Dealer converts Metro into van
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AUSTIN-ROVER dealer Wicliffe Motor Company, of Gloucester and Stroud, has come up with a new van version of the Austin Metro, called the Metro Marcia.
The new van is a conversion based on any model in the Metro car range, and the work costs around £200 to carry out. It provides all the features of the converted Metro saloon, but business buyers will find it attractive because it provides the considerable taxation advantages of buying a van.
John Forge, Wicliffe's general sales manager, said the company had negotiated with Customs and Excise officials for five months to get permission to do the conversions.
He said it would give the business user the chance to buy an economical van at low cost from a British source, helping to reduce the number of imports and providing hidden benefits such as cheaper insurance, lower spares costs and better spares availability.
Probably the most attractive feature of the conversion is that it provides a full four-seater while allowing the buyer, if vat registered, to claim back the vat and the whole capital cost against his business or personal tax, if he is self-employed, in the year of purchase. Companies cannot reclaim vat on car pur
chase and it takes four years to get the purchase cost allowed against tax.
The work takes four days to complete and the Mercia van based on a Metro City saloon costs £2,002 plus vat of £420.30. The cheapest Metro van is listed at £2,792 plus £418.80 vat, so the addition of all the car facilities and trim involves an outlay of £10 before vat over the cost of the ordinary van.