Fitting in as well as the baggiest pair of jeans and most flannel shirt in the closet, the beginning of the 1990s can be described as awkward and trendy. The music, the clothing, the culture… it could only be cool if it stood out. Wild colors, new ideas, the wave of the future, and GM wanted in on it. With innovative electronic engineering and world leading ideas, a new brand of car shared dealer lots with Chevrolet… the Geo. A new wave of models to appeal to hip and young buyers…like the Storm, the Tracker, and the Metro. Possibly the last of a handful of pristine Geos, this 1992 Metro LSI for sale here on craigslist near Kankakee, IL for $5,500 is your trip back to the grunge era.
With only 32,000 miles, what could you expect to be wrong with a car that is practically just out of warranty. It is a fine red color, original wheel covers, and not a blemish in the interior. Its a perfect Geo and those words are rarely in a sentence together. Being a convertible, it’s the perfect fun in the sun kind of car for trips to the beach or long hauls from Contempo Casual.
As a younger enthusiast, I can now feel old when I see cars from the 1990s are becoming classics, and a Geo in excellent condition can fetch a fair price because of its rarity factor. As most of these were taken in the great crush of 2009, and what is left on the road is not in any way close to the factory condition this Metro is in, get it while you can, as these will one day be as valuable as a Nash Metropolitan.
I’m sorry, there is no comparison to any sort of classic to be made with this Disposemobile, so typical of ’80s & ’90s GM crap. I forget the name of the movie but it starred Tim Allen and the most memorable line was when his character’s teenage daughter declared his Geo Metro to be made of recycled milk cartons!
I see your point, but I think the Nash Metropolitan comparison is valid here. Both were considered small and underpowered compared to their contemporaries. Build quality wasn’t state of the art. They were both priced to compete with used cars. Most of them were used up and then neglected.
The first car I restored was a Nash Met ragtop. I love them. But there really are a lot of comparisons to this Geo Metro.
– John
That movie was “Big Trouble” based on a book written by Dave Barry. The book, of course, was far better than the movie but still funny until it just ran out at the end.
Farm I lived on in Wis., the guy had several( 3) Geo’s, only the 2 door coupe. I had to prove to a friend it was actually a 3 cylinder. They all had over 150K, and all had structural rust, but still ran great. I thought it was a good little car, got like 40 mpg.
For those not old enough to remember Geo, Chevy Dealers sold these as the Chevy brand was in real trouble with bad cars and no sales. They were Toyota, Isuzu, or Suzuki depending on the model. I was working in an independent foreign shop at the time and the local Chevy dealer sent us all these cars because their mechanics would “only work on American cars”. Towards the end of the run, they were branded Chevy instead of Geo because they were selling well and fairly reliable. Go figure.
Get a Suzuki Swift GTI in rough shape. Rebuild the engine and get it into this thing. Use the hood from the Swift too so it has a grille – it looks better than the Geo arrangement. Put on all the GTI suspension bits and you’ve got a convertible rocket that they never built. I’m sure there would be some challenges along the way, like structural rigidity issues, but the lame factor would wane as the cool factor took over. I’ve wanted to do one of those conversions for years.
These had a weight capacity for passengers and luggage of 300 lb. So, me, a pizza, and a case of beer and it’s over the limit. It’s just as well – with that automatic transmission, it can barely haul its own weight. Given the added mass of the convertible conversion, that rating was probably slapped on to keep it in the same EPA weight class as the 3-door. Still, 300 lb?
I rented a brand new Metro Convertible in South Florida. It was perfect for the conditions, and at 6’2″ I fit. Some show up on craigslist at $2-3,000 None could ever be made as nice as this one. So if you want one, buy the best and spend your time waxing instead of welding.
Test drove a used version of one of these, and it was a great little ‘vert. The particular one I drove had a bad 1-2 syncro, so I passed on it, but driven properly, the triple+5 speed was an excellent, dependable combo. The triple + auto, OTOH, cannot get out of its own way.
Decent easy to work on convertible beater. Hindered by the auto trans.
The auto is too bad…
My buddy is manager at a big Canadian auto parts chain (Lordco) and they bought a huge fleet of these back in the day. He said they would get 300k easy out of them and that’s with kids beating the hell out of them.
