Hello, Greg. I enjoy your old-car articles and nostalgia associated with them very much. I owned a 1962 Metropolitan at one time and remember you wrote an article a long time ago about the car and its history. I’d like to know a little more, especially which company was responsible for the Metropolitan body and a little more on the 1958 Rambler American that eventually replaced it? Can you please explain the history of the Metropolitan?
I met you at the Bloomsburg Nationals car show two years ago and told you a little bit about my car. We spoke for a good 30-minutes and you gave me a free bottle of spray on car wax and told me there were also Nash and Hudson Metropolitans, too.
Thanks again, I’m retired now and hope to see you again this year. Albert S., near Bloomsburg, PA.
Albert, I recall having that good conversation with you in 2019. If I remember correctly, you told me you owned a 1962 Metropolitan, which is the last year of its production.
The history of the Metropolitan goes back to 1953, its official intro-duction date under the guidance of George Mason and George Romney, the two company principals. The Metropolitan was 100% designed at Nash-Kelvinator during 1952, and the company awarded contracts to have it built overseas. In 1953, 743 Metropolitans were sold following a late model year introduction while sales in 1954 topped 13,000.
As for your question about who actually built the body, Nash awarded that contract to Fisher & Ludlow, LTD, a noted British company that specialized in building and stamping every-thing from refrigerators to cars. Most of the car bodies were then shipped to the manufacturers who added all the mechanical underpinnings and interiors.
However, the Metropolitan was constructed in England by Austin Motor Company, which Nash and Rambler advertising usually noted. Fisher & Ludlow, meanwhile, grew into the Pressed Steel Company and then British Motor Company that built bodies for Hillman, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Vauxhall and even Rolls Royce. The company ended up as British Leyland in 1968, most famous today for Range Rover and Jaguar.
The engine that powered your 1962 Metropolitan is the British-built Austin Motor Company “A50,” which sizes out at 91 cubic inches from 4-cylinders delivering 52-horsepower. The top speed is 78mph, much better than the initial 1954 year when a 42-horsepower Austin “A40" powered the car to approximately 60mph maximum.
The transmission is a former Austin 4-speed with the first gear removed, resulting in a column shifted “Met 3-speed manual.” The price for your car listed at $1,775 and featured four wheel hydraulic drum brakes, 13-inch tires, all steel Fisher & Ludlow body, 2-passenger accommodations and a wheelbase of 85-inches. The fuel tank held 10.5-gallons, the crankcase 4-quarts of oil and the car delivers up to 40mpg on the highway.
Today, there are many nice Metropolitans out there, be it a Nash or Hudson or just a “Met.” Nash and Hudson merged in 1954 to form AMC, but Mason and Romney kept Nash and Hudson marketing separate. Sadly, the talented Mason, who convinced Tony Hulman in 1947 to use a Nash to pace the Indy 500, died in October of 1954 as the 1955 AMC models were being introduced.
When Nash and Hudson merged there were Nash Ramblers and Hudson Ramblers in 1955 and 1956. In 1957 they were just called Rambler, with the Nash and Hudson names dropped. There were also Nash and Hudson Metropolitans in 1955 and 1956, but again the Nash and Hudson part of the name was dropped in 1957 and they became just Metropolitan available at Rambler dealers.
In 1958 Romney introduced the Rambler American, which immediately sold 150,000 units. This sales number was way better than the best year for Metropolitan sales, which came in at 22,200 in 1959. This “new” 1958 Rambler American was actually a reintroduction of the 1956 Nash/Hudson Rambler, which was at that time an all-new model. The American basically remained mechanically the same through 1962 except for front end and rear styling tweaks along the way for a fresher look, overall.
Thus, although the Metropolitan survived through 1962, it was clear the end was near as AMC allowed contracts to expire with Austin and Fisher & Ludlow. The final tally found just 94,986 Metropolitans sold during its 10-year run. Today, they are favorites at car shows everywhere.
Thanks for your letter and I will be back this year at the Bloomsburg Nationals car show August 13 to 15. Stop by and say hello.