1957 Nash Metropolitan

The Nash Metropolitan was Nash president George Mason's idea of the ultimate commuter/shopping car. Styling was based on the Bill Flajole design for the NXI show car and bore a resemblance to the big Nash, but the scale was tiny: The Met's wheelbase was shorter than a VW Beetle's. Bodies were built in England by Fisher & Ludlow, and the four-cylinder engines came from Austin, which also did final assembly. A three-passenger convertible and fixed-roof hardtop were offered. Later cars had flashy two-tone paint that reminded one stylist of "Neapolitan ice cream." The Met met with modest success in the United States and was continued by AMC even after Nash and Hudson had left the scene -- both badges were used on the car so both sets of dealers could sell it. The little 1.2-liter engine was bored out to 1.5 liters during the 1956 model year to produce the Met 1500, and the car would remain basically unaltered until sales ceased in the early '60s. 97,000 Metropolitans were sold from 1954 to 1962.

 

A cool way to view mine or anyone else's photostream is on fluidr.

 

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