Jim Dworschack owns a piece of history in his 1948 Nash pickup. His prized piece of memorabilia is so uncommon, it was rarely seen — even when new.

“The Nash pickup I have I first saw in the early ’70s, when I made a trip to the Nash Club member’s house… in Oswego, Illinois,” said Jim, a resident of Soldiers Grove, Wis. “I had never seen a Nash pickup before, hence the journey to see it.” 

Actually, what Jim saw was parts of the pickup, because owner Bob Moser had taken it apart to restore it. Although Jim only saw pieces, he said, “It turns out to be the only one I have seen other than the prototype truck.”

The prototype Nash pickup he’s referring to had a 1942 Nash 600 front clip and cabin up to the B pillar. A panel was welded to the car body, behind the B pillar, to form the pickup cab. The fabrication was placed on a 1936 Nash frame. Perfect Steel Body Co. provided a pickup box, and the rear fenders came from a 1941 Ambassador.

The prototype pickup was used by the Nash plant until it was gifted to a retiring engineer in the late 1950s. This engineer traded it in at Walter Rambler, of Madison, Wis. The dealership then used it as a shop truck. Later, one of the dealership’s mechanics bought it for use on his farm. This technician’s son disassembled it, like Jim’s truck, for a long period of time. In 1980, Nash Club member Don Lope bought and reassembled it.

Before buying Bob’s truck, Jim was going to build his own Nash pickup.

“I am aware of two pickups that were made by people using big Nash truck cabs on sedan chassis coupled with a vintage pickup bed from another make, and two just cut-down donor sedans, home jobs.”

Bringing the Nash pickup back to life had become a stalled project for Bob, although Jim didn’t know it at the time he first saw it.

“After not seeing Bob Moser for perhaps 10 years, I bumped into him at the ’86 Nash meet,” Jim said. “I told him about my idea of how to make a Nash pickup. When I got done telling him the details, he just looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you buy mine?’ So, I did.”

Jim restored the Nash back to its original configuration. 

“Upon going to get the pickup, I found it all just as I remembered seeing it about 14 years previously,” Jim said. “The cab had been restored and the chassis painted. Essentially, I bought a pile of pieces, and within a year, had it restored and on the road in 1987.” The result was a mechanically sound, cosmetically appealing and road worthy truck.

The cab and front clip of Jim’s 1948 Nash pickup is based on the Ambassador model of that year, so it looks similar to the prototype Nash pickup, which had a 1942 Nash 600 front clip. (Like other manufacturers, Nash carried over its 1942 bodies for several years after World War II ended.) Since Nash didn’t go to unibody construction until 1949, Jim’s Nash uses the 1948 Ambassador’s separate frame-and-body construction. 

“These pickups were built on the ’48 convertible chassis, which had some extra reinforcing on the standard ’48 frame,” Jim said. “The entire driveline was the normal Nash Ambassador Six, overdrive transmission, with the sedan’s normal 4.4:1 rear-axle ratio. The sheet metal is the basic Ambassador four-door sedan. The roof was modified, of course, with the creation of sheet metal behind the driver’s seat. With the headliner removed, one can see the welded seam across the roof where the cab rear section stamping was welded to the standard four-door sedan roof. The backlight consists of three windows similar to the Advance-Design Chevrolet. 

“The cab and all stampings had to be made at the Seaman body plant in Milwaukee, as there were no sheet metal stamping facilities at the Kenosha facility at the time,” Jim explained.

Additional parts on the pickup not found on a ’48 Ambassador sedan are heavy-duty springs and shocks, as well as pickup-sized rear leaf springs.

“The bed, I think, was made by Heil for Nash,” Jim said. “Spacers were made in order to be able to use the standard rear fenders.” Since Heil was in Milwaukee, Jim’s theory is logical.

As on earlier versions of pickups built by the Independents, Jim’s 1948 Nash pickup benefitted from passenger car styling cues and comforts. 

“All appointments inside are the same as the Ambassador, including the famous Weather Eye heating system, sedan seat, etc. The door panels and below-the-dash kick panels are Masonite with a leatherette-type grain stamped on them. The headliner cardboard also has leatherette-type grain finish. The floor is covered with the standard passenger car rubber floor mat. Even the wood-grained dash and window surrounds are what the autos would have.”

Jim’s pickup was originally a company truck for Nash’s Milwaukee body plant. According to Nash Club member Bernie Turco, by 1954 this pickup was being used by Jensen Crankshaft of Kenosha. Bob Moser bought it from Jensen in the late ’60s.

It has been said that the Nash pickup would have had a hefty price tag, which is probably why it didn’t catch on with the public.

“I talked with a Nash member who worked at a Nash dealership in ’48, when the dealer received promotional information from the company. He remembers the pickup costing about twice as much as a basic Ambassador. I have never seen production figures for the pickup, but like the big (Nash) trucks, they are thought to have far more sales oversees than domestically, and likely for the same reason — cost.

“Bernie recollected that the 1-1/2-ton Nash trucks were assembled in shops on 30th Avenue at the Kenosha plant (not on an assembly line). We speculated that it was likely the pickups were likewise assembled in these shops. The pickups, while being on the convertible chassis, were different enough that they wouldn’t likely mesh with the standard production line.”

