The "Jimmy Buffett Owned One Of These" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol and I were driving back from one of my grandson's baseball games at nearby New Holland when out of the corner of my eye I saw it.  Turned my head slightly and saw the name on the building as Steffy's Garage.  In a few seconds I had lost the neat little car that was in the building's front window.  I knew at that moment I would return to see it as soon as I could.  

1954 Nash Metropolitan

A few days later I retraced my route and pulled into the front parking lot of the car repair shop.  I walked through the door and asked the man at the counter if I could take a few photos of the 1954 Nash Metropolitan that was next to me.  "Help yourself," he responded.  "Is it for sale?" I asked.  He replied, "Anything is for sale...if the offer is right!"  

My first car...a 1953 Henry J.  It was very close to this color,
 but that may have been due to it being covered in rust.

Took a few steps to the front of the car and marveled at the condition the car was in after all these years.  It looked as if it had been repainted, but the interior was in near-perfect condition.  Brought back memories of my first car, a 1953 "Henry J" which had a coat of rust on the exterior when it was delivered to my house in the north end of the city of Lancaster, PA.  

A better look at the rear of the Metro with tire on rear.

The four-cylinder "Henry J" was the idea of Henry J. Kaiser who was one half of the Kaiser-Fraiser car company.  Eventually painted it and refurbished the interior before it was demolished by a drunk driver one evening while sitting in front of my home.  As for this gorgeous '54 Metropolitan, I'm not sure if I ever saw a care quite as small.  It was smaller than the VW Bug in 1954.  It was known as both an economy car and subcompact car.  The four-cylinder car was actually sold as a Hudson when Nash and Hudson merged in 1954 to form American Motors Corporation.  

Closer look at the front of the car.

The car was in production from 1953 to 1962.  It was sold as either a 2-door convertible or a 2-door hardtop which is what I was standing in front of right now.  The engine was either a 1,200 cc or a 1,500 cc model.  All Metros came with a 3-speed manual transmission.  It was 149.5 inches in length, 61.5 inches wide and 54.5 inches high with a curb weight of 1,785 pounds.  

The car had the original 1954 Pennsylvania inspection sticker.
Not sure if it had been saved and taped back in place or if
the car had only been on the road for a year.

It was built to resemble the bigger Nash automobile, but much smaller.  The car was first named NKI (for Nash-Kelvinator Inter- national) and built entirely in Europe, but the name was changed to Metro- politan just two months before its public release.  Nash dealers had to take off the custom chrome nameplates and replace them before the cars were shown for the first time.  

This photo show the front seat area.  Carpet, upholstery,
floor mats and headliner all look to be new or restored.

The car featured a map light, electric windshield wipers, cigar lighter and "conti- nental- type" rear-mounted spare tire and cover.  To make it more luxurious they added Bedford-cord upholstery trimmed in leather, an AM radio, "Weather eye" heater and whitewall tires.  It at first was marketed specifically for women.  The first spokesperson for the car was Miss America 1954, Evelyn Ay Sempier, who just happened to be a resident of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  

You can see the cramped space in the rear.

It was featured in Woman's Wear Daily.  As I stood in front of the car I wondered if I would fit in it.  Wasn't long before I was sitting in the driver's seat!  Would be tough to sit in the rear seat if you were an adult, but it was comfortable in the front seat.  Checked out the interior and escaped from the seat to take a few photos of the car to share with you.  The car was only in production for 10 years, probably due to the fact that Americans loved big, bulky cars at the time.  A few of the paint colors for the car carried names such as Canyon Red, Caribbean Blue, Sunburst Yellow and Mardi Gras Red.  If this car had been made today it may have been more successful due to its size.  And, to think Jimmy Buffett owned one of these!  Now that's cool!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.