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The
History of
the Metropolitan
This history was
researched and compiled by the Derby City Metropolitan Club from various books and printed
material that has been published over the past 30 years.
The idea for the Metropolitan was first conceived in 1945 or 1946 and was introduced to
the Nash Motor Company in 1946 and was well received. From there planning was started and
various designs were studied. It was decided by Nash that to retool for the Metropolitan
would be too costly and the idea to have the cars made in England was decided.
After six years of design problems, it was decided Austin Motors of Longbridge, England
would produce the Metropolitan. The first order for 7,500 Metropolitans was placed for
delivery in 1954.
This was the first time in
Automobile history that a car was designed in America and built in a foreign country for
resale solely in the United States.
The first cars were made in October, 1953 and were shipped to the United States for the
1954 model year.
Later in 1957, the AMC people decided to let the cars be sold in Europe as sales were slow
in the United States. It was thought that Europe would be a good market for the small
cars. This turned out to be false. From 1957 to the end of production in March of 1961
only a small number were sold in Europe.
In the meantime the American Rambler was doing well in sales worldwide. There were
problems with Austin Motors over price increases and design changes so it was decided by
AMC to discontinue the Metropolitan in March 1961. Cars that were left over were sold as
1962 models.
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