Couple of corrections: The opening trunk was a 1960 feature, and the shifter was 3-on-the-dash, not 3-on-the-tree. You could squeeze 5 young (slim) folks in a Metro (3 in front and 2 in the mini-back-seat) in a pinch. I did it many times, and in my '60 hardtop, not a convertible.
I replaced the 3-on-the-dash shifter (the shift lever protruded from the dash on kind of a ball-fixture) with a reverse-oriented 3-on-the-floor aftermarket shifter. Problem was that the OEM shifter would turn off the ignition key if you weren't careful while shifting into 2nd or 3rd. The floor shifter let me execute super-fast shifts, allowing me (with the Metro's 1500 cc/52 HP mill) routinely beat the pants off one of my friends' 63 VW beetle (1300 cc/40 hp) in a drag or a road race.
I once drove my Metro, equipped with chain-tread rear snow tires, from the Cleveland area across the NY Thruway to Boston in a driving snowstorm (snow didn't stop till I hit the Mass Pike), passing many full-sized American cars that got stuck. Took 14 hours to get to Boston - from late afternoon until the next morning - with nary a problem (all right, a couple of 4-wheel drifts, but correctable).
It was a fun, fun car. If it had been a convertible, I'd probably still have it.
Couple of corrections: The opening trunk was a 1960 feature, and the shifter was 3-on-the-dash, not 3-on-the-tree. You could squeeze 5 young (slim) folks in a Metro (3 in front and 2 in the mini-back-seat) in a pinch. I did it many times, and in my '60 hardtop, not a convertible.
I replaced the 3-on-the-dash shifter (the shift lever protruded from the dash on kind of a ball-fixture) with a reverse-oriented 3-on-the-floor aftermarket shifter. Problem was that the OEM shifter would turn off the ignition key if you weren't careful while shifting into 2nd or 3rd. The floor shifter let me execute super-fast shifts, allowing me (with the Metro's 1500 cc/52 HP mill) routinely beat the pants off one of my friends' 63 VW beetle (1300 cc/40 hp) in a drag or a road race.
I once drove my Metro, equipped with chain-tread rear snow tires, from the Cleveland area across the NY Thruway to Boston in a driving snowstorm (snow didn't stop till I hit the Mass Pike), passing many full-sized American cars that got stuck. Took 14 hours to get to Boston - from late afternoon until the next morning - with nary a problem (all right, a couple of 4-wheel drifts, but correctable).
It was a fun, fun car. If it had been a convertible, I'd probably still have it.