ordered for a second car, to be used either for a trip to the movies or for a fast run to a penicillin festival." He added that it was a "nice-handling car with plenty of control and amazing dig, considering it is powered by a small Austin A-40 engine" and that the finish was "very nice", although having no trunk opening except by pulling down the back of the rear seat “poses a problem". His test car accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 19.3 seconds and could exceed . A Road & Track road test recorded acceleration from 0–60 mph in 22.4 seconds, "almost half of the VW’s 39.2". However the magazine noted that at , a common American cruising speed at the time, the Metropolitan was revving at 4300 rpm, which shortened engine life, whereas the Volkswagen could travel at the same speed at only 3000 rpm. Road & Tracks testers also said that the car had “more than its share of roll and wallow on corners” and there was "little seat-of-the-pants security when the rear end takes its time getting back in line". Road Test magazine wrote in 1954 that "on roadability and responsive handling, the Met shines. It also offers easy maintenance and downright stinginess when it comes to gasoline consumption. Also, it's literally a brute for punishment. On several occasions I took familiar corners at speeds half again what I would dare to use in some cars of twice the weightproof that proper weight distribution, low center of gravity and well engineered suspension have more to do with roadability than massiveness, weight and long wheelbases. Admittedly, the short wheelbased Met does pitch moderately on very rough roads, but the sensitivity and ease of steering make driving a pleasure." Production for U.S. Series I Production at Austin's Longbridge factory started in October 1953 (Commencing VIN1001). Nicknamed the "baby Nash", the cars were tiny. They had an wheelbase, overall length of and a gross weight of only for the Convertible and for the Hardtop, thus making the Metropolitan smaller than the Volkswagen Beetle. The two models, a convertible and a hardtop, were powered by the OHV straight-4 Austin 'A40' series engine (as used in the Austin A40 Devon/Dorset) driving the rear wheels through a three-speed manual transmission. The initial order was for 10,000 units, with an option to increase the order if sales were sufficient. The new