Nash Motors was a Kenosha, Wisconsin (United States) based automobile manufacturer.

Nash Motors was founded in 1916 by former General Motors executive Charles W. Nash acquired the ‘’’Thomas B. Jeffery Company’’’ of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Jeffery’s best known automobile was the Rambler. Nash enjoyed decades of success by marketing mid-priced cars for middle class buyers.

Much of the early success of the company was owed to Charlie Nash’s faith in engineer Nils Erik Wahlberg. Wahlberg was an early proponent of wind tunnel testing for vehicles. Walhberg is also credited with helping to design modern flow-thru ventilation, a process by which fresh outside air circulates enters into a cars air circulating system is warmed (or cooled) and exits through rearward placed vents. The process also helps to equalize the slight pressure differential between the outside and the interior of a moving vehicle.

In 1924 Nash absorbed LaFayette Motors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and converted its production lines to produce Nash automobiles. The LaFayette name was reintroduced in 1934 as a lower priced companion make to Nash. LaFayette production ended in 1937 with the introduction of the Nash 400 model.

Prior to his retirement, Charlie Nash chose Kelvinator Corporation head George W. Mason to succeed him. Mason accepted, but placed one condition on the job – Nash would acquire controlling interest in Kelvinator, which at the time was the leading manufacturer of high end refrigerators and kitchen appliances in the United States. The resulting company, as of January 4, 1937 was known as the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and remained so until the creation of American Motors Corporation in 1954; Nash remained the brand name of the automobile product produced by the company.

One of the first outcomes of the merger was Kelvinator's expertise in designing compact compressors; in 1938 the generally technically conservative Nash introduced optional air conditioning was first offered in non-luxury cars. Also in 1938, Nash offered Vacuum Assist shifting, an early attempt at a semi-automatic transmission.

The Nash 600, a fastback made before and after World War II, was the first mass-produced unibody construction automobile made in the United States. Its lighter weight compared to body on frame automobiles and lower air drag helped it to achieve excellent gas mileage for its day. The 600 was the first of what some would call the "bathtub" cars from Nash, so called because its sheet metal design, when flipped over, seemed to resemble a common bathtub. (Alternatively, some saw it as a "bathtub" on tires upside down.) The "bathtub" designs would continue on in Nash cars until the early 1950s. Nash brand cars also featured fully reclining seats and activly advertised the flexibility of its vehicles, including their ability to covert to a "camper" if need be.

In 1954 Nash merged with Hudson Motor Car and formed American Motors (AMC). The Nash make of automobiles was continued as a line of AMC cars through 1957.

Nash Kelvinator's President George W. Mason was fascinated by small cars, and directed Nash towards the development of the first compact of the post war era, the 1950 Rambler. Mason also arranged for the introduction of the small Metropolitan, which was an early example of a captive import and one of the few small car successes of its time.

Rambler eventually overtook Nash and Hudson as the leading nameplate manufactured by AMC. Mason's successor George Romney pinned the future of the company on an expanded Rambler line, and began the process of phasing the Nash and Hudson nameplates out by the end of the 1957 model year. From 1958 to 1965, Rambler was the largest brand marketed by AMC, and the largest car marketed by Rambler was the Ambassador, the former name of Nash's highest end product. The Rambler nameplate was retired at the end of the 1969 model year when all cars manufacted by the company fell under the AMC brand name.

AMC itself entered a brief period of partnership with Renault in the 1980s and then was finally acquired by Chrysler Corporation in 1987. Thus Nash was one of the predecessor companies of the current DaimlerChrysler firm.

Nash automobiles

• 600
• Nash Statesman
• Ambassador
• Metropolitan
• Nash Rambler
• Rambler

Resources

The Standard Catalogue of American Cars 1946-1975, John Gunnell, Editor. Kraus Publications, 1987. ISBN 0-87341-096-3