There has always been a touch of tilt about the 1949 - 1951 Nash Airflyte . Critics have decried their near animated cartoon - like styling , while supporters have praise them for their comfort , room , and still .
Naysayers have pointed to Nash ’s inclination to early rustout and poor resale value ; enthusiasts brag about the open up technology used . While pundits quickly dub them the " bathtub " Nashes , the company proudly key them " Airflyte . "
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Although Nash engineering was located in Detroit , Wahlberg last in Chicago in an upscale part of town fuck as the Gold Coast . From there , he commute by geartrain to his office at Nash .
" He was a smart as a whip humans , " recall Bill Reddig , who set out working in Nash Styling in 1950 . " [ He ] always seemed deep in sentiment , as if working on an technology problem . Wally [ Wahlberg ] would be striding down the hall entirely oblivious to everything around him . You could see the density in his face . He would sometimes annul focusing suddenly , spinning around without drop a step , as some new intellection caused him to reconsider his route . "
Wahlberg was mesmerized with aeromechanics , streamline , and the effects of wind electric resistance on automobiles . He felt that the cars of the hereafter would take into report air retarding force when they were being designed , using the reward of flowing styling to ensure a quieter cabin , more static ride and handling , and improved fuel saving .
All the virtue of clear self-propelled design were , he felt , waiting to be showcased by any auto company smart enough to apply them .
He was n’t alone in his thinking . In 1945 , when postwar machine production was just beginning its dull start - up , nearly all of the auto companies lead the easy itinerary of just reintroducing their prewar railroad car with minimal updating . It was realized by some , however , that life in the postwar epoch was go to be substantially different .
For many Americans , biplanes had been a marvelous batch in 1937 . Just 10 long time later , rockets and spurt planes were coming into vogue , along with nuclear power – and there was even talk of distance travelling in the not - too - removed future .
The wartime advances in airplanes were to strongly influence the work of postwar automobile designers . It seemed like the right clip to establish a raw automotive design frontier .
Nash was n’t going to be leave behind – in sales or applied science . Learn about Nash Airflyte development in the next section .
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1949 Nash Airflyte Development
Let ’s look into the 1949 Nash Airflyte ontogenesis . The president and chairperson of Nash - Kelvinator , George W. Mason , was certainly willing to look at any plan that might help his firm increase cut-rate sale . Nash had always been a cautiously run company when it was leave by its namesake , Charles W. Nash .
Charlie Nash had hand - pick Mason as his successor , partly on the feeling that Mason was a fiscal conservativist like himself . It ’s doubtful that Nash ever repent his pick , for Mason ran the caller very well indeed , avoiding the booby trap that had killed off so many other self-governing automakers .
Mason understood the need for fiscal responsibility , but a part of him yearn to take a chance on something a bit daring , bold , and out of the mainstream . He believe that the direction to ensure success for a minor independent automaker was to offer cars observably different from those of the mainline Big Three producers .
Mason , in envision out how long it would take the auto company to live up to the compose - up demand , was certain that when the thirst was slake the market would apace sprain insensate and cruel .
bang that he would want an all - new car when competitory conditions returned , he settled on 1949 as the year he would introduce the first all - new postwar Nash . This would be the machine that would lead the firm into the future tense .
He began to experiment with different shapes and forms , trying to set an optimum software that would hold a full load of passengers and cargo while offering minimum wind impedance .
At about the same time , Wahlberg was visited by two sovereign auto graphic designer , Bob Koto and Ted Piech . What they had to volunteer was a pattern for a large aerodynamically clean family car for the postwar market .
Although Wahlberg looked over the clay model and supporting drawings , he slip by on the cable car , deciding to do one with his own team instead . But Koto ’s design almost certainly exerted a wakeless influence on the car that Wahlberg eventually put into production .
Nash Styling in the late forties was a part of Engineering , so naturally Wahlberg had command . Actual employment on the output gondola was done by Wahlberg ’s assistant , Chief Engineer Meade Moore , and Ted Ulrich , perhaps the top unit - body designer in the land at the clip and the man who popularized it with the watershed 1941 Nash 600 .
serve them was a small band of technology department employee . Ray Smith worked on the one - after part - scale models , Don Butler on eubstance point and chrome accessories such as wheel masking , mirrors , and trim .
What a elevator car they build ! The 1949 Nash was a standout , easily identifiable to the humanity on the street – exciting and alien all at once . The gasbag shape was the most streamlined form on the road , a large step ahead of the vaguely similar Packard .
