AMC Metropolitan

Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "AMC Metropolitan". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article... Read Full Story

Production at Austin's Longbridge factory started in October 1953. Nick-named the "baby Nash", the cars were tiny. They had an 85 inch (2159 mm) wheelbase, overall length of 149.5 inches (3797 mm) and a gross weight of only 1803 lb (818 kg); thus making the Metropolitan smaller than the Volkswagen Beetle. The two models, a convertible and a hardtop, were powered by the OHV 1200 cc straight-4 Austin A40 engine (as used in the Austin A40 Devon/Dorset) driving the rear wheels through a 3-speed... Read Full Story

While most U.S. automobile makers were following a "bigger-is-better" philosophy, Nash Motor Company executives were examining the market to offer American buyers an economical transportation alternative. The Metropolitan was designed in the United States and it patterned a concept car, the NXI (Nash Experimental International), that was built by William J. Flajole for Nash-Kelvinator. This prototype was displayed at a number of "surviews" (survey/previews) to gauge the reaction of the... Read Full Story

"Weird Al" Yankovic says that his favorite car is the Nash Metropolitan, and he tends to feature a brown and white car in his films and music videos. In the movie UHF, the character played by "Weird Al" Yankovic drives a Nash Metropolitan. Right Hand Drive models were sold in the U.S. to be used by Police Departments for parking enforcement duties. The brochure for the Austin Metropolitans used a "reversed" negative to show an apparently "Right-Hand Drive" car parked in an English country... Read Full Story

In October 1956, Austin obtained permission from AMC to sell the Metropolitans in overseas countries where AMC did not have a presence. Thus from December 1956, production of "Austin" Metropolitans began, and from April 1957 onwards, approximately 9,400 additional units were sold in United Kingdom and other overseas markets. Those sold in the UK were RHD models, but also LHD Austin models were built for other markets. In the UK it was sold through Austin dealers as the "Metropolitan... Read Full Story