Nash Metropolitan
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The Nash Metropolitan was a subcompact car that was sold between 1954 and 1962. The Metropolitan was also sold as a Hudson when Nash and Hudson merged in 1954 to form the American Motors Corporation, and later as a standalone marque during the Rambler years and in the United Kingdom and other markets.
It was designed in the United States after a prototype car, the NXI (Nash Experimental International), built by William J. Flajole for Nash-Kelvinator. The prototype was displayed at a number of "surviews" (survey/previews) to gauge the reaction of the American motoring public to a car of this size. The result of these surviews convinced Nash that there was indeed a market for such a car, if it could be built at a competitive price. This meant that it would not be viable to build such a car from scratch in the US, as the tooling costs would have been prohibitive. The only cost-effective option was to build overseas using existing mechanical components, leaving only the tooling cost for body panels and other unique components.
With this in mind, Nash negotiated with several European companies, until settling on Austin in England by then partof BMC. The bodywork was produced by Fisher & Ludlow (also a UK company), and the mechanicals and final assembly was undertaken by the Austin Motor Company. It was the first time an American-designed car had been entirely built in Europe. Production started in October 1953. Nick-named the "baby Nash", they were tiny, with an 85 in (2159 mm) wheelbase, overall length of 149.5 in (3797 mm) and a gross weight of only 1803 lb (818 kg); smaller than the Volkswagen Beetle. The two models, a convertible and a hardtop, are powered by the OHV 1.2 L straight-4 Austin A-Series engine driving the rear wheels through a 3-speed manual transmission.
It was initially to be called the "NKI Custom", but the name was changed to "Metropolitan" just 2 months before its public release in March 1954. After 10,000 cars were built, the engine was changed to a B-Series, but still of 1200 cc. A major redesign in 1956 saw the Metropolitan's B-Series engine increased in capacity to 1500 cc. Chrome strips on the body sides allowed a new two-tone finish to be incorporated. The grille was also redesigned, and the hood had its non-functional hoodscoop removed. Another major revision in 1959 saw the addition of an external trunklid (previous models only allowed access to the trunk through the rear seat back) and vent windows. By this time the engine had been up-graded by increasing the compression ratio from 7.2:1 to 8.3:1 giving an output of 55 bhp.
Production ceased in April 1961. Sufficient inventory existed for continuation of sales until March 1962. A total of approximately 95,000 Metropolitans were sold in the U.S. Although not a comparatively large number, they were one of the top selling imported cars in the US in their time, second only to the Volkswagen Beetle. During the mild economic depression of 1958 and 1959, AMC outsold Chrysler with their economical compact cars. The top sales year was for the Metropolitan was 1959, helping to spur on the introduction of the Big Three's new compact models.
From April 1957 onwards, approximately 9,400 were sold in the UK and overseas markets not covered by American Motors. In the UK it was sold through Austin dealers as the "Metropolitan". Although the Metropolitan carried Austin chassis plates, it was never carried any external Austin badging. Its styling was noticeably American and considered outlandish compared to the more sober British styled models in the British Motor Corporation stable.
There are more than a few active auto clubs for this car, largely due to the fun factor of driving one, especially as an urban runabout, and its reasonable resale values. The Metropolitan currently has several suppliers of new and used replacement parts and accessories.
Trivia
- "Weird Al" Yankovic says that his favorite car is the Nash Metropolitan, and he tends to feature a brown and white Metropolitan in his films and music videos.
External links
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| Nash Motors | ||
| 1916 - 1957 Historic: | ||
| Nash: | |600 | Airflyte | Advanced Six | Ambassor | Nash-Healey | La Fayette | Metropolitan | Rambler | Rebel | Statesman | |
| Affiliated: | |Ajax | American Motors | Hudson | Nash-Kelvinator | Rambler (AMC) | |
| American Motors Corporation Historic: | ||
| Rambler: | Ambassador by Rambler | American | Classic | Marlin | Rambler | Rebel | |
| AMC: | Ambassador | AMX | Concord | Eagle | Gremlin | Hornet | Javelin | Marlin | Matador | Metropolitan | Pacer | Rebel | Spirit | |
| Renault: | Alliance | Encore | Medallion | Premier | |
| Affiliated with: | Chrysler | Hudson | Jeep | Kelvinator | Nash Motors | Nash-Kelvinator | Renault | |
| People | Roy Abernethy | A.E. Barit | Roy D. Chapin Jr. | George W. Romney | Richard A. Teague | George W. Mason | Gerald C. Meyers | |
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