At Wahlberg ’s insistence , form was to follow function , with better airflow the main goal , and indeed the Airflyte bring forth just 113 Ezra Pound of puff at 60 mph , compare to 171 for Packard . The rounded fenders flowed smoothly , their gentle turning point allay a path through the wind .
At 62 inches magniloquent , the Modern car stand six inches lower than the 1948 Nash , and the windscreen was one piece and wind . Semi - enclose rearward rack living accommodations had been a feature on the previous Nash 600 , but for this daring postwar car both front and rearward wheels were enfold at Wahlberg ’s insistency .
observe details on the 1949 Nash Airflyte series on the next varlet .
1949 Nash Airflyte
Inside , the " Super - Lounge " interior ( " Sky - Lounge " in 1950 ) featured a modern minimalist look " deliberately contrive to be recessive in tone , restful , [ with ] no distracting halations . "
memorize about the 1950 Nash Airflytes in the next section .
1950 Nash Airflyte
Let ’s weigh the 1950 Nash Airflyte . It had cost Mason $ 15 million to put the 1949 Nash Airflyte into production – a bombastic pile of money in those days . But the firm was in dependable shape then , having work out its production up from a Depression depression of 14,973 cars in 1933 to 118,621 in 1948 , only the 2nd time the company had outstrip the 100,000 - building block storey since 1929 .
Nash belted a home run with its new bathtubs . railroad car production come up to 130,000 for the 1960 simulation yr , 142,592 for the calendar year . The latter was an all - sentence record , and win of $ 26 million were the honorable the caller had record since the integration of Kelvinator and Nash . Mason ’s gamble on aerodynamics had devote off big !
Meanwhile , the 600 nameplate was dropped in favor of " Statesman , " clearly more in tune with the Ambassador nameplate . The Statesman ’s engine was stroked a quarter - in to 184 three-dimensional inches , up horsepower to a still - humble 85 , while the Ambassador ’s six got a fresh cylinder head that increased yield to 115 horses .
With not much else raw to talk about , purchaser were cue that " Only Nash has a curve , single windshield in all model ! " As in 1949 , a rearward window wiper blade was offered , a novel touch at the clip .
contain out the next section for details on the 1951 Nash Airflyte .
Tom McCahill began measure new cars forMechanix Illustratedright after World War II , quickly install himself as the dean of American road tester . Affectionately bonk as " Uncle " Tom , he was widely read , extremely well-thought-of , and much dear for the witty manner in which he described the cars he tested .
Among the hundreds of cars he evaluated were the 1949 Nash 600 and Ambassador , both equipped with overdrive , which he had drive at Nash ’s evidence yard in Burlington , Wisconsin . A few excerpts from his report follow :
StylingNash . . . has gone overboard for the novel fad in railway car invention and get up with two red-hot candidate for Miss Upside - Down Bathtub of 1949 . I found the 600 and the Ambassador had bound into the late style with both spigot wide exposed . It ’s chic to have no fender , and there are no smarter cars on the route now than the new Nashes . The Ambassador . . . is a magnificent - seem automobile , inside and out . The 600The 600 , which vanish the Nash coloring in the low - priced grocery store , is miles ahead of competitors on two count – economic system and comfort . At modal speed the 600 will give between 25 and 30 international mile to a congius . This put it a good five geographical mile forward of its close rival among the big three of the popular - priced railcar . [ The 82 - bhp six mate to the overdrive ] has pepped up the 600 so that it ’s no longer a wienerwurst on its metrical unit . It still is n’t a bearcat in performance but it ’s decidedly far away from its former snail stratum , From 0 to 60 miles per hour through gears , the time was 20.1 seconds . Top speed in [ overdrive ] high after buildup is 74 to 77 miles an hr . If you want zip - zip functioning , this is not the car for you . The performance is n’t outstanding but , considering the thriftiness , the comfort and the ultra - innovative design , the newfangled Nash 600 is one of the skilful steal in America today . The AmbassadorI’m glad to report that this 112 - hp , overhead - valve chariot can climb up a James Jerome Hill like a goat and skim over jolty block roads like a parazoan full of oil on water ice . This car is remarkably agile and fleet . . . . [ A]n average of many , many run made show . . . 0 to 60 , through gears , in 17.4 seconds . The Ambassador is extremely tight footed on the pickup and has been a big winner in stock - machine races . maximal velocity of this framework varies between 86 and 89 mph . The Ambassador is a top - flight , luxurious car that can cruise over the road at speeds higher than anyone in his right mind should want to go . In eyeshot of all the feature offered in thiscar – such as feel , roadability , performance , interior comfort and last , but far from least , the bed feature – I do n’t know of a better dollar bill - for - buck value buy in its class than the Ambassador .
