1953 NASH METROPOLITAN - $15,000 (EAST OAKLANE)

[Joe Cocuzza]

1953 NASH Metropolitan for sale. Super clean inside out. 42,000 original miles. Garage kept. 4 cylinder 3 speed manual. A MUST SEE!!!!! $15,000 OBO For this rare gem. Call Ellis at 215-880-9132 between hours 9am-4pm.

 

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/d/philadelphia-1953-nash-metropolitan/7419592030.html

[Gearheadengineer]

Looks nice and you could have fun with it.  
 

It’s not a 1953 because the first production cars were sold as ‘54s.  Not sure what year it is. I’d guess ‘54 or ‘55. It’s got the early hood but the ‘56 and up side trim, but without the two tone paint.  You’d need the serial number to know for sure. 
 

The first car I ever “restored” was a 1956 Met ragtop. Lots of fun. Not the best workmanship but I was young and had limited tools and budget. At least it was solid, reliable, and looked decent when I was done. 

Fun cars to tool around in. People love them because they are so cute. 

[John_S_in_Penna]

So let's learn from those who know:

What is it like to drive a Metropolitan?

 

The name implies that it's meant for in-town

or city driving.  Their low horsepower, to me,

indicates that they might be overstressed 

at even 55 m.p.h.

 

They certainly are good-looking little cars,

maybe the best looking of all the subcompacts

that came before or after.

[The 55er]

Mets of any year were notorious rust buckets. A thorough inspection is necessary before purchasing one of these subcompacts.

[mike6024]

I have a neighbor who keep a few of them in the field with his hogs. I mean pigs, not Harley Davidsons.

[f.f.jones]

West Coast prices seem to hover around $10k for a real good one. Many appear for sale in the summer months, but mostly project cars for quite a bit less.

[Gearheadengineer]

You can run them at highway speeds with no problem.  By highway speeds I mean 60mph +/-.  It’s a relatively high revving engine of similar family as the contemporary MGA. 
 

Handling sucks. Massive understeer.  Might be different with radials - I had mine a long time ago and bias ply tires were still common. It’s fine on back roads as long as you drive it like a normal car and don’t try to race through corners. 
 

As you might expect, turning radius is huge for its size.  Those front fenders don’t give much room for the wheels to pivot. 
 

Rust for sure. Similar to an MGB, there is no such thing as “a little” rust on a Met.  They are a unibody design.  Mine was bad when I got it - the inner and outer rocker panels (aka “sills”) were gone. Floors needed help too.  Pretty typical for these. Luckily my father was a sheet metal guy and he made new panels for me. When I first got it, I got it running and loaded a couple of friends in it for a ride. It flexed so much the doors wouldn’t open until one of us jumped out.  The new rockers solved that. 
 

The shifter is interesting. It’s essentially a column shift but it uses a ball joint set up.  If you are over a certain age you probably know how to fix the inevitable column shifter jam.  
 

Best part of driving these: they are cute.  I was in high school and college when I had mine and the car got a lot of attention from the young ladies. I took a good friend’s brother (Porsche 924 driver) for a beach area cruise and his first statement after was “I have to get one of these!”

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

As I mentioned on another thread in the discussion forum my Dad was a used car salesman for Whittaker Buick in St. Paul MN 1956-58. He brought home a different car every day he worked. Here is one of the few my Mother took a picture of. Dad was a BIG man, 6’-3” almost three bills. How did he fit in let alone drive a Met?

[alsancle]

Sellers really seem to have a hard time with pictures when posting CL ads.   You would almost think that CL was charging by the picture and resolution.