25 January 2012

1952 Nash Rambler - The Coolest Kelvinator

To explain the title first: Nash was part of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, the result of a merger between Nash Motors and Kelvinator Appliance Company. The union of these two companies was brought about as a result of a condition made by George W. Mason prior to his appointment as CEO of Nash. When Charles Nash, founder of Nash Motors began looking for his successor, he turned to Mason, upon the recommendation of Walter Chrysler. Mason initially rebuffed Nash’s offer, however when Nash asked what it would take to bring Mason over to Nash, Mason stated that he would not take the position if Kelvinator (who he was then CEO of) was not included in the deal. Nash saw merit in this idea; General Motors owned Frigidaire, Borg-Warner owned Norge Appliance, and Chrysler operated its own air conditioning division, Airtemp. Now you know this little nugget, it may explain why post-war Nashs (gnashers?) started to look a little like their Kelvinator cousins. Nash used a wind tunnel to style it's new generation of cars, (dubbed Airflyte) in '49) as they modernised the looks of its entire range of cars. The compact Rambler was introduced in 1950; the first model available was the two-door Landau convertible, an example of which is the car below. Now it may look like an aerodynamic 50's fridge, but early 50's Nashs are the coolest cars of the early part of that decade (with the exception - maybe - of the first Corvettes) to our eyes; Don and Melissa Fitzgerald thought so too when they decided to take on a Nash Rambler. If you're looking for a quick, easy to build car with parts just a mouse click away leave the building now, because a '52 Rambler ragtop is as rare as rocking horse teeth, with parts availability to match. Luckily that didn't put off the Fitzgeralds; their Nash is cooler than a roomful of Kelvinators.
Don your vintage fur-lined parka and traipse your snowshoes over to here.





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