Time Capsule tonight at a cruise night

[Fargoguy]

1950 Nash Canadian Statesman. 27,000 original miles- original paint. Bought new by current owner’s great grandmother. Original dealer installed seat covers still in place. 

[wayne sheldon]

I get tired of the "time capsule" label. It is way over used on too many vehicles that it really doesn't apply to.

However.

This car really deserves that label! A beautiful and accurate representation of a car almost as the dealer delivered it!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful automobile.

[1935Packard]

I love it.  I really like the quirkiness of Nashes in that era, and to see one unmolested and maintained like that is just fantastic.

[Dandy Dave]

This holds a first place Trophy for the WOW factor. Unmolested, Well kept, and cared for. Thanks for sharing. 😃 Dandy Dave!

[Kornkurt]

It makes you wonder why anyone would have bought one of them back in the day considering most of the other 1949 cars available to them.

[8E45E]

18 minutes ago, Kornkurt said:

It makes you wonder why anyone would have bought one of them back in the day considering most of the other 1949 cars available to them.

That was the problem.  I don't think new cars were all that 'readily available' from the (once) Big Three in 1949.  Like of recent times with material shortages, there was a waiting list then; especially with the brand new redesigns.  Most of the independents had cars in stock and ready to go, despite being somewhat higher priced.

 

Craig

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

 

  That dash!   That instrument panel!     I had forgotten those.  So simple.

 

  Thanks,

 

  Ben

[Rusty_OToole]

On 8/12/2022 at 8:22 AM, Kornkurt said:

It makes you wonder why anyone would have bought one of them back in the day considering most of the other 1949 cars available to them.

Nash had a lot to offer if you appreciate comfort and economy. Coil spring suspension on all four wheels gave them the best shock proof ride of any car according to tester Tom McCahill, their heating and ventilation system was an industry leader, and the unit construction was solid and free from squeaks and rattles. While being unusually light in weight. The Statesman model had more interior room than a Ford or Chevrolet but weighed less and had a smaller engine, so it got about 50% better gas mileage. The streamlined bodywork enhanced highway fuel economy and allowed a good turn of speed in spite of the low horsepower engine .

Then there were some eye catching avante garde features like the Uniscope instruments, the skirted wheels for better streamlining, the glove compartment that pulls out like a drawer.

You wouldn't need to feel under privileged driving a Nash, you might feel sorry for drivers of inferior makes who were spending a lot more money and getting nothing for it.

I know this goes against the grain. We are used to thinking that speed and performance are the most important thing because most professional auto writers are performance enthusiasts. But for the every day motorist who wants comfortable reliable transportation the Nash is hard to beat.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Max4Me]

No doubt, it’s an absolutely beautiful car! Curious, though, why does it have different front and rear license plates? Different colors and numbers, though both are from Saskatchewan. 

 

[Bloo]

The rear one is the modern one and I suspect it must be required. This is true in some US states (not mine). No idea what the province of Saskatchewan requires, but it's a good guess. The front plate is probably year correct.

[30DodgePanel]

Does anyone else have the same reaction to these era of Nash cars that I do?

"So hideous, yet so goreous"! 

 

 

Love it! Thanks for sharing it.  

Amazing what's still out there, and when we least expect it at times too...

 

I seen a late 50's Chrysler locally a few years back at a Popeye's chicken of all places (the owner didn't want pics posted on the web) that had a similar provenance to it and I was floored by how original and well kept it was after all them years. Sometimes I appreciate these original pieces as much as the completely restored museum quality pieces. The history, the stories and the nostalgia are what it's all about after all.

Edited August 12, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[TerryB]

I’m not sure how many people would ever do a restoration on cars like this so seeing an original survivor this good is indeed a rare treat. I used to thing their style was somewhat lacking in charm but today I see them as wonderful insites to the era.  Thanks for posting!

