1956 Nash Metropolitan – Metropolitan Lady

The term Metropolitan is an adjective meaning,  “Of, relating to, or characteristic of a metropolis.” It was also a term used to label those who had the sophistication, fashionable tastes and manners associated with a metropolis. That is until Nash Motors, in 1953, came out with a stylish, diminutive, grocery-getter dubbed the Metropolitan.

The little Nash moved the meaning of the word from the city, where there was ample public transportation, to the suburbs. The car was actually a small part of a big movement to deal with the new post World War II reality for women. No one from the big city gets called a “Metropolitan” anymore, and vintage car buffs will forever-more assume you are talking about Nash’s first, second car for families when you use the term.