Metropolitan Pit Stop has been featured in videos, magazines and newspaper articles. Here are a few links:
Old Cars Weekly – April 27, 2022
Preview from Jay Leno’s Garage: “Size Matters” (S:4 E:08) – July 26, 2018
Fireball Tim’s Malibu Vlog – September, 2016
Donny Conn of The Playmates talks about the song “Beep Beep” – January, 2014
Hemmings Classic Car – April 2005
The Vintage Vehicle Show – March, 2004
WheelsTV “Wild About Wheels” – June, 1998
The following are excerpts from various magazine and newspaper articles:
Gainesville Sun (Florida) – September 11, 2000:
For Jimmy Valentine in North Hollywood, California, Metropolitans are more than a passing fancy, they’re a business. He operates Metropolitan Pit Stop, selling the parts, assisting in restorations and running a museum dedicated to the humble little ‘Met’.
“It had the potential to be successful, but they didn’t market it successfully,” he said. Valentine explained that when the Nash Company merged with Hudson, the Hudson people liked more high-performance cars and looked down on the little car with a mere four cylinders under the hood. He said there was also pressure to sell cars that were built in the United States. The small foreign-built VW bug went on to mega-success, while the Met became part of auto history. While it never was a wild commercial success, it did capture many hearts.
-Gary Kirkland
Sunset Magazine – January 2000:
Valentine’s North Hollywood facility on Laurel Canyon Boulevard represents a perfect shrine to the car culture. It is a combination…auto parts warehouse and Nash Metropolitan museum.
Valentine displays eight Metropolitans in the museum, including the Astra-Gnome, a car of the future from 1955 with a Jetson-styled bubble hatch. It was made for the 1956 New York International Auto Show.
Because (Metropolitan) parts were hard to find, he started stockpiling them…eventually, he began having parts manufactured, and he now serves Metropolitan owners worldwide.
“This has…become a cult car, especially among people interested in art,” says Valentine. “If you’re after attention, you’ll get it in this.”
-Matthew Jaffe
Los Angeles Magazine – December 1996:
Without a doubt, the key to understanding Metropolitan life is a visit to the Metropolitan Pit Stop, a paean to all things Metropolitan, located on a busy commercial strip in North Hollywood.
The Metropolitan Pit Stop is the place to have your Met brought up to snuff. But more important, it’s the site of the museum of Metropolitans. The vehicles on display are themselves remarkable, including one of the earliest examples produced, the NKI (Nash Kelvinator International), built even before they had thought up the Metropolitan Moniker. It also has the hook and ladder fire truck, the Pinin Farina station wagon prototype and the Astra-Gnome, which graced the cover of the September 3, 1956 issue of Newsweek. Jim discovered this long-lost piece…in a New York loft (he had to arrange for the elevator to be taken apart to get yesterday’s car of tomorrow down to street level).
-Bob Merlis
The Wall Street Journal – September 11, 1985:
Some people thought she was the homeliest thing ever to arrive from abroad, but Jim Valentine thought she was cute. In fact, he fell hood over wheels in love with her. As the owner of the Metropolitan Pit Stop, Mr. Valentine makes his living selling Metropolitan parts, restoration work and Metropolitans. He has more than 1,000 pieces of Metropolitan memorabilia and his wife, Eve has sometimes wondered whether he was losing his marbles over the car.
The Met…wasn’t a hot seller in its time, and a disenchanted AMC dumped it in 1961. But the little vehicle with the art deco look has simply refused to die.
-William Blundell
Other publications featuring articles about the Metropolitan Pit Stop include:
Valley Life – February 21, 1990
Daily News (Los Angeles) – February 10, 1988
Daily News, Business Section – July 15, 1985
LA Weekly – June 27, 1985
Los Angeles Times – February 3, 1985
