miles when we sold all three to move to the Philippines in 2009.. hehe
The seller has relisted this Geo at a $200 discount: it’s now priced at $5,800.