Ride Of The Week 09/11/2023: Joe Migliorisi's 1960 Nash Metropolitan

VETTE-TROPOLITAN

When I walked up to this 1960 Nash Metropolitan, I immediately noticed the custom badge on the lower, right fender, “Vetrolpolitan”. Then, I looked in the engine bay, where this little '60s econobox was backing a big surprise. Joe Migliorisi of Natrona Heights, PA stuffed an LS6 into this little Nash. When I asked him what possessed you to do such a thing, Joe replied, “I’m a retired guy with way too much time on my hand, I guess.”

He found the car in Ohio with the intention of doing a full restoration, but upon seeing the condition of the rotted body and the pitted bright work, he then thought restomod.

Joe hand-build a custom frame that would allow it to accommodate the LS harvested from at 2002 Z06 that suffered a rear-end collision. It’s backed up by a Tremec 5-Speed Manual gearbox. “The six speed was too big and heavy and the shifter was sitting too far back,” Joe tells me, “it would have popped up in the middle of the bench seat.”

The build features a bevy of aftermarket parts perfect for a franken-build such as this: Ididit steering column, Mosier Axles, Strange Gear with a 3.50 ratio. It has 4-wheel discs and coil overs on each corner. The rear tires are, 245/60/15, so there’s plenty of meat to get the power to the pavement.

When I asked how much was cut out of the 9” rear end housing, Joe didn’t remember exactly. “Quite a bit”, was all he said. The drive shaft is only 18” from the transmission to the rear axle.

“I had been a 350 small block guy all my life, but I thought it was time to take a stab at building something with a computer in it. I liked the LS6 because it was all-aluminum and very light weight.”

The engine and the Z06 badge were all that came from the wrecked Corvette when the build started 7 years ago. It’s now in it’s 4th car show season.

At 2200 lbs, it’s very light and powerful but Joe claims it’s surprisingly easy to drive, “Just don’t get on it too hard.”

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