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Terry Webb enjoys reading CarStory in the Brampton Guardian:

Enlarge Photo

Nash Metropolitan hardtop and convertible in sales brochure.

“The first car I ever owned was a cute little ’58 Nash Metropolitan purchased in 1966 for the princely sum of $10 which I had saved from my paper route earnings.

The little ‘scooter car’ had beckoned to me from a field behind a repair shop where it had been left derelict. An auto wrecker’s battery and a little coaxing brought the four cylinders to life.

“Because it had no plates, my friends drove their cars box-style front and rear while I struggled with the three-on-the-tree shifter to get home with the car without the local constabulary spotting me. That’s when I discovered, much to my buddy’s rear bumper’s chagrin, that the brakes needed pumping up on the pedal to function.

“Once safely ensconced in my folks’ driveway, I proceeded to fix her up. Brakes be damned, what she needed was wide white Port-a-walls on the wheels and a gallon of white CIL house paint to cover the surface rust and turn the thing into a real babe magnet.

“The ‘back seat’ was the size and comfort of a deacon’s bench. Making out in it at Marie Curtis Park in Long Branch near Toronto required contortionist expertise and resulted in window slamming charley horses and perpetual virginity! Still, I loved that little car and found more excitement owning it than any brand new car I have bought in my older boomer years.

“My buddy and I had American girlfriends in Buffalo (are there any other kind?) and so we sojourned across the border to visit them. (By the way, Denise, if you’re still alive, give me a call!) Anyway, Ron, who was driving, forgot to pump the brakes and we coasted clear past the border guard with his mouth agape. Two hour later and after a complete vehicular inspection and a scrutinizing interrogation, we were allowed to proceed.

“Like most young lad’s first cars, the little Nash had pros and cons. The good news is that I got 35 miles to the gallon. The bad news is it was Loblaws Shur Flo bulk motor oil.”

With bodies built in England and fitted with Austin engines, the Nash Metropolitan first went on sale in the fall of 1953. It rode on an 85-inch wheelbase and weighed about 1800 pounds. In April 1956, the Metropolitan 1500 was launched with a more powerful engine that pushed the top speed up to almost 80.

Styling was updated along with garish twotone paint schemes that one stylist likened to Neapolitan ice cream. Production ended in mid-1960 when the Big Three launched their first compact cars.