The original exterior color of Jim’s truck was red, which is how he painted it in 1987. 

“All trim was chrome plated, as on the car, except the rear bumper was specific to the pickup and painted,” Jim said. “Over the years, I lettered the doors with the original Nash lettering, as shown in the factory photo.”

As can be surmised from being based on a convertible chassis, the pickup has 1940s sedan road manners, but with the added benefit of a pickup truck’s carrying capabilities.

“The truck drives and steers easily, just like a car, because it essentially is a car!” Jim says. “Being a car chassis, it has a long, low look to it, very un-pickup like for the era.”

Despite being restored, Jim’s pickup continues to occasionally work. In addition to giving Sunday rides, the Nash does double-duty hauling wood, furniture and Nash parts. After all, it is a pickup!

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This is her story…

“I wanted a Nash Metropolitan in the late 1950’s as I was learning to drive. My dad loved his Nash Rambler and then Ambassador. Here I am, now 79 years old, with my own Met: a 1955 model 542-A. It’s in horrible shape, basically a shell but the engine runs, gears shift and steers pretty well. It just doesn’t stop. Yet. That’s my first task, I hope to do on my own, under a shade tree in my back yard.”

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“I first saw this car in 1977 while a student at UCLA. Eventually in 1991, I inherited it from my former landlord and good friend and have restored it over time. It is a purely summer toy. It always makes people smile.”

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Gary Maisel is the proud owner of this ‘Nash’tastic Nash 600 Model 4743. This is what Gary had to add about his ride…

1947 Nash 600 Model 4743 – L6 flathead 172.6 82 HP engine

“It is all original except for paint, some interior has been restored and the engine and transmission have been rebuilt. It has new tires, springs, shocks, brakes wheel cylinder’s, brake lines and master cylinder have been replaced.”

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Cruthadams (online)  sent us pics of the “had to have” Rambler along with the story…

“My new vehicle. When I came around the corner this car screamed at me. I stopped at the house & a lady answered.

Me: Would u be interested in selling the old car.
Lady: What u give for it. So I told her.
Me: Are u sure u want to sell.

I really want it but, this is all I can afford.

Lady: Consider it sold.

I bought the car for advertising at my shop.

ANTIQUES “I GOTTA HAVE IT” OKLAHOMA SOONER BOOMERS

Within one hour of putting on my property I had a man wanting to buy if from me. Name my price. Ouch, I just got it. Since then two more people have asked to buy.

My shop is off a hwy. with a lot of lake traffic.

Maybe, I will draw some business this summer. Lol.”

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Oh, absolutely yes! On all counts! Do we want a cartoonish 1954 bathtub Nash, painted robin’s egg blue and looking a little tired and in need of TLC? You’re darn right we do — in all its slightly ratty goodness.

This heavy-fendered, slab-sided piece of history is for sale at Country Classics in southern Illinois. There are a lot of fun cars for sale there, but we’ll take this awesome two-door Air Flyte with 80,000-plus miles, factory air and a good ol’ six-cylinder with a three-speed manual.

https://marketplace.oldcarsweekly.com/classified/1954-nash-2dr-sedan-air-flyte-12474-listing-1904.aspx

So much weirdness wrapped up in one little package. This baby deserves to be loved, and we’d happily volunteer.

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It became clear in the burgeoning formative period of the automobile industry that a brisk and exciting era of personal transportation had dawned. There were leaders and future hopefuls amid the blend of notable personages. Soon, the 1890s bowed to inevitable progress in the cradle years of the 20th century. By that time, those youthful hopefuls had learned much of the new industry’s formation as they watched history unroll.

Two names in those early years spring forth: Roy D. Chapin and Charles Nash. As events unfolded decades later, their two companies, Hudson and Nash, would enter an entwined history that made a profound MergerMania impact on the industry as a whole. In recalling those seemingly ancient halcyon years of yore, B.C. Forbes and O.D. Foster were among early explorers of auto history. In 1926, they published their findings in the book “Automotive Giants of America.” Since the notables they wrote about were very much active in the industry at that point, the findings bore the test of success in how the “men who are making our motor industry” wished to be remembered.

Chapin was a college student who skipped mid-semester from the Ann Arbor, Mich., campus he attended in 1901. He left to train his way to see the wonders of the Oldsmobile plant. Chapin wondered how such a four-wheeled device as Mr. Olds’ roadworthy invention could safely and excitedly whisk a man to the wondrous speed of 15 mph. He met Mr. Olds and put it succinctly: “I just want to be near that car.” Impressed, Olds hired the man at $35 a month to give demonstrations of the vehicle. It wasn’t long before his newly chosen career blossomed. Nine years later, co-founder Chapin headed the Hudson motor car operation, positioned as a competitor to Oldsmobile. As the book put it, the output of 4000 Hudson automobiles (from July 1909 to July 1910) set the record for “the first-year output of the industry at that time.” It was a mark of success for which Chapin was most proud.

