Saw this cool 1949 Nash 600 today....

[keiser31]

Saw this nice, rust-free 1949 Nash 600 sedan today. Thought I would share it with you folks....

[maok]

 

Love it!

 

But which end is the front!

Edited September 12, 2016 by maok
spelling (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Beautiful, John. Thanks.

 

  Ben

[JamesBulldogMiller55Buick]

Very Nice !

[plymouthcranbrook]

Very nice!!!

[capngrog]

That, in my opinion, is one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen; however, it is cool, and I'd love to have one.  Does than make me eccentric?

 

It's all good,

Grog

[Guest BillP]

Clark Kent used to drive a Nash/

[Rusty_OToole]

Amazing car, and underrated. Most aerodynamic body of 49 and for many years after. The 600 was the low priced model with smallest engine, yet still had a very smooth ride,  comfortable seats, and the best heater/defroster/ventilator system in the industry. They called it the 600 because that is how far it would go on a 20 gallon tank of gas, almost twice the mileage of similar size Ford and Chev. The secret was the very low weight of the unibody (a Nash first) low air drag and undersize 6 cyl flathead engine.

[Taylormade]

Kent drove a Nash-Healy.  Lois Lane drove a Nash convertible.

[Guest AlCapone]

Too bad  they had not provided that icon with a professional looking paint job. The paint is dispicible. Wayne

[Guest BillP]

Yes I knew about the N-H, I remember he drove Lois' convertible once or twice as well.

 

Nashes were rare to see outside of Metropolis, where they apparently had only one car dealer.

 

Thanks for posting, Keiser.

[Tom99]

Very nice, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Here's an example of one in better condition

(and with better paint).  This is a 1950 version,

by which time it had been renamed Statesman.

This 2-tone makes the body lines look better, in my opinion:

Edited September 12, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[dei]

Nash's, you either love them or....

Here is my 1951 Canadian Statesman that Dad bought in 1968 for the pricely sum of $500.00.

It wears it's original paint and upholstery while still having just over 100,000 miles on it's flathead 6.

I'm the fourth owner and have documentation that it only saw one winters driving it's whole life!

 

 

It is a great riding vehicle (although needs the overdrive with the 6 to keep up with modern traffic).

Edited September 12, 2016 by dei (see edit history)

[AC Fuhrman]

I like it - thanks for sharing!

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

41 minutes ago, Imperial62 said:

...I was looking hard for a top of the line model of these, maybe a 1950 Ambassador - and they were not easy to find. ...

 

I've talked to a couple of owners of the 600 or Statesman model.

Those smaller models were designed for fuel economy, as

Rusty O. noted above;  but the great gas mileage came only

if the car was equipped with overdrive.

 

And these smaller models, being underpowered, are best at 45 m.p.h. tops.

They are not good for modern superhighway speeds.  That's rather

unusual in a 1950's car!

[keiser31]

6 hours ago, AlCapone said:

Too bad  they had not provided that icon with a professional looking paint job. The paint is dispicible. Wayne

It looked to be the original paint, to me.

[Paul Dobbin]

6 hours ago, AlCapone said:

Too bad  they had not provided that icon with a professional looking paint job. The paint is dispicible. Wayne

The most appealing thing about that car is the condition of the paint.  It has that "Survivor Look" which bring up the immediate question, :"Restored or Original?"   I often pass up the shiny restored cars to see the ones like this Nash.  I bet it has an interesting story and it appears to be being used as a car, not just a trophy catcher.

[Restorer32]

Back in the 1960s Dad had a grey one. We called it "The Potato Bug".

[60FlatTop]

Get into overdrive soon enough and that Model 600 will get you 600 miles on a tank of fuel; quite a coincidence.

 

A couple were in the last row, back corner of the junkyard I hung around as a kid.  I was going to get the better one out and started but the back tires were flat. It was less than 15 years old at the time and the rear bumper uprooted from the unibody once the weight was on it. Walked away from that idea.

