The Metropolitan was built by Austin at its Longbridge, Birmingham, plant, to be sold by Hudson and Nash in the United States as a small car, at a time when compact vehicles were a rare thing in the USA. From 1956 though, Austin started producing its own version to sell in the UK and other markets where Nash and Hudson didn’t have a presence.

This very colourful and attractive example was registered in July 1958 (as a UK car) and is now showing 34,017 miles on its odometer. Four previous registered owners are recorded. The vendor believes that the Metropolitan was resprayed between 2015 and 2019, with the front and rear bumpers also rechromed and the car rewired while the vehicle was in storage and not used on the road. Beyond this, the vendor’s opinion is that there are no signs of restoration and all the panels are original with no rust evident within the chassis of body panels. The engine is described as ‘original’ and in ‘fine fettle’. The recommissioning work to get the car roadworthy after its period of storage has involved the replacement of the clutch master cylinder as well as other miscellaneous work.

A V5C has been applied for, but has not yet arrived from the DVLA. Other paperwork includes the summary of the online MoT history, with the last one expiring in July 2014, plus bills for the 2020 recommissioning work, and a report on the car’s general condition.

Car available at Anglia Car Auction Saturday 20th and 21st – Price Listed is Lower Estimate