In 1940, the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation introduced a low-priced line of cars advertised to carry six passengers up to 600 miles on a 17-gallon tank of gas (at 25–30 mpg), with seats that converted into beds and all on an all-welded unitized body and frame platform. This innovative construction technique took about 500 pounds out of the weight of the car, but also required the creation of new collision repair techniques such as panel and frame pullers, which are essentially the same techniques used on today’s uni-body cars.
Helene Rother was Nash’s interior stylist, and this interior really appeals to me! In the conversation I had with the owner, he pointed out the Weather Eye “conditioned air” feature, which was a first in the industry (introduced in the late 1930s), in that it pulled in fresh outside air from a cowl vent and passed it over a heater core to provide engine-derived heat under slight pressure to the cabin.
Later renditions included thermostatic controls – again, pretty much the same idea our modern-era cars use. Nash would later apply it’s refrigerator savvy and introduce the all-in-one heater/air conditioner, dubbed the “All Weather Eye.”
This particular example has been dressed out with a number of accessories that would not have come on a Business Coupe from the factory. It’s a sharp car!
Well, gotta get to the next sales appointment… I’ll just throw my sample cases in the trunk and be moving on now.
Great find Ed. The ones I find dont seem to run.
What a nice-looking old coupe. But there’s no closeup of the sign and phone number…not that I’m in a position to buy, but one never knows who might be.
I can get that for you if you want. I think the asking price was $12.5K.
Looks like 309.243.1135, maybe. Let me know if you’re really interested and I’ll run by and check.
Love it. Nice Nash, the styling and add-ons make me think of a car that should have been owned by a “made man”. Perhaps the large trunk is full of Tommy Guns or illegal gambling equipment? 😛
Given this is Illinois, it’s probably both.
LOL.
Nice find Ed. Love those 40s business coupes, sexy as hell.
Maybe it’s my lifelong preference for a little junk in the trunk 🙂
A low-priced car for a “made man”? Not likely…
On the other hand, a pillar of our church, who was definitely well enough off, had a Nash 600 coupe exactly like that, except very dark blue, the kind that would oxidize and show all kinds of crazy purplish highlights if it wasn’t kept waxed.
I always thought that the rear wheel cutouts on the 600 were more stylish than the full cutouts on the Ambassador. Somewhere through the years my views have changed.
I like these so much more than the later Airflytes. I think that these are the last Nashes that really appeal to me for some reason. The trim on the dash is really beautiful, particularly for the low-end car. I wonder what the Ambassador looked like inside?
I keep forgetting how economical these Nash 600s were. They were part of a little prewar economy boom that also included the Studebaker Champion and the Willys Americar.
The economy figures don’t stack up though – 600mi on 17 gallons is 35mpg, not 25-30. Surely 35mpg would take some doing in a 1940’s car?
Interesting to learn of the innovations, too bad they weren’t enough to keep the ship afloat
At 35 – 40 mph, it probably did get 35 mpg.
It’s great to see one of these still around. My father bought one new and kept it until 1955. He put over 100K miles on it without any major work. I guess it’s what was there to go wrong? I was 8 years old when he traded it and still remember that dashboard. His was a club coupe, looked the same on the outside but had a back seat. Thanks for finding that one!
Handsome car indeed. And Weather Eye was very forward-looking!
Great find .
These are very appealing car indeed. The styling is “just right”, and I find it very handsome. Unusual for a CC article that it did not mention at all what it’s powered with. An I-6? V8? Turbo four? Gas-electric hybrids? Turbodiesel? Maybe even wankel rotary!
Sole engine on the 600 was a 173 cu. in. (2,828 cc) inline six with 82 gross horsepower.
It was a Capsule, but you have a good point. It was the relatively new little 172.6 inch flathead six (82 hp) that went on to power so many Ramblers and Americans. It first appeared on this relatively compact (mid-sized?) 600 in 1941, and was last available in the 1965 Rambler American, the last flathead still in production, by a healthy margin.
Update: I see two of us are on the job! But I’m checking out now. Over to you, Aaron.
Wow, only 2.8 liters. Even today it’s considered rather small. Back then in the era of big honking V8 it must be considered quite tiny.
*blinks*
*Looks at ranks of 1-1.5 litre cars parked outside on the street*
America, they do things different there. A 2.8 litre engine sounds huge to a European ear, is it really considered “rather small” there? or is that hyperbole?
well back in those days we measured things in cubic inches and most of Americas favorites over the years seem to have been in the 250 to 350 odd cubic inch range which I guess gets you around 4+ liters to 5.7+ liters. So to answer your question, yeah that is a little small for American tastes.
Yeah, America is the land of crazy big engines. Even basic econocar like a Suzuki SX4 have 2.0l engine. In my country it has a 1.5l engine. Popular midsize sedans usually have 2.5l engine, the V6 models 3.5l or more. And that’s today. Back then, it’s even crazier! A base, “economy” engine would be a 6-cylinder of around 200 cubic inches, that’s 3.2 liter! And it goes up from there!
Quietly getting into my 4.6ltr V8 powered F150 and driving away… 😛
I rest my case… 😉
In this same era Nash offered an overhead valve, “Twin-Ignition” inline six in the Ambassador. The twin ignition refers to the fact that each cylinder had two spark plugs, one on either side of the head. Kind of intriguing. These guys at Bonneville though so too.