This has a very tenuous link to Metropolis Street Racer, however Sega Europe themselves put out this press release on 25 October 2000.
A real version of one of the cars that features in Metropolis Street Racer is to be auctioned on the Internet. The first Opel Speedster (the UK version is the Vauxhall VX220) carries a plaque with the serial number 0001 on the dashboard and has all the makings of a collector's car - especially since the silver roadster will not simply be sold but auctioned on the internet. The first Europe-wide online auction of an automobile takes place from October 27 to November 5 [2000] at www.qxl.com/speedster (auction company now closed. Subsequently renamed 'Tradus' and then acquired by a large conglomerate in 2008).
Leading European internet auction house QXL.com (closed 2008) will present Opel's mid-engined sports car on its homepage as well as its national pages. Bidders can surf to their local QXL website in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain to pick up information in their own language and bid in their country's currency. There is no minimum bid for Opel Speedster number 0001.
The real winner of the auction, however, is not necessarily the highest bidder. The cheque for the open-top, two-seater sports car will be donated in full to the SOS Children's Villages, an organization which takes care of orphans and destitute children. The charity helps a total of more than 300,000 individuals. More information on SOS Children's Villages is available at www.sos-kd.org (now https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/).
The Speedster won the Cabrio of the Year award at this year's Geneva Motor Show. The 147-horsepower two-seater is Opel's first mid-engined sports car and the first Opel to use aluminum and composite materials for the body and chassis. The winner of the QXL auction will enjoy the Speedster's fast, sure-footed cornering, a zero-to-100 sprint in under six seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h. Customers can find out more about the Speedster at www.opel.com (link still works but contains no info about this car anymore. Just google 'Opel Speedster' or 'Vauxhall VX220' instead).
The auction website has been archived here. The winning bid was £23,511 from a Swiss buyer on 5 November 2000.
Gaming Age did this interview with Richard about the MSR soundtrack. It was conducted in early March 2000, about 8 months before the game's European/PAL release. The most notable part is the list of the equipment used to produce the music.
Richard Jacque's Gaming Age Interview (Part 1)
Richard Jacque's Gaming Age Interview (Part 2)
As Gaming Age is still an active website, I can only post links to the interview (only now accessible via Wayback).
Daily Radar UK also did a shorter interview conducted after the game's release (late 2000/early 2001).
Richard Jacques Daily Radar UK Interview
Sega Europe really tried to push Metropolis Street Racer by creating TV adverts and purchasing prominent 'time slots' for their broadcast. Here is a news article from the UK's Official Dreamcast Magazine about this:
A video showing that reckless power sliding awards much higher Kudos than careful driving (non Hot Lap / Timed Run courses). This is because Skill / No Penalty Kudos are 'fixed' and offer lower scores than Style Kudos. Therefore any penalty deductions (for hitting the sides or other cars) are more than made up by the excess Style Kudos you earn.
A short video showing the 'split match play' feature in multiplayer mode. I firstly drove the whole race in the Clio and once I passed the finish line, the CPU took over the running of that car. I then drove the RV8 while the CPU was driving the Clio around the course.
Following on from my 2015 post about MSR fan sites, here are two that were never completed.