I had a 91 hardtop. 277,000 miles on little 3 cylinder/5 speed. Still got 43mpg. I paid $450 for it with 140,000 miles. Sold it for $850 with 277,000 miles about 4 yrs ago. Guy is still driving it. Wish I had another one.
I wish I was kidding when I said this, but I recall Diamond Chevrolet in Worcester, MA, marketing the last of these cars that were left over. Not sure what year it was. Since there is so little to love about these cars, the feature list was topped by “internal combustion engine.” This is no joke, I saw it with my own eyes. I think the only features of the car worth advertising were the internal combustion engine, AM/FM radio, and convertible top. As I recall, not even power windows or power locks. On behalf of that dealership, I am embarrassed to even be able to type this.
Basic simple cars are THE BEST!! Even my 1953 Bentley, 1965 Ferrari 330 GT or 1958 Mercedes 220S “ponton” were the best cars I’ve owned and had no power crap. So a Geo Metro without that stuff was probably about the best the car could be . . . not that that’s saying much!
For some reason I always wanted one of these.
I am going to say the first driver of this car was a fairly young girl.
These cars served their purpose! I didn’t own one, but I had friends who did and really liked it! I think that they filled a need at the time!
Had a yellow one
So much fun to drive with top down and closer to 50 mpg
One of the kids I worked with had a yellow one. As I recall, it was a cute little
ragtop that got looks everywhere he drove it. But I still razzed him when I
asked him where did he put the battery
pack and how many D batteties did it
take to fill it.
Find me another 26 year old car that can STILL get better gas mileage than some brand new hybrids. They were astoundingly economical cars.
I felt that way about my 1973 Datsun 1200, unfortunately built before the Japanese discovered durable vinyls and plastics!! Which is too say all the soft stuff disintegrated under the California sun by the time it was 5 years old.
“…get better gas mileage than some brand new…”
& as stated Zero extra crap to break on ya. Know guys that loved um, some that R still lookin 4 one (any in the series).
There’s a funny article in this month’s Car & Driver where they found a guy in South Carolina selling off four Metros (all 3-door hatches, a couple of manuals, an automatic, and one automatic that the seller had converted to a clutchless manual), bought all four, raced them back to Michigan, and then raced the survivors—spoiler alert!—in a rock quarry until they all gave out. It’s hilarious and the cars were all in various states of disrepair, but a genuine affection for the Metro creeps out, too.
I figured it was a matter of time before one of these showed up on Barn Finds. For all those haters out there, these cars were surprisingly well-engineered and built for the money. Many, including mine, are still going strong after 25 years and still getting 40 mpg and up. Mine has 137K, but many have 300K. I belong to a national forum and we have a blast restoring and driving them. There are still a few as nice as this one. Mine has been customized and euro-spec’d, but some owners like them as new. The auto tranny is unfortunate, but not hard to change out for a five-speed like mine. As with any collectable car, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Nice little runner. Tho the $5500 price tag is a little ambitious.
I have owned several, still own two, and am a member of the forum as well. These are great little cars for what they are. They are no-frills but quite dependable and economical. I am amazed how some still run with all the abuse and neglect they take. Unfortunately finding good examples is getting harder and harder as neglect and RUST are taking their toll in recent years. People treated them as a throwaway so that is what happened to them.
They are great little cars, simple to work on, and dependable if cared for. This is not a Miata but was a fraction of the price when new and good for what it cost. The automatics are a sin but a 5 speed is quite nice and you can keep up with traffic.
Great little car. Usually you can get them for less than $1000, for that much they are defiantly worth it.
I had a 1991 Metro XFi that I nicknamed La Cucaracha…”The Cockroach”. Why? Because no matter how much I tried to kill that car it simply refused to die.
I bought it running on two cylinders (burned valve), and sold it with 50,000 more miles on it two years later for more than I paid for it. Never fixed the engine! Still got 44 mpg the whole time. Cost $9.00 to fill it up and drive 400+ miles. Tires were 12″, and cost about $20 each. You could take the entire car apart with a socket set and a pair of screwdrivers in an afternoon.
That was in the early ’00s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still on the road.