FeaturesAn exclusive lineament of all Nash sedans is the convertible treble layer that you’re able to set up in the car in a jiffy . This bed arrangement takes no blank space from the extra large tree trunk compartment and can be made up in either exclusive or double section by dropping the hinged back of the split front seat so that it forms a comfortable mattress with the rearward tush . Another Nash innovation is the Uniscope , a succinct instrument panel streamlined on the top side of the steering tower for promiscuous " cockpit control . “The Ambassador and the 600 both now have coil - spring suspension of both front and rear wheel as well as torque - tube drive . Like other car producer , they also are using the jumbo balloon tyre – those 24 - Irish punt wonderment that , for my dough , could be better off glut right back on a rubber tree .
ConclusionBoth cars are standouts in looks , luxury and riding ability . After proving the quality of each in grueling route tests , I palpate the major auto companies had better get down look to their honour . They wo n’t outdo these two numbers by feeding the populace any more milktoast mannikin .
1951 Nash Airflyte
Trim levels for the1951 Nash Airflyte were reduced to two , Super and Custom , although the Statesman melodic line also offered a single low - priced DeLuxe business coupe . usage model came with more upmarket trimming , full wheel discs , custom steerage steering wheel , and a folding rearward - fundament armrest .
The new railway car carry the Airflyte smell , concluded with hold in wheel and soft corner , and even wore Airflyte badges .
There is nothing more satisfying than following up a great year with an even heavy one , and for 1950 Nash did just that . Total product for the calendar year was 191,865 car , help along by decorous sales of the Rambler . Along the way , on April 18,1950 , the two - one-millionth Nash was produced .
Up front , the sheetmetal was unchanged because the differences in duration would have doubled the tooling cost . But the grille was young , sporting a fine-looking , toothy grin that had a bit of 1951 Buick flavor to it , make the two look more - or - less related to from a head - on position .
within , the Uniscope was go , replaced by a new " Pilot Panel " dashboard color - match to the exterior . Though more established now , it still placed all of the " driving dials " directly in front of the driver , sported a " curve cowl , " and retained the slue Glove Drawer .
Though mechanically skillful changes were few , chance were reminded that " Only Nash and Rolls - Royce have the gruff 7 - bearing , 100 % counterbalanced crankshaft . . . that ’s first-rate - quiet , vibration - costless , built for years of rugged service . "
Nash also feature that a 1950 Ambassador had traveled 712 mile at 95.3 miles per hour in the Pan American Road Race in Mexico , " trust to be a class stock railway car book never equal ! "
Calendar - class production descend to 161,140 units in 1951 , and that included 57,555 Ramblers . exemplary class results were more supporting : 205,307 , including 70,003 Ramblers .
The latter was father the lion ’s percentage of the firm ’s attention now as a new Country Club two - doorway hardtop fall in the place wagon and convertible . Interestingly , Ramblers come in body styles that the braggart Nashes did n’t proffer . Conversely , the Rambler lineup still lacked sedans , though they would shortly appear .
There were several reasons why production was beginning to stutter as the 1951 role model year undercoat on . First off , the Airflyte was in its third year , so it was no longer the New railcar on the block .
Secondly , the public was tiring of the fastback look in general , and not just Nash ’s . General Motors , for exemplar , was quickly abandoning that body style across its vast batting order .
Finally , the overall auto market was have got an off class after record - breaking 1950 .
Wally Wahlberg had pull up stakes the firm by then , replaced by Meade Moore . But Airflyte styling rest a stylemark at Nash and its heir , American Motors , perhaps longer than it should have .
Styling opened up the Rambler ’s front wheel for 1955 , but Ambassadors wear upon enclosed wheel through 1956 , and of form the minuscule British - built Metropolitan carry that bet right to its 1962 demise .
Aero - styling did n’t re-emerge on American sedans until the mid-1980s , when Ford picked up the torch and ran with it – deal much of the ground the Airflyte had already travel !
For 1949 - 1959 Nash Airflyte specifications , see our last segment .
1949, 1950, 1951 Nash Airflyte Specifications
The 1949 - 1951 Airflytes remain the most successful Nashes in history , beating every old sales record book and set a peak never to be reached again by Nash . Find specification for this serial in the chart below .
1949 - 1951 Nash : Models , Prices , and output
