“What is that?” or “I had one in high school!” Those are the two most common responses we hear when someone stops us at our car.
It’s a 1962 Metropolitan automobile, originally designed by Nash and eventually rolled up into American Motors Company when Nash merged with Hudson in 1954. It was built in England by the Austin Motor Company as a grandfather of the modern British Motor Works (BMW) Mini Cooper. 1959 was the most popular year for the Metropolitan — so much so that in 1960 they overbuilt the Met. In the meantime, AMC offered Rambler American, which took away Metropolitan sales. By the end of 1960, AMC had more than a thousand Mets left. What to do? Register them as 1961 and 1962 models, depending on which year they were sold. So our 1962 Metropolitan was built in January 1960. That’s okay as AMC had not significantly changed the Met since about 1957 when it upgraded the engine to 1500 cc and 55 horsepower — faster and more powerful than its primary competitor, the Volkswagen Beetle.
Our Metropolitan came to us from a restorer in central California who went all out on it with a rebuilt engine, new brakes, suspension, shifter, starter, generator, voltage regulator, speedometer, fuel pump, water pump, battery, tires, shocks, interior, paint job and much more. Then he drove it just 250 miles before selling it to us. Our job has been to find all the little quirks that older classics have and fix them. It’s a labor of love.
Today, “Little Blue” drives us around our small town in northern California, seeking groceries, lunches out, and plain old cruising. It’s a very dependable driver. We’re retired so it only gets about 50 miles on it a week, but each mile brings big smiles — and nice comments.
Questions? Comments? Please email [email protected].