1958 Nash Metropolitan Coupe

In 1947 the Nash company started to think about a small automobile well-directed as a second car. At first, they tried technical components from different European manufacturers, so a few prototypes were built on Fiat 500 Topolino chassis. Coevally the Nash management negotiated with several European companies about the model's production, such as Borgward and Peugeot. Besides that, there were hundreds of thousands of potential buyers questioned about their needs and demands, making the Metropolitan the very first result of massive market research in automotive history.

Finally, the British Motor Corporation BMC won the race. So in late 1953, the Nash Metropolitan was realized as an import produced at the Austin factory in Longbridge (where later the Mini was made) from BMC parts. The 42 horsepower 1,200cc inline-four came from the Austin A40. The only Nash heritage was their typical front suspension layout.

When the Nash nameplate disappeared in 1957 in favor of the Rambler script badge, the model name Metropolitan became the car's brand name. At that time, the 'Met' came in chic two-tone paint and a 52 horsepower, 1489cc Austin A50 engine. Until early 1961 there were 104,377 convertibles and Coupes made of which 94,991 were sold in the United States and Canada.