He was hardly alone as lesser notables enjoined in the effort. A hallmark of Chapin’s rise was the maximizing of teamwork. He pulled together and nurtured teams of individuals dedicated to quality production and inventive ideals. This proved to be a key factor in the rise of the new nameplate, which initially was financed in a major way by the Hudson department store.

While these factors unfolded, Charles W. Nash was a six-year-old orphaned farmboy-turned-mechanic who became one of the greatest names of his era. He, too, formed a magnificent team of workers that went head-on against General Motors, a conglomerate he headed for a time (1912-1916). His ability, ambition, position, experience and wealth combined to realize his domination of Kenosha, Wisconsin’s Thomas B. Jeffery Co., renowned in its making of the Rambler in early auto history.

The two organizations guided by Chapin and Nash weathered depression, wartime production, changes in strategy and much more. Decades later, the two firms combined with every hope of success. But that MergerMania did not come easily, and it nearly passed by the opportune time of formation.

National defense production, especially during the first half of the 1940s, made each company very profitable. Postwar car sales added to that wealth in the late ’40s. Comfortable for a time, some talks bounced around regarding merger. But there was no need to rush, many speculated. Then the Federal government phased down its production restrictions in 1953 once the Korean Conflict was seemingly simmering. Woe to those who were unprepared, for it meant car production limits were no longer applied by government mandates that had played a role since 1942.

Nash faded from his company’s activities in 1936 and died in 1948. Chapin died in 1936 and was succeeded by Abraham E. Barit, who rode with the Hudson brand well into 1954. The Hudson effort eventually included Chapin’s son, Roy, Jr., a Yale business grad who saw the downward spiraling shift in business and income potential for the Hudson marque. That succession to Barit and involving Chapin, Jr., was a milestone in car history for it marked the transition into American Motors Corp. (AMC).

Key to that transition was another notable in the American car industry. George W. Mason had risen as head of the very successful appliance-making Kelvinator Corp. to become Mr. Nash’s chosen successor. The two diverse firms merged into Nash-Kelvinator, a first step toward even greater MergerMania.

Mason saw the future dimming for sales of Nash cars and other brands outside of huge mass production, key distribution points and the income safety of General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. After 1950, sales toughened for Nash and Hudson. The lifting of federal car production quota limits in 1953 was hard to surmount since it let loose Ford and GM to heighten production levels. Doom was possible for Nash and Hudson as well as long-standing brands by Willys Overland, Studebaker and Packard. Even relative newcomer Kaiser was on borrowed time, its Frazer badge having been retired in the 1951 run.

Mason knew something had to be done. Initial talks resulted in merging Hudson with Nash, with Chapin, Jr., being a principal. But, as with many multi-faceted stories of mergers, this was an ongoing venture that involved success, strategy, negotiation and the addition of George Romney as major steps followed in MergerMania. By 1954, the union of Hudson and Nash was complete and
AMC was born.

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‘Little Buddy’ put away for winter storage, with Stabil in a full tank of non-ethanol gas, battery removed, and a coat of spray wax.

She runs well with a flathead 6 and 3-on-the-tree. Upgrades are PERTRONIX ignition and stainless WALDRON exhaust.

Being an oddball orphan, the Nash gets attention at shows, sparking interesting conversation.

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Mark Axen sent us a pic of his 1952 Nash Rambler Country Club. He added that it sports a 173 c.i.d 6-cyl. with 3-on-the-tree and overdrive. He gave a bit of trivia as well, stating that Louis Lane [Superman] also drove one.

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Need a garage mate for the cool 1936 Hupmobile two-door sedan we featured earlier? This six-cylinder 1936 Nash 400 coupe found on Facebook Marketplace drips “deco styling” and would be the perfect complement to the Hupp. Many of the things that Hupp had going for it are also found in this Nash.

Aaerodynamic styling (though not as advanced as that of the Hupp) and streamlined influences abound. Just look at those teardrop-shaped hood vents, that tall grille with thin vertical bars, the stylized hood ornament and gauge faces decorated after an Art Deco skyscraper in Chicago.

This Nash wasn’t built far from the Windy City, and then never moved far from its nest. Built in Kenosha, Wis., the Nash was apparently transported less than 100 miles to Watertown, Wis., where it was sold new by the A. Kramp dealership on Watertown’s Main Street. This is according to the seller, who now has the Nash for sale in Cedarburg, about 45 miles east of Watertown. So, the Nash has basically lived its entire life in a triangle across the southeast corner of its homestate.

A benefactor of longtime, single-family ownership, this Nash is being offered publicly for the first time in 80 years, states the seller. He adds that it’s “very original” and has not been wrecked, rusted or disassembled. In addition, he says there’s no Bondo body filler, the gauges work and the floor is solid. He says the six-cylinder coupe is a drivable car.

Nash also has a great network of active enthusiasts, so this Nash’s next owner won’t be orphaned without anywhere to turn. The Nash Car Club of America has a website at http://www.nashcarclub.org/ and is 1000 members strong.

While the Hupp two-door sedan with an under-roof back seat would be great for family trips, this coupe with a rumble seat would be perfect for date night (or at least blocking out kids’ voices). Let us know if you make it yours.

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