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Tag: nash

The perfect second car – 1958 Metropolitan for sale
12Dec By Brian CoreyNo Comments
Cheap Classic Cars

The perfect second car – 1958 Metropolitan for sale

What is white and turquoise and cute all over? OK, maybe that's not the greatest line to start a car review with, but come on, we're looking a freakin' Metropolitan for sale here. And yes, it's just Metropolitan. Though introduced for 1954 as the Nash Metropolitan, a merger with Hudson would see it also sold as a Hudson Metropolitan starting in 1955. Then in 1958 it became a stand alone make from the newly formed American Motors Corporation. Funny enough, this car isn't exactly American. Though designed in Kenosha, Wisconsin as the second car for a two car family, building the Metropolitan domestically proved too expensive for Nash. To bring it to fruition overseas manufacturing proved to be a must. Nash negotiated with a variety of European automakers, asking them to use their...
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January 14, 1954 – Nash & Hudson merge to form AMC
14Jan By Automotive History2 Comments
This Day

January 14, 1954 – Nash & Hudson merge to form AMC

In what was the largest corporate merger US history at the time, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation agreed to merge with Hudson Motor Car Company to form American Motors Corporation (AMC) on this day in 1954. The deal was led by Nash-Kelvinator CEO George Mason who hoped to build a strong competitor of the Big Three: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Above: This 1960 Rambler American Wagon offered space and great fuel economy. By Greg Gjerdingen. Top: The Metropolitan, first built by Nash for 1954, remained a key part of the AMC lineup through 1961 as they continued to push smaller cars. Pictured is a 1956 Hudson. Within a year, Mason died of health complications. His assistant, George Romney, took over the role of CEO. Under Romney’s direction, Nash focused on its Rambler line o...
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April 11, 1916 – Nash Motors Company is founded
11Apr By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

April 11, 1916 – Nash Motors Company is founded

The story of Nash Motors begins way back in the early 1900s, with the Thomas B. Jeffery Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Prior to the first TBJC automobiles being produced in 1902, the company spent ample time developing its prototypes. The son of the company namesake came up with two radical innovations during the prototyping process, a steering wheel and front-mounted engines. While normal today, at the time vehicles utilized tiller steering and nearly all had the engine under the seat. Of course by the time TBJC production began, father talked son out of his crazy ideas. Steering wheel or not, the lengthy research and development proved successful; they sold cars as fast as they could build them. The company filled more than 1,300 orders in 1903, in large part thanks to the adopt...
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Dusty & Rusty – Herd of Metropolitans for sale – $500 to $3,000 each
2Apr By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
Cheap Classic Cars, Classifieds, Dusty & Rusty

Dusty & Rusty – Herd of Metropolitans for sale – $500 to $3,000 each

The Metropolitan is an interesting little car, and with a wheel base shorter than a VW, little it is. Though badged as an American Nash, Hudson, and even as its own sub-brand of AMC, the Metropolitan has a strong English accent. After initial design work and protyping was completed in Kenosha, WI, Nash executives realized it'd be too expensive to build from scratch. They contracted with England's Austin to build the car, using European underpinnings that'd help bring the cost down further. For the first time, a North American designed car, meant for the North American market, had assembly completed outside of the US. The goal to save money worked, and the vehicle destined to be American's "second car" began rolling out of English factories in October 1953. It seems this seller had ...
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February 1, 1901 – American poet and road tripper Langston Hughes is born
1Feb By Brian CoreyNo Comments
Features, This Day

February 1, 1901 – American poet and road tripper Langston Hughes is born

Happy Black History Month! This blog will make an effort to share Black history stories related to automotive history every day through the month of February. Some days, perhaps most, it may take a stretch to connect the two topics, but the stories and lessons shared will hopefully prove educational and entertaining nonetheless. Let's hit the road, shall we? Born in Missouri on this day in 1901, Langston Hughes would grow up to be a prominent poet, novelist, activist and an important social figure of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. What he wasn't known for, was his driving skills, which were apparently non-existent, at least up to around 1930. Despite this, writer and cultural archivist Zora Neale Hurston had no qualms inviting Hughes to join her on an road trip of great importanc...
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This Day in Automotive History is a transportation history, car history and general automotive history website dedicated to providing informative and entertaining content. Our goal is to enlighten our readers by producing and publishing automotive content on a wide range of topics, including famous cars, important automotive inventors and engineers and other historic automobile related events, places and people. We encourage you to share our page and connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter at the top of this page. If you have any questions about the content we publish, including our car videos and car history pictures and text and the use of them, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the below email address. On occasion we post classic cars for sale from Craigslist, Facebook and other online marketplaces. We utilize imagery from those ads in a fair use fashion. This includes barn finds for sale, muscle cars for sale, vans for sale, station wagons for sale, trucks for sale and other affordable old cars for sale. If you’d like your car featured, reach out to us!

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