Production

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 manual transmission.
The new model was initially to be called the "NKI Custom", but the name was changed to "Metropolitan" just two months before its public release in March 1954. After the first 10,000 cars were built, the engine was changed to a B-Series, but still of 1200 cc, (as used in the Austin A40 Cambridge).


1959 "Met" on a promotional postcard
A major redesign in 1956 saw the Metropolitan's B-Series engine increased in capacity to 1500 cc (as used in the Austin A50 Cambridge). Polished stainless steel strips on the body sides allowed a new two-tone finish to be incorporated. The grille was also redesigned, and the hood had its non-functional hoodscoop removed.
Another major revision in 1959 saw the addition of an external trunklid (previous models only allowed access to the trunk through the rear seat back) and vent windows. By this time, the engine had been up-graded by increasing the compression ratio from 7.2:1 to 8.3:1 giving an output of 55 bhp (as used in the Austin A55 Cambridge).
Production ceased in April 1961 (final VIN - E95981). Sufficient inventory existed for continuation of sales until March 1962. A total of approximately 95,000 Metropolitans were sold in the U.S.A. Although not a comparatively large number, the Metropolitan was one of the top selling imported cars in the U.S. market in their time. It was second only to the Volkswagen Beetle. Moreover, during the Eisenhower economic recession of 1958, AMC outsold Chrysler with their economical compact cars. The top sales year was for the Metropolitan was 1959, helping to spur on the introduction of the Big Three's (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) new compact models.