This Chevrolet Metro Has Only Done 400 Miles And No, We Don't Know Why

The Twitter feed of online auction platform Bring a Trailer has once again provided us with a virtual lot to both entertain and baffle. Here we have a 2000 Chevrolet Metro which has covered just 400 miles in its ~20 years residing on Planet Earth.

We do occasionally see barely used vehicles that aren’t exotic supercars come up for auction, but they are usually still interesting models, for instance, the B7 Audi RS4 that cropped up in the UK recently with just 217 miles on the clock. But a Chevrolet Metro is about as uninteresting as it gets.

It’s a car that’s gone under many names. Earlier sold as a ‘Geo Metro’, the supermini is a badge-engineered version of the Suzuki Cultus, better known to us in Europe as the Swift. Subaru was among several other brands to flog its own version, fitting it with Suzuki’s all-wheel drive system and calling it the Justy.

However titled, this thing was all about providing basic transportation. BaT’s example stays true to this remit with a very basic spec, featuring a 1.0-litre, six-valve, naturally-aspirated inline-three, diddly 13-inch steel wheels and a white paint contrasted by unpainted bumpers.

Inside there are immaculate cloth seats, manual window winders, and a whole lot of grey trim. But hey, you do get gasps a CD player and manual air conditioning. Such luxury!

Included in the sale is the original window sticker showing the purchase price of $11,140, plus spare radios and service records. On the latter front, the Metro received a maintenance inspection at Martin Chevrolet a few weeks ago, where it was treated to a fresh fuel pump and a fuel system service.

It was originally delivered to Martin Chevrolet in Torrance, California. The Metro stayed with the same owner until the selling dealer got hold of it. No explanation as to why it was bought and never used. It’s not like someone would buy a Metro with the intention of storing it as an investment piece, so what gives? Post your best theories in the comments.

That said, given the strange state of the used car market out in the US right now, the Metro, which currently resides in Arizona, is set to sell for a strong price. Already (at the time of writing), bidding has reached $10,989, nearing the non-inflation adjusted original purchase price. We’re intrigued and slightly terrified to see what it goes for when the auction ends next Thursday.