Austin Metropolitan - wing badge
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A strange venture between Austin of England and American partners Nash and Hudson resulted in a small convertible commonly referred to as the Metropolitan. The Metropolitan started life with the 1200cc BMC B-Series engine, later cars (from 1956) used the more powerful 1500cc B-Series, these cars were called the Metropolitan 1500.
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The Metropolitan was engineered and built by Austin at Longbridge to a design brief originating from Nash, an American car company renown for daring to be different. Nash decided that there was a market in the US for a small car which would ideal for use as a second family vehicle, however they did not have the experience required to produce small cars, enter Austin who did...
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Austin Metropolitan Series IV. Opening bootlids were given to the Series IV, and this was also available in Europe
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The Metropolitan was designed in the USA by William J. Flajole, for Nash Motor Division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Fisher & Ludlow, Ltd., built the body and the mechanical outfitting was done by Austin Motor Company, Ltd. Both companies were in Birmingham, England.
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As of the 1957 model year, the names of "Nash Metropolitan" and "Hudson Metropolitan" were dropped, and the name "Metropolitan" became the marque. AThe Metropolitan continued with minor changes/improvements through 1959, 1960, with production ending on April 19, 1961. In December 1956, The Austin Motor Company aquired the right to sell the Metropolitan outside of North America. Austin started marketing the car in April 1957. This car is often referred to as an "Austin Metropolitan", but in fact it never bore the name "Austin".
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