Edited August 12, 2022 by TerryB (see edit history)

[Lahti35]

Big bathtub fan here... I've always liked the oddball stuff. This era Nash is so funky and cool! Jay Leno has a great video on a similar Nash:

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Lahti35 (see edit history)

[Fargoguy]

4 hours ago, Max4Me said:

No doubt, it’s an absolutely beautiful car! Curious, though, why does it have different front and rear license plates? Different colors and numbers, though both are from Saskatchewan. 

 

In Saskatchewan, we only run one plate on a registered vehicle, on the rear. This vehicle has the current plate on the rear, then it's allowed to run a Year Of Manufacture- 1950 plate on the front. 

[Max4Me]

4 hours ago, Bloo said:

The rear one is the modern one and I suspect it must be required. This is true in some US states (not mine). No idea what the province of Saskatchewan requires, but it's a good guess. The front plate is probably year correct.

Thanks, Bloo and  Fargoguy for setting me straight. Living in California, as far as I remember (like breakfast time!) front and rear plates have been required and had to match. I know some states use only a rear plate and allow decorative front plates. I didn’t think anywhere allowed two non-matching plates to be displayed. It just struck me as odd. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Max4Me (see edit history)

[Bloo]

Up here in Washington we are required a front plate on the regularly registered cars. When running YOM plates we are only required to have the rear one. This is true even though when those YOM plates were new, for almost all years they were pairs, and you had to put the front one on.

 

[TerryB]

PA has a single plate on the rear, it’s common to see YOM plates on the front. PA does have YOM plates as an option for the rear plate too if you meet their requirements to allow that.

[Marty Roth]

My Dad bought a decent 2nd hand 1950 Nash Statesman blue 4-door sedan around 1954. It was affordable for a city firefighter's salary, roomy, and drove well, but according to Dad, it was severely underpowered with the little flathead 6-cylinder engine. Starting the Nash required stepping on the clutch pedal as the starter was operated by a tab on the rear of the clutch pedal pushing the starter button. The upper-series Ambassador would have come with a much more powerful Overhead Valve Six. Differentiating the '49, '50, and '51 nashes was relatively simple once you studied the "Bathtubs", The '49 Nash had a n exposed gas cap/filler where the next 2 years had theirs behind a body flap, and the '51 added fins to the rear fenders. Their trunk was comparatively enormous, but visibility out the rear window was minimal, compared to more conventionally styled cars. Our 1950 Nash Statesman came to a regrettable end in 1956, just a block from home when a speeding 1950 Chevy convertible rammed the Nash's left rear door and quarter panel, making replacement of the 3rd member and repair to the uni-body far too expensive to consider. Dad sshopped the new car showrooms, planning to get a new 1957 Chevy, but was unimpressed with their looks, and in September of '56 he custom ordered a '57 Plymouth Savoy 4-door sedan with the 301 ci V-8, Powerflyte tranny, radio, big heater, black and white with the optional "Sportone" contrasting color on the lower half of the body below the trim line. As a kid, my younger brother always felt that the white rear of the black and white '57 Plymouth looked like cartoon character "Crusader Rabbit".

 

Here in Louisiana, we have only a rear license plate, and it is common for vintage vehicles to display a "Year of Manufacture" license  plate on the front.

[SC38dls]

I could have YOM plates in KY and even remanufactured plates as long as they were correct and not in current use. I wanted STUD38 but my better half nixed it, probably for the best. I know I couldn’t live up to it. 
dave s 

[John_S_in_Penna]

Your account, Marty--with even more historical detail

recorded for the future--would be perfect for the AACA's

upcoming "oral history" book!

 

One of our local members has a bathtub-style Statesman.

He confirmed what I had heard:  These are made for

economy and have a comfortable top speed of about 45 m.p.h.

I understand that overdrive (?) increases the top speed a bit.

 

2 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

My Dad bought a decent 2nd hand 1950 Nash Statesman blue 4-door sedan around 1954. It was affordable for a city firefighter's salary, roomy, and drove well, but according to Dad, it was severely underpowered with the little flathead 6-cylinder engine. Starting the Nash required stepping on the clutch pedal...

