Vehicle Description
1959 Nash Metropolitan -1.5L 4 Cylinder -3 Speed Manual
Transmission -Matching Custom Metropolitan Trailer (Please note: If
you happen to be viewing this 1959 Nash Metropolitan and its
matching trailer on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors
site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many
photographs of these vehicles due to website limitations. To be
sure you access all the more than 175 photographs, as well as a
short walk-around-and-startup video, please go to our main website:
GarageKeptMotors.) The Metropolitan makes friends standing still.
Driving one anywhere is a bonus. �€"Automobile Magazine, October
2007 The story of the Metropolitan began just as Volkswagens were
first being imported into America. As Automobile Magazine told it:
The idea that Americans might take to a small car--no, a really
small car--was something that cigar-chomping Nash president George
W. Mason pondered for quite some time. Despite his own king-size
proportions, Mason believed that there would be a ready consumer
base for a pint-sized runabout, as the two-car family was becoming
a reality in postwar America. Noting the trickle of cars beginning
to come over from Europe, he decided to outsource the manufacture
of the little car of his dreams. The Metropolitan would be produced
overseas to take advantage of lower labor costs and the
availability of off-the-shelf small-car-appropriate components.
Austin in England would manufacture the engines and bodies, with
final assembly in the States. The model was sold for nine years.
And the Metropolitan's charm according to the magazine? Let's face
it: the appeal now, as then, is the car's all-consuming cuteness.
It has an eager puppy-dog look, highlighted by bulbous bodywork and
finished with a continental kit. Most sport nifty, two-tone paint
jobs recalling an ice cream 'n' sherbet treat on a stick. Every bit
of that charm and cuteness is on full display in the '59
Metropolitan offered here. In fact, it's all amplified by the
matching-color custom light-duty trailer that's part of the sale.
Both wear the ice cream 'n' sherbet colors of strawberry red and
vanilla white. The car's bodywork is unaltered, and presents in
excellent condition. This Nash spent most of its life in Tennessee
until it was brought to Michigan by our client approximately 7
years ago. Since it came to Michigan, it was driven minimally for
special events like parades. Outside, the bug-eyed headlights,
largely unnecessary hood scoop, angled chrome strip on the car's
flanks separating the two colors, white hardtop, all four wheels
almost hiding beneath the bodywork, and, of course, the
continental-kit spare tire carrier are all present and accounted
for. (Re-reading that list of characteristic features makes one
realize how completely unique the Metropolitan really is.) Oh, and
yes, there actually is a trunk! The car still wears its M badge in
the center of the grille, rendered in exactly the same typeface as
the N in the Nash logo of the time. The body appears to have been
professionally repainted, and the chrome trim exhibits unrestored
light patina characteristic of a 60 year-old vehicle. Inside, the
accuracy of the often-used Lilliputian description is evident. A
tall person-assuming they fit inside the car in the first
place-could easily operate both left and right roll-up window
handles at the same time. The upholstery on the seats and doors is
delightfully rendered in a combination of angular-design black
vinyl and vertical-stripe gray cloth. The effect is pure 1950s, and
is unmatched on any other car. Simple gauges (from Smiths, like in
every Austin Healey) adorn a black-painted metal dashboard framed
by a black steering wheel. The look is art-deco. The ignition is
located in the lower-center of the dash. Black carpeting and black
rubber floor mats cover the floors, and a perforated white vinyl
headliner covers the roof. Overall, the condition of the metal,
vinyl, cloth, and painted
