Started in 1916, Nash Motors is one of the rare minor players that actually is still in existence, but I'm getting way ahead of the story. It was founded by a former GM president, Charles W. Nash, who acquired the Thomas B. Jeffery Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin. This company's best known automobile was the Rambler, which started production in 1902.
Jeffery also produced a four-wheel drive Quad truck, which became an important product for Nash. This vehicle served the army well in WW1 and achieved the reputation as the best 4WD truck in the country. It also helped Nash to become the leading producer of military trucks by the end of WW1.
Further ties to GM came early in Nash history when Charles convinced the chief engineer of the Oakland/Pontiac division, Nils Eric Wahlberg, to move over to Nash. The result was several innovations which are still used in vehicles today, such as flow-through ventilation.
Nash-Kelvinator Corporation
Before retiring, Charles Nash chose Kelvinator head George W Mason to succeed him. Mason accepted, but only on the condition that Nash would acquire controlling interest in Kelvinator. Nash continued as the automobile brand name under the new Nash-Kelvinator Corporation January 4, 1937. This was the larger merger of companies not in the same industry up until that time.
Innovations continued under the new company, Bed-In-A-Car, 1938, Weather Eye heater, 1939, which added a thermostat to its Conditioned Air System. Then in 1941, the Nash 600 became the first unibody construction automobile to be mass produced in the US.
Post WWII operations continued pretty much the same as before the war until 1949, when Nash produced the Airflyte, an aerodynamic body shape developed in a wind tunnel. The 600 and Ambassador models shared the same body and in 1951, the 600 was renamed the Statesman.
1950 saw the introduction of the first post war compact car, the Nash Rambler was a feature-laden convertible. 1954 Nash introduced the Metropolitan, imported from Austin in Britain. Newly redesigned 1952 full-sized models were dubbed Golden Airflytes in honor of Nash Motors' 50th anniversary.
In January 1954, Nash announced acquisition of the Hudson Motor Car Company, creating American Motors Corporation. A friendly merger designed to improve the financial condition of both companies. Beginning in 1955, all Nash and Hudson models would be produced at the Nash Kenosha plant, and would share a common body, but with individual powertrains.
Soon after the 1954 merger, George Mason died. George Romney became the new CEO and pinned the future of the company on an expanded Rambler line. He began phasing out the Nash and Hudson nameplates and so Nash/Hudson production ended June 25, 1957.
From 1959-1965, Rambler was the only marque sold by AMC, other than Metropolitan, which remained in dealer showrooms until 1962. Rambler was phased out beginning in 1965 and completely discontinued after 1969.
1970 marked the acquisition of Kaiser Jeep and in the early 1980's, AMC entered into a partnership with Renault. AMC was ultimately acquired by Chrysler Corporation in 1987, so in that fashion, it can be said they are still around.
I rambled on (pardon the pun), far too long to include the story of Hudson in this segment, so we'll get to that next time…
Did You Know?
Nash produced a sports car (1951-1954) called the Nash-Healey. 506 were produced.
The Hudson Hornet dominated NASCAR in the early 1950's.
The first traffic light was installed in Cleveland, OH in 1914.
Ford introduced the first electric trunk release in 1958.
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