 

[Bloo]

I had a 51 Statesman back in the late 80s. There are 2 kinds of people, those who will tell you how awful they are, and those who have actually owned one. It was a terrific car. I drove it mainly in the winter, and you would think that with those skirted fenders you would get stuck everywhere, but no. They go like crazy in the snow. I had some el-cheapo radials on it meant for a Saab (Statesmans take extra skinny 15" tires). The tires were not aggressive at all, and looked like they would be useless. I never got stuck.

 

The heater deserves special mention. It takes in outside air like a modern car. The heater core is under the cowl vent, and is as big as the radiator for a small car. Under that is the fan, and then 2 more squirrel cage blowers, one for each defroster vent. I can't rave enough about how well this works. Modern cars would have trouble doing as good. In period, nothing comes close.

 

I am not terribly surprised about the fact that it is in the original family. I was the second owner of mine. After I had it about a week, someone walked up to me and told be he had a 1951 Ambassador with a hydra-matic, but hadn't driven it in a few years. Some little problem. I helped him get it running. It turns out, he was the second owner of his Nash too. The market may not like these much, but the people who own them like them, and they tend to stay in the same family forever. Mine attracted attention wherever I went. People were constantly walking up to me to talk about it. Everybody who had ever owned one had a Nash story or two to tell.

 

I had a stick and overdrive. It made the tiny Statesman engine good enough for modern traffic at the time, The speed limit was still 55. Today I think you might want an Ambassador. On the other hand that little Statesman six was sweet. You could not hear it idling. The Ambassador had a much larger overhead valve engine and was not completely silent.

 

[Rusty_OToole]

The Ambassador six was quite a motor, with seven main bearings and overhead valves, one of the few American engines to finish in the money at LeMans. Stutz and Chrysler are the only others I can think of.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[charlespetty]

I owned a 1954 Nash Statesman for four years back in the 1990s.  Even with the twin carbs it was underpowered with the Hydramatic, but somehow it didn't matter.  I drove that car everywhere and it was utterly reliably.  Drove quite comfortably at highway speeds, it just took a while to get up to speed. Didn't corner well, but was very comfortable and stable on the highway.  Very well made car.  I still sometimes regret selling it.  My parents had a 1953 Nash Ambassador back in late 1950s and my Mom often told the story of coming down a long downgrade looking down to see an indicated 93mph on the speedometer , yet as stable as could be.  

[8E45E]

14 hours ago, Max4Me said:

Thanks, Bloo and  Fargoguy for setting me straight. Living in California, as far as I remember (like breakfast time!) front and rear plates have been required and had to match. I know some states use only a rear plate and allow decorative front plates. I didn’t think anywhere allowed two non-matching plates to be displayed. It just struck me as odd. 

Alberta required both front and rear plates until 1992.  After that date they only started issuing rear plates only as a cost-saving measure, and at the same time, allowed one to remove their existing front plate on previously issued vehicles.  After that, one started to see everthing from YOM plates on vintage vehicles to favorite sports teams, and car dealer's advertising plates on the front of newer cars.

 

Craig

[CHuDWah]

I used to live in a two-plate state and had a Model A at the time.  Like many cars of that era, it had a tail light only on the driver side and the plate hung off it.  I added one on the passenger side and hung a YOM plate.

 

I used to think the bathtub Nash was ugly but the styling has grown on me - they really are streamlined.  As for the OP one, it may not be a performance car but the black paint and visor makes it look a little aggressive.

[Rusty_OToole]

The super streamlined or upside down bathtub style had a very brief vogue, about 1947 - 1950. It was endorsed by Nash,Packard, Hudson, Kaiser, Frazer, Mercury and Lincoln. As well as some foreign makes like Porsche and Standard Vanguard.

But it went out of fashion very fast in favor of the chrome and tailfins school and was very unfashionable, and considered ugly for many years.

I notice since the rounded streamlined look came back in the mid eighties those old beauties look a lot better, maybe it is time to reassess their merits and give them another chance.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)