I suppose it starts with a “buy one, get the parts car for free” deal- and voilà! you have two Metropolitans. No big deal, they’re little. Then, because you have a pair, your girlfriend’s uncle’s brother gives you another one he’s had lying around. Before you know it, there’s a flock of them out back. Here on eBay is a field full of Metropolitans, awaiting their respective higher purposes, whether that be as donors or resto-mods or even stock renovations. The cost for the whole lot is $1000 or best offer, but keep in mind you’ll need an army of trailers to haul these little guys away from Ramona, California.
The Nash Metropolitan was conceived as a subcompact before the niche existed. George Mason, running Nash at the time, thought the post-war economic boom opened the door for a second car in many garages; he also saw the Metropolitan as an introduction to overseas markets, where small cars were already well-accepted. Producing the car in its own factories would have been prohibitively expensive for Nash – where finances were rarely robust – so Mason contracted the manufacturing duties to Austin and the bodywork to Fisher & Ludlow, both in England. The first Metropolitans utilized Austin’s A40 1200 cc in-line four cylinder paired with a column-shift three-speed manual. As the Metropolitan evolved, badged variously as a Nash, a Hudson, and finally just a Metropolitan, displacement rose, eventually reaching 1500 ccs. Other than the engine and badging, the grille, exterior trim, paint, and rear glass differentiated the cars by series. No matter the iteration, the Metropolitan was considered spunky off the line compared to, say, a VW, but handling was mediocre: the suspension was made soft to appeal to Americans, and the enclosed wheel wells prevented nimble turns.
The Metropolitan was always offered as a sedan or a convertible. Its design was inspired by Pininfarina, but incorporated the “bathtub” elements of other Nash models, including those nearly enclosed wheel wells. A large-diameter steering wheel set at an awkward, upright angle exacerbated handling issues. But the interior was at least partially trimmed in leather or optional Bedford cord cloth, and electric wipers and an AM radio were standard. The scope to include what were often optional extras on the base model was afforded by the very reasonable overseas manufacturing cost.
Despite the cute car’s appeal and a lively marketing campaign, only 95,000 units were sold from 1952 through 1962, with 1959 notching the single-year high of 20,000. A goodly percentage must be sitting on this lot! No doubt sifting through this collection will yield a few desirable parts, but undertaking a complete restoration of any of these has to be categorized as a labor of love. Perfectly nice Metropolitans can be purchased for $12k to $25k all day long. What do you think of this seller’s offering?
The purchase price is a bargain, until you consider the freight… especially if you’re not in California!! And, of course, unless you have an open field like the current owner, where are you going to put them? That said, it makes me sad to see so many of these cute little cars just rotting away like this!
The biggest enemy of a collector is space, the more you have, the more you will try to fill it up. There are a couple You Tube guys I watch who started in small shops and had barely enough room to walk around, then moved to a larger place and voila they added more projects until they still had barely enough room to walk around.
Have you been sneaking around my property and peeping into my workshop? How dare you!!!
They had a B-series motor, so not hard to fix or get parts for. If you’re looking for something to do, and have the space…!
Oh, and John Cleland at Goodwood in the rain in one. I always liked racing in the rain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUGjKX_2u2E
thank you Derick, great run to watch!!!!!
Goodwood is on my bucket list. Years ago I went to the historics at Laguna Seca and saw some really nice classics, but it was all a bunch of those straw hat, blue blazer, white glove types tippy towing around the track then feverishly wiping away any dust. Goodwood has guys from cars like this to multi-million dollar classics going at it like a Saturday night short track.
And the BMW 700 Coupe (white #2 @ 2:35) with half the displacement just runs away from the Metro.
Wow, I’m impressed!
Since I’m going through race track withdrawal (sold the race car last fall) it was fun to watch. Thank you!
Wow, that was fun!
You are not getting a field full of cars for $1,000. The $1,000 is just a number used as a place holder, you need to contact him for a specific car or parts to get a price.
When you see ads like this the prices are never reasonable. This site has featured several ads like this in the past multiple times including some guy near Denver that perpetually runs a Craigslist ad for a bunch of Mopars which is written in a similar manner. It’s like the ads with a $1 or $12345 price or an ad that states “best offer” with not specific price, the sellers are either playing games or trying to get a potential buyer to make a high offer.
Steve R
Yup, add should be pulled for that
I remember in my teenage years these were always driven by girls and painted in all sorts of bright 2 tone schemes. It seemed to be the type of car that a dad would see as safe for his 16 year old princess much like her room full of stuffed animals.
The early connection to Austin is of great assistance to A40 owners of the 1952-54 Somerset. Shared mechanical and drivetrain components would otherwise be unobtainable, but for the very active Metropolitan clubs. As an aside, my A40 drophead coupe is a four-speed on the column. My understanding is first gear was ‘locked out’ when the transmission was used in Mets, as it’s so low as to effectively be a ‘granny gear’ and would have been more a hindrance in such a small, light car as the Metropolitan.
The yard has a lot more than just Metropolitans. I saw a VW, what I think might be a Rover, and definitely an MGB-GT. One even looked like an early big Healey, at least the cant of the windshield but the rest was hidden. There’s also that 40s pickup as well as other arcania/debris.
From the National Lampoon high school yearbook parody, one senior had a Metropolitan fittingly named “Mr. Beep-Beep”.
These cars always remind me of teatime on a Sunday. Had an aunt and uncle who lived near the Austin factory. After tea we went for a walk in the Lickey Hills passing a long line up of finished cars ready to go.Back home Sutton Coldfield Saturday afternoons saw train loads of Metros on the railway going to pass I assume through Sutton Park Station Inland customs. The real treat for me Citroen Traction convertibles going through long after the DS appeared.Thanks Michelle. Hope someone saves them if only for parts.
Please identify the sellers name!
Rebecca Vasquez 4423587880
Im selling the metropolitans. I have several more plus 500 classic cars both american and european
Another cogent, informative write up MIchelle.
But wouldn’t “…your girlfriend’s uncle’s brother…” also be her uncle?
Did you work at the Department of Redundancy Dept.?
Indeed I did! Good catch, I wondered if anyone would notice that….
I went down that rabbit hole with Willys and then Crosley’s
That rusty piece of metal screams, “save me, take me home” and before you know it you have become a hoarder.
At least with Crosley and Metropolitans, the lot can be a little bit smaller.
Ya gotta love this hobby. So many questions. An in-depth interview with the property owner would be helpful.
1) Are you married?
2) When did the symptoms begin?
3) How do you feel now?
4) What do you want your legacy to be?
Maybe if you buy a couple, the seller will throw in the SS Minnow or the EM50 Urban Assault Vehicle.
There was one in town parked behind a house. I watched it for years. Then the back window was broken out, and now it’s gone. Although I have never had one of these. They are interesting. Never thought of one as a race car. I would have a hard time NOT opening up the fenders for fatter wheels/tires.
Since I’m going through race track withdrawal (sold the race car last fall) it was fun to watch. Thank you!
“your girlfriend’s uncle’s brother gives you another one “… he would be another uncle, I think.
A friend had one when I was in High School. We managed to get more people in one then you would think possible. For some reason it kept destroying rear ends. They were easy to replace and it wasn’t that big a deal until all the junk yards ran out.