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Post by olroy2044 on Jun 11, 2011 22:45:02 GMT -5
I don't know why, but old cars keep winding up in front of my old cameras! This one is technically not a Rambler, but the family resemblance is unmistakable. It is a '57 Nash Metropolitan. I see it being driven here in Chico quite frequently. It belongs to an auto insurance agent. IIRC, the Nash Metro was an MG Midget with the frumpy coachwork supplied by Nash, later to become American Motors. Taken with my SRT 202 wearing a Soligor 35-140 zoom at 140 Enjoy(?) Roy
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 12, 2011 1:36:43 GMT -5
Roy,
I used to have a used Nash Metropolitan. It had an Austin engine with a 3 speed gear shift on the steering column. It was coral (a sort of tamed down orange) and cream.
I was quite fond of the car but had to sell it when my 2 little boys, though still little boys, outgrew the somewhat less than commodious rear seat which was really more like a ledge than a seat.
Mickey
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jun 12, 2011 4:35:51 GMT -5
Roy, I think the Metropolitan was based on Austin rather than MG (or Morris) Parts. Certainly in Britain it was known (well it was to me) as the Austin Metropolitan. It was a late 1950s car and the first of the 'modern' Midgets didn't come out till the 1960s came in. MG at that time had the MGA, which had replaced the last of the 'old' Midgets (MG TF) in 1955.
I don't think I have ever been in one. Mickey what was the Metropolitan like?
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 12, 2011 5:02:43 GMT -5
I don't think I have ever been in one. Mickey what was the Metropolitan like? Dave, I have never been much of a car fanatic. I have no idea how many cc's it had, if it had any at all, or any other technical details. It did seem to have most automotive essentials. Four wheels. Brakes. Windshield wipers. Door handles. Headlamps. Exhaust pipe. Yup. Fully equipped. I do recall how sensitive and easy the steering was compared to the big American cars'. I was young so comfort was not an issue although it might be today. I am not sure. The windows were large for such a small car and were really appreciated on a hot summer day especially since there were no no-drafts. The colour. Oh that colour. Two tones no less! Classeee! I would gladly drive one today. I'd be the belle - beau of the ball. Mickey
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Post by olroy2044 on Jun 12, 2011 7:21:04 GMT -5
Mickey and Dave: Thanks for refreshing my memory. You are right, it was Austin. My former father-in-law had one many years ago, and I rebuilt the engine for him. I could not remember which company built the running gear. The cars have a somewhat "cult" status here (whatever that is!) Roy
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Jun 12, 2011 9:30:54 GMT -5
The Metropolitan was conceived and styled by Nash when the company decided there was a North American market for a small European type car which still looked like an American car.
Nash had neither experience of making small cars nor production facilities and press tools that could handle it so, wisely, they decided to have it built in Europe and chose the Austin division of the newly-formed British Motor Corporation in the UK at Longbridge in the Midlands.
The car used quite a few Austin mechanical parts including, at first, a 1200 cc Austin engine. This was a scaled-down version of Austin's 1500 cc B-Series engine, intended to be an "economy" version. It wasn't. The lower output meant that when it was used in larger BMC cars the driver had to keep changing gear in town so it was dropped in favour of the 1500 B-Series with an overall improvement in fuel economy.
The B-Series was used in a number of BMC "badge-engineered" cars such as Riley, Wolseley etc, and in the MGB. It was a solid, reliable engine, not very high output - around 55 bhp, but it had lots of low-down torque so in a light car like the Metropolitan it needed only a three-speed gearbox. In heavier UK cars it neded a four-speed box.
The engine was basically a pre-war design with its roots in the 1939 Austin 16hp when the stupid out-dated horsepower road tax system took into account only the bore diameter and number of cylinders.
To keep the road tax rating low, most older designs of UK engines had a long stroke compared with the bore which meant that at higher revs the piston speed was high resulting in early bore wear. At around 30-35000 miles the engine started to burn oil, pushed out clouds of blue smoke from the exhaust and needed reboring with over-size pistons.
BMC's column gear shift wasn't the best in the world. The gearbox was also quite an old design intended for floor shift. For the column shift the selectors were moved to the side and controlled by a cable which used to stretch. At around 15,000 miles cable stretch meant that the sector quadrant didn't line up properly and gear changing became somewhat hit and miss. Easy enough to adjust, but beyond the scope of most owner-mechanics.
The first Metropolitans with the 1200 cc engine came off the line late in 1953 with either an open-top or hard-top body but until 1957 the entire production was exported, mainly to Nash. Nash had merged with Hudson so the car was badged either as a Nash or a Hudson depending on which dealer sold it.
The first home-market cars were released in early 1957 and, although they didn't carry an Austin badge, just the name Metropolitan, they were known as Austin Metropolitans and sold by Austin dealers. Production finally stopped early in 1961. Surviving examples are far more numerous in North America than in the UK.
Mickey, You mentioned the shelf-like rear seat. In his road test of the time, one motoring journalist wrote that Austin's brochure called the Metropolitan a four seater, but a better description would be "with seating for two adults and two legless children".
PeterW
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 9:52:56 GMT -5
There was a period when you could acquire a used Metropolitan just for hauling it away. Then they turned into collector's items. My parents had an Austin A40 Devon in the early 1950s. Don't know how it slipped into the states. I think it had the same engine as the Nash. It was a gutless little thing performance-wise.
Wayne
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photax
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Post by photax on Jun 12, 2011 14:18:07 GMT -5
Hi Roy ! This is really an unusual car with an interesting history ( thanks, Peter ), I`ve never seen one of those on the streets here, but some weeks ago I found two at the classic car show, they do have a Viennese licence plate, maybe sometime I am able to overtake one Mickey do you have pictures from your model ? MIK
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 12, 2011 14:34:42 GMT -5
Mickey do you have pictures from your model ? MIK MIK, I had posted one here before, a copy of a slide. I'll see if I can find it and post it again. Mickey
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Post by herron on Jun 12, 2011 22:03:44 GMT -5
I remember our neighbor had a Metropolitan when I was a kid. I sat in it once and recall thinking, as young as I was, this is a SMALL car!
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 13, 2011 12:41:26 GMT -5
Frumpy? Not at all.
As a kid I rode around in the back seat of my mother's Standard 10. Compared to that, the wee Nash is positively Hollywood.
Far more stylish (and quicker) were Grandpa's Austin Sheerline and Dad's Riley 2.5. But the best treat of all was riding shotgun in my uncle's Jeep CJ3b.
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Post by andys93integra on Jun 17, 2011 23:33:54 GMT -5
I was at Back to the Fifties today (Friday), and saw a Nash Metropolitan. I will be there again Saturday, which is the busiest day, over 12,000 cars expected! Basically anything model year 64 and older.
Andy
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photax
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Post by photax on Jun 18, 2011 17:28:40 GMT -5
Hi Andy ! I hope we`ll see some more pictures from Saturday`s show.
MIK
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Nov 14, 2011 11:03:38 GMT -5
Hi Roy ! This is really an unusual car with an interesting history ( thanks, Peter ), I`ve never seen one of those on the streets here, but some weeks ago I found two at the classic car show, they do have a Viennese licence plate, maybe sometime I am able to overtake one Mickey do you have pictures from your model ? MIK MIK, Back in June I said I would try to find a picture of my Metropolitan. Here it is - not a good photo but all I could find. Mickey
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photax
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Post by photax on Nov 14, 2011 14:15:53 GMT -5
Mickey,
Have many thanks for showing ;D Nice colour ! You must have been a really cool guy back then !
MIK
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