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And calling the Nash a European car is like calling the Camry an American car. It's not, even though it's built here.
The Nash Metropolitan was built in England, in the Austin factory, and its engine and transmission were both standard Austin designs of the 1950s. The ONLY things about that car that could be considered to be "American" were the badge and the body design, both of which originated in Nash's US headquarters.
The Nash Metropolitan was a British-made Austin masquerading as an American car for the benefit of Nash Motors Co.
Last edited by Retriever; 07-08-2016 at 04:48 PM..
And the only thing Japanese about the modern Camry is the nameplate and HQ of the parent company as almost all components and the body are built AND designed in the US for the US market. But the Camry isn't an American car.
The Metropolitan was built in England by Austin, but in the US it was sold by Nash and Hudson dealers. In England it was sold by Austin dealers. The mechanical parts were the same as used on other Austin cars, except for the transmission which was a special design with 3 speeds instead of the usual English 4 speed. The body was based on a prototype called the NXI which was built by Nash. Nash and Hudson later became American Motors.
The Nash Metropolitan was small, but was very heavy for its size. The four-cylinder flathead engine was not economical to drive. The engine was similar to what was in the early Jeeps. I had one of those gutless gashogs and it got barely 14 MPG, with a top speed of 55 MPH.
My first though was the Crosley.
Most small subcompacts I remember from 50s & 60s were imports. I had a Hillman, a Triumph TR 10, and an Austin America. Four of us commuted to school in a friends Renault 4CV.
These were later years, Plymouth Sundance, Dodge shadow, Plymouth Horizon, Dodge Omni, Chevy Chevette, Ford Escort, There must be others. The 80's American Motors Alliance was a Renault design, I don't know if they were built in the US.
Bantam built this thing in the 1940's. Bantam also designed another well known convertible that you may have heard of: the Bantam BRC 40. When the war effort started the Government did not think that tini Bantam could produce the amount of BRC 40's that they needed so both Ford and Willys Overland brought in to produce the amount of BRC's that were needed. Ford called there version the Pygmy's while Willys were called MA's. The Army just called them Jeep's.
Last edited by SOON2BNSURPRISE; 07-09-2016 at 03:48 AM..
Those initial sub-compact cars from Europe were designed for high gas prices. European countries had to import gas so they taxed it very heavily to maintain their foreign reserves.
In the 60s gasoline in the USA was very cheap. I can remember paying just $0.199 per gallon in Tucson in 1969.
Because of that, Detroit auto companies figured there would be too little demand for small cars and chose to not directly compete with cars like the VW Beetle.
Everybody knows that Real American cars need a 327 V8 and two tons of road hugging weight.
King Midget mentioned above.
No dealers. Purchase directly from factory.
Then there was the Henry J.
Budget small car.
First year the car did not have any trunk lid/opening.
Low priced budget car.
In the 1950's all/most manufacturers offered small cars in the US. Vespa, Mini, VW, Renault, Fiat, NSU, Amphicar, etc.
There was a sub culture of folks that purchased these cars. Early Volkswagon Beetle days - Beetle owners would wave to each other.
But the vast majority of Americans wanted bigger cars. Hence the first "compacts" would be considered a full size car today.
In the 60s gasoline in the USA was very cheap. I can remember paying just $0.199 per gallon in Tucson in 1969.
Because of that, Detroit auto companies figured there would be too little demand for small cars and chose to not directly compete with cars like the VW Beetle.
The Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega were designed to compete with the Beetle and other foreign cars.
The Beetle's popularity began to wane in the early 1970s.
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