Nash Metropolitan

In short

• Designed for Nash-Kelvinator from William J. Flajole's NXI concept; built at Austin's Longbridge plant in Birmingham from October 1953 to April 1961.
• Two-door hardtop and convertible on an 85 in (2,159 mm) wheelbase, 3,797 mm long and 810–857 kg.
• Austin engines: 1.2-litre (A40, then B-Series) and, from late 1955, the 1,489 cc B-Series; the Series IV had 41 kW (55 bhp).
• Peak year 1959 with 22,209 cars; Austin also sold about 9,400 in the UK and other markets.

Nash Metropolitan at a glance

From NXI concept to Austin production

The design came from the NXI, short for Nash Experimental International, drawn by the Detroit designer William J. Flajole for Nash-Kelvinator. Nash showed it to the public in a series of "surviews" that began on 4 January 1950 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. It also cited a survey of 250,000 questionnaires from 1950–1951. The prototype that followed was called the NKI, for Nash-Kelvinator International.

Building such a small car in Kenosha made no sense, so Nash looked abroad. On 5 October 1952 it chose Austin, part of BMC, and the body maker Fisher & Ludlow. Austin built the first pre-production prototype around 2 December 1952. Tooling for the 1953 start of production cost US$1,018,475.94 in total: US$197,849.14 for Austin and US$820,626.80 for Fisher & Ludlow, in 1953 money.

Production began in October 1953 with car number 1001. The car was first called the "NKI Custom" and became the "Metropolitan" two months before launch. Sales began in the United States and Canada on 19 March 1954, at US$1,445 for the hardtop and US$1,469 for the convertible. Nash marketed it as the first post-war American car aimed specifically at women. Its first spokesperson was Miss America 1954, Evelyn Ay Sempier.

Series I to IV: how the car changed

The engine's compression ratio rose from 7.2:1 to 8.3:1 from car E43116, built on 15 October 1957. Colours changed twice in the Series III, after cars E35133 (16 April 1957) and E45912 (9 January 1958). Before the Series IV the car had no external boot lid, a detail many collectors still look for.

Nash, Hudson, Metropolitan and Austin badges

The badge on the grille tells when and where a car was sold. In 1953–1954 it carried a Nash badge on the grille, hubcaps and spare-wheel cover. After Nash and Hudson merged in May 1954 to form AMC, Hudson dealers sold it from August 1954 as the Hudson Metropolitan; the Hudson story of those years is in our article on the Hudson Hornet. When AMC dropped the Nash and Hudson names in September 1957, the Metropolitan became a make of its own, sold through Rambler dealers.

From October 1956 Austin sold the car outside North America. Production for those markets began in December 1956, and about 9,400 cars were sold from 2 April 1957. Only the Series III and IV were sold in the UK. New Zealand received right-hand-drive cars badged as Nashes, while Australia did not get the car.

Engine and performance

The Metropolitan was slow even by the standards of its day, but very economical. In November 1954 Motor Trend measured 39.4 mpg (US) at 45 mph, 27.4 mpg at 60 mph and 30.1 mpg in traffic. That is about 6.0, 8.6 and 7.8 l/100 km. Tests of acceleration varied widely:

In the Raleigh run one car covered 1,469.7 miles in 24 hours at an average of 61.2 mph, using 21.1 mpg (US) overall. A second car averaged 41.7 mpg (US) in an economy test. With 41 kW and about 830 kg, a Series IV has roughly 49 kW per tonne. The power-to-weight calculator sets that against other small cars.

Production by year

Austin's own production for the UK and export markets is estimated at 9,384 to 9,391 cars.

The end of the Metropolitan

North American production ended in April 1961 with car E95981, built on 19 April 1961, and remaining stock sold until March 1962. The UK Austin version ended in February 1961, and Fisher & Ludlow made its last body on 10 April 1961. Sales had become marginal, and in 1961 AMC's own Rambler American cost only a little more. Nash itself had already gone: the last Nash and Hudson cars were built in 1957, when AMC turned to the Rambler.

Owners, clubs and collecting today

The Metropolitan had famous owners. In May 1960 the London dealer Car Mart gave Princess Margaret a black convertible with gold trim as a wedding present; it was stolen in February 1961. The sources also name Steve Jobs, who had a two-tone car at 15, Elvis Presley, and Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

James W. Watson started the Metropolitan Club in January 1957. It published The Met Letter from May 1957 to January 1962 and was disbanded around May 1962. Today the Metropolitan Owners Club of North America (MOCNA), the UK Metropolitan Owners Club, the Pacific Northwest club and the AMC clubs AMCRC and AMO look after the cars. Writing in The Independent in 2007, Brian Sewell noted that collectors prize the 1,500 cc version. Owners have built pickups, estates, limousines, V8 conversions and even a snowmobile-powered "Metro-Sled".

What to check follows from the history: the badge (Nash, Hudson, Metropolitan or Austin), the series (an external boot lid means a Series IV) and the engine (1.2 or 1.5 litres). More cars of the decade are in the 1950s classics section, and other Nash models are in the Nash catalogue.

Photo gallery