I don't know alot about these cars,but my wife had to have it. Anybody do engine, brake suspensions conversions?
People have put grotesquely oversized engines in and rear tires on Metropolitans. I'd put a tiny 3- or 4-banger, or a motor in one. There are pictures on the HAMB and internet of one in the process of being customized- like a miniature lead sled. It's cool.
I owned one for about 45 minutes years ago. went to a very cold winter auction and they had a few old cars. very few people showed up and the auction moved faster than they planned and sold the old cars about hour and half earlier so people that wanted just the cars showed up when the cars were already sold and the auction was about over. I was the only bidder on the nash. wife wasn't happy and the other couple just shook their heads. we went inside to warm up and I took a walk back outside to look at my new investment and a guy approached me and said he was told I brought it and if I would consider selling it to him, he showed up late with the other car buyers. he offered me a great price way more than I paid and being such a cold day I didn't really wanted to go home and try starting my diesel truck and hook up the trailer etc, so I took his cash. they were all surprised inside I sold it so fast. coincidently the guy that owned the Nash also had a '48 cadillac at that auction I was considering but after the Nash sold to me I didn't want to haul 2 cars that day. He ended up buying the caddy back but 6 months later on a nice summer day he had another auction at a different location and I ended up buying that same '48 caddy that day for $1400 less this time and he left it go this time. so waiting 6 months I got it cheaper and it was a nice day to load on so I consider that a win. .
My 9yo Granddaughter just noticed how the scoop looks like the car and it just keeps going if you keep looking at the scoop!!
I've always wanted one. Years ago a guy in the nash club told me they like to put honda engines in them. No other details, just that. Fun little car
This one isn't "pro-street." Edited to add: It seems like this one wasn't finished or is camera shy because there are no other pictures to be found on the internet. It'd be cool to see pictures of it finished. I can't tell what engine is in there. These pictures might have been taken in Canada, going by the "Canadian" sticker on the refrigerator. This was posted on Custom Car Chronicle a decade ago: https://www.customcarchronicle.com/forums/topic/metropolitan-custom/
We had a red and white convertible when I was younger we would wear big sombrero's and cruise around. Dad kicked a rod out of it on the way to work. Lippy
Basicaly a re-bodied MG midget made in the UK. And shipped to the US You are more likely to find MG upgrade parts for it
I have one waiting in the wings for it's turn. Need my buddy to get his Dart off the dam rotisserie so I can get started. Car came with title and any and all Met parts I need as my buddy owned it and he has had 7 of them. He currently has 4.
Never seen a Metropolitan custom before. that is really cool. For anyone thinking about buying one, sit in it first. Most of us will not fit in it, let alone drive it.
Err.......it wasn't a rebodied MG Midget. The Midget came out after the Metropolitan had ended production, and anyway the Midget was just a badge engineered Austin-Healey Sprite, which again wasn't designed until 4 or 5 years after the Metropolitan has been designed in the USA. It wasn't designed by Austin, it was built built by them using Austin mechanicals from a USA design.
I've had two. Bought one for my soon to be wife for $15 in '66. Rebuilt engine, painted it orange and she drove it foe a year or so. Then in about 1989 I bought one and restored it for my twin daughters to drive to high school. I put three sets of EGGE pistons in before I got a set that didn't crack. One thing I quickly learned; there are still so many of them still around in good condition because they rarely ran!! Lucas electrical, sketchy column gear shifter that constantly locked up, etc. You often see them with a crease across the cowl scoop below the windshield because the safety hood latch fatigued, cracked and broke so the hood flew up at speed. All that being said they are a fun little car to own and drive. If I ever do it again, I will put a late model 4-banger and tranny in it. Then just restore everything else and enjoy driving it. Oh, and put in an EZ harness!!!!!
The vast majority of the engine, transmission, suspension, steering and brake components are MG sprite, midget etc parts bin parts. Upgrades to the US vehicle are also based on MG upgrade parts.
A friend has one. I haven’t seen it in a while but he put what I think was the drivetrain out of a Miata in it.
I had one of those damned things when I was a Sr. in High School Bought it is summer of 1964 after I blew the flathead in my 51 Merc up and needed a car to drive to work. Stock engine and running gear are Austin in the Metro complete with a crankckshaft that is threaded to screw the oil back in the engine rather than having a rear main seal. I blew the original engine up and dad found me an Austin A 40 for it and hauled it over in the trunk of his 57 Olds Super 88 that had a J-2 Tri power in it. They are unibody with no frame and pretty damned flimsy. Especially the rag tops. Leaf springs on the rear I don't remember what the front suspension was like. The track is damned narrow though making normal suspension swaps a pain in the butt. Even a Corvair front end is going to too wide. If it were me I'd put a common 1200/1600 CC banger with a transmission of her choice in it. I'm not sure that a Ford 2300 or iron duke would fit without cutting. At 1800 lbs you don't a lot of power to run faster than you want to ride on that 85 inch wheelbase. Top photo is me in my 55 rag top in 1965. Bottom photo is one a guy I went to trade school with has for sale that is certified for 8.50 and runs a 427 and is for sale. View attachment 5760485
The concept for this one is pretty good: Wide axles that turn it into a ~fenderless hot rod. I would've got the wheels out further in the front so you wouldn't have to cut out the front wheel arches like that. I deleted the goofiness.
You see quite a few still around because the bodies are thick assed steel. The bodies are not flimsy but they are prone to floor rot. I was surprised that there was reasonable room inside them. My buddy is 6ft. 1 and I am 6ft. and we both were in his 60 ragtop without being cramped. Don't know if anyone was aware but the doors are designed so that they can used on either side of the car. Your right Lippy. That would be about half the length of his Dart!
There was a student in my high school that had one. He was a little guy himself and not destined to be a "varsity" player but still a regular, normal kid. (I was a small guy myself due to being a "late bloomer" but I did grow like Jack's magic beans after high school.) One day, after school was out, not out of meanness or anything planned, a bunch of guys picked the Metro up and turned it sideways in the parking space(s) "just because". Worst case, the Metro owner would have had to wait for a car on the left or right to move first.
A friend of mine built one. Put an early Hemi in it. Named it "The Kelvinator Rocket". Here's a video from 2020. Glory Days 2020 Gordy Buetsch - YouTube He was still sorting out the bugs in this video.
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