‘The car is so quirky and fun’

METRO DETROIT — When visiting his aunt and uncle in Tennessee in 1972, Scott Romano spotted a 1960 AMC Metropolitan for sale in the parking lot of a convenience store.

The family had just driven by the Graceland home of superstar singer Elvis Presley in Memphis.

“Elvis was still alive,” Romano said, remembering a family member who snapped a photo of his mom, Suzanne Romano, with Graceland in the background. “I saw this car for sale. I kept looking at it and looking at it. I had never seen one before.”

Romano’s grandfather, Leonard A. Davis — a car buff himself — jotted down the phone number of the seller. Davis called the owner, made a deal and ultimately purchased the two-door Metropolitan for Romano, who was only 12 at the time and too young to get behind the wheel just yet.  

“My grandpa thought it was so amusing, he bought it for me,” Romano said. “It had 28,000 miles on it when he purchased it. I was used to antique cars. I grew up around them.”

Romano lived in Clarkston at the time, and Davis resided in Waterford.

“My grandpa kept this at his house in Waterford,” Romano said, who remembers many outings in the convertible with his grandfather. “I used to spend the summers there on Watkins Lake. He would take us for ice cream just about every night. We could put three (people) across in front and two kids in the back. I loved it.”

It was through grandpa that Romano learned about cars. When Davis died in 1981, Romano inherited the vehicle. It was bittersweet.

“I  loved my grandfather. He was so patient about teaching me how to detail a car or tell if a car was original,” said Romano, now of Royal Oak. “My mom said before I even started school, I could call cars by name when they drove by. My mom was into cars, too.”

Davis was a noted antique car restorer. He also had a star-studded moment when he portrayed Henry Ford in a couple of scenes in the 50th anniversary feature film “The American Road.” The black-and-white movie was produced in 1953 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford Motor Co. The production mixes archival footage with reenactments. Romano has still photos of Davis’ shots in the film.

“The movie was shown at Greenfield Village and Ford events,” Romano said. “It’s free on YouTube.”

Romano’s mom upholstered the seats on the Metropolitan. Although he’s not Catholic, Romano decorated the car’s dashboard with a number of religious symbols, including the Virgin Mary.

“When I was a kid, all the Catholics had them on their dashboards. I started collecting them,” he said, adding they also remind him of the song “Plastic Jesus” from the Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke.” “It was a fun song. It always stuck in my head.”

Romano only takes out the two-door Metropolitan occasionally when “I just feel like driving it.”

“The farthest I’ve gone is Port Huron or Ypsilanti. It has 37,000 miles on it now,” Romano said. “The car is so quirky and fun. It just makes you feel good. For as little as it is, the turning radius is like a Mack truck. The fenders all have lowrider cutouts.”

Through his research, Romano is quite the historian on the 1960 AMC Metropolitan. According to Romano, the Metropolitan is an American automobile that was assembled at the Longbridge Plant in Birmingham, England.

“The doors were interchangeable to save money. It does have this fun little feature: Underneath the dashboard, there’s a ventilation door to let air in,” Romano said.

The car event he enjoys the most is the Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show held every year. This year’s Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show will kick off with a cruise Sept. 16 and the car show Sept. 17. For more information, visit ypsiautoheritage.org or call (734) 482-5200.

“I wish more people knew about it. It’s a beautiful setting on Frog Island (Park),” Romano said. “You get to see Tuckers, Studebakers, Packards.”