 

When I went into the Navy I left 6 cars behind at my Grandfather's shop. One was a 1941 Ambassador. It was a solid one with about 1/4" of brushed on paint.

 

We did have one of those 1958 or so Ramblers for parts. It was, maybe, 9 years old and the owner heard a big Bang during the night. The front spring came up through the unibody and hit the bottom of the hood.

 

I think experiences like that with various makes of cars made me quite discriminating about the cars I bought, or maybe didn't buy, over the last 5 or so decades. According to the records almost half have been Buicks.... with separate bodies and frames.

Bernie

Edited September 12, 2016 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[Mike36]

Back in the day these cars were jokingly referred to as upside down bathtubs.

[Curti]

Yup, when I was in high school in the early 60's they were known as the inverted bath-tub.  None too popular at the 'Roadside Drive In'

[nickelroadster]

What is the matter with the paint?  I came home from the hospital in a same color two door in 1950.

[JD in KC]

My parents had a lemon yellow '50 Nash.  It's the first car I actually remember.  Maybe the that's why I collect 'Bathtub' Packards from the same time frame.

 

[Guest AlCapone]

On September 12, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Paul Dobbin said:

The most appealing thing about that car is the condition of the paint.  It has that "Survivor Look" which bring up the immediate question, :"Restored or Original?"   I often pass up the shiny restored cars to see the ones like this Nash.  I bet it has an interesting story and it appears to be being used as a car, not just a trophy catcher.

Do you honestly think that car came with a lack lustre, low sheen finish ? Why do you find it attractive in comparison to the other displayed models? I still find it repulsive. Wayne

[CarlLaFong]

Despicable?!?! Repulsive?!?!

Why do you always have to be such a negative Nellie?

Chances are, that Nash has survived for nearly 70 years and wears it's dull paint, chips and faded chrome proudly. Do you think every middle aged woman needs a boob job and a face lift? It's called, aging gracefully. I'm sorry, but if that car was mine it would get a good rubbing out and a coat of wax..........oh, and a disc brake conversion

[nick8086]

 

 

I would take this car any day...  You have to be into orphan cars... I would look  this car all day long.. most car show are 1955 chev...I like the odd cars.. The last picture was from back to the 50's.. I still like the green one..

Edited September 20, 2016 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I like the odd cars too. Few people realize the independent makes had to offer something special to compete with the majors. They had to have a distinctive selling argument or appeal to a certain type of buyer who wanted something different from a Ford or Chevrolet.

 

In Studebaker's case they were usually the style leader at least in the forties and early fifties. Nash boasted efficiency economy and comfort. Hudson had strength, safety, lowness and hot performance both in road holding and power. Packard was America's leading luxury car for many years.

 

Nash introduced many features that became standard practice in later years, although in some cases it took 10, 20 years or longer before the rest of the industry caught on.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

 Back in my teens, my brother owned several Nashes in a row. He liked them a lot - especially for going to drive-in movies because the seats folded down. He had to replace transmissions in a couple of them. I wont speculate whether that was a particular weakness, or not. The '49s & '50s had fun, unique dashboards which included a "Uniscope", a steering column mounted pod that contained the speedometer and gauges. They also placed the radio behind a flexible pull-down "tambor" door in '50, I think. You might go to Google Images and enter "1949 1950 Nash Dashboard" to see some pictures.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Guest Skyking]

John,  is that a padded dash I see in the photo???

On another note,  when  was 15 a friend of mine got his license before me and bought a '50 from a little old neighborhood lady.  As I recall the car was like brand new.  It was a black 2door.  I seen him destroy this car in two weeks.  Little did we know then......

[60FlatTop]

If you get to visit that green car in person you will see kind of a peachy tint to the yellow. A friend of mine painted a red car in the same garage it was parked in. It made an interesting effect.

Bernie

[mike6024]

Saw this Nash today, at the CSRG Vintage races at Sears Point. Has the same "skirts" over the front wheels. Think they said it was a '51. Been customized. People who had it raced the blue Sunbeam and the two red cars pictured together, one an MG I suppose.