Got a Free 1949 Nash Ambassador Coupe, Now What?

[MercMontMars]

I got this car from a mechanic that was closing up shop, I have bought a few cars from him before and he just gave this 49 Nash to me. I really like the car, always had a soft spot for Nash styling and it’s a coupe which seems a little uncommon. 
 

Now the bad.. IT’S RUSTY….

 

I think this thing was parked in Atlantis for a few decades.. it’s bad. I’m not even sure of the frame, but I haven’t had a chance to look it over closely yet. Haven’t been able to open the hood yet but according to the door tag and what I can see underneath it has a Straight-8 w/ hydramatic trans. 
 

It would break my heart to see it crushed for scrap value, and I know these aren’t super common cars. What should I do from here? Does anyone out there need parts or have one in better shape so I can build a solid Nash? The drivetrain is probably OK, but I haven’t seen it yet. What should I do with her?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

—Parts available

 

All glass, perfect and unbroken

 

All badging except for passenger fender

 

Headlights & bezels

 

Grille

 

Bumpers (will need rechroming)

 

Interior is pretty good, will get photos

 

Front driver side fender (not on car, fully rust free)

 

Drivetrain is there, but condition is currently unknown as I can’t get the hood open

 

Etc interior parts such as radio, steering wheel, knobs, metal dashboard has one rusted area. 
 

Chrome trim

 

Anything else not listed that you need let me know and I’ll see if it’s there. Message me and we can negotiate a price we’re both happy with.

Edited April 25 by MercMontMars (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

You don't need to worry about the frame - there isn't one. Nash was one of the first cars to go with unit construction, maybe the first.

 

Have a mechanic or body man look it over, under the hood, in the trunk and under the car. I hate to say it but it looks like you were given a parts car.

 

Incidentally the Ambassador was top of the line with seven main bearing OHV six cylinder engine. Hydramatic is the icing on the cake, a rare and expensive option back then.

Edited April 25 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[31nash880]

If you get the hood open and find a straight 8, I may be interested in it. Also depends on where it is located.

[Bloo]

There is no frame. It's a unibody. It is shaped like a truss bridge, and more or less that is how it's built. If you look under the hood you will see the members that send the load up into the roof. The "frame" members under the floor are mostly sheet metal and are loaded in tension.

 

Don't jack this car up by anything except the axles or wheels. The bumpers should be OK too, and the normal way to change a tire or whatever,  but as rusty as that looks I would want to inspect first before trying that.

 

Even when the car isn't rusty there is a risk if tweaking the unibody if you try to jack on the "frame". Don't do that. It also goes for torque tube Ramblers. Don't try to put it on a modern hoist that lifts on the "frame". That will go badly even without the rust.

 

If it were less rusty, the main place I would be telling you to look is under the mats/carpet in the front floorboards. Windshield leaks pool water there and rust through the "frame rails". You might find the top and bottom missing and the vertical "sides" still there. The "sides" consist of sheet metal walls and one piece of metal that is thicker but with big round holes in it. This is bad, but not nearly as bad as it sounds because those "frame rails" are loaded in tension. Lots of them drove around like that, no big deal. Inconvenient to fix? Yes, but that's mainly because you couldn't jack the car up normally, and you couldn't do that anyway.

 

That much visible rust is concerning. It might be ready to collapse.

 

Edited April 25 by Bloo (see edit history)

[MercMontMars]

@Rusty_OToole Really? That is good to know, never knew about that. I’m leaning that way too, I don’t see this car ever hitting the road ever again but I’d love to see it get another one going again.

Edited April 25 by MercMontMars (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

If you can find a similar year Nash that needs work this one may furnish some good parts, I don't know. the 2 door Brougham body style is rare, maybe 10% or 20% of production, the rest were 4 door sedans.

 

There was a similar rusty 2 door for sale near me about 10 years ago. I briefly considered buying it, shelling out the body and putting it on a newer platform but gave up the idea.

[MercMontMars]

@31nash880 I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, the car is currently in Florida.

[drhach]

That's a really neat looking car. Hopefully it isn't as bad as you think it is.

[31nash880]

Thanks.

I'm in North Carolina so not to bad a drive.

[Bloo]

It's a 1950. All are 6 cylinder. If it really is an Ambassador, and I think it is, it had a fairly large (250-ish ci) overhead valve six with full pressure oiling, lots of main bearings, etc., a better engine than many sixes of it's time. The downside is internal engine parts have become tough to get.

[Rusty_OToole]

Engine is a 235 cu in 115HP  OHV six with seven main bearings. An excellent engine for its time, one finished in the money in the famed LeMans 24 hour race, under the hood of a Nash Healey.

[bryankazmer]

14 minutes ago, Bloo said:

19 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

You don't need to worry about the frame - there isn't one. Nash was one of the first cars to go with unit construction, maybe the first.

Far from the first. Lancia patented their version in the 1920’s. Some debate on whether earlier cars ( Lanchester, Ruler) had true unibodies.

 

 

 

[Rusty_OToole]

Nash was the first unibody car in the US with the Nash 600 in 1940. By 1949 all their cars featured unibody construction.

 

[Snarfy]

It’s worth $29,000 on FB. Everything on FB is $29,000.

[Rusty_OToole]

Here is Jay Leno's take on the 1950 Nash Ambassador

 

 

[58L-Y8]

Extensive rust damage is fatal to unibodies.  It's nearly impossible to repair and hideously expensive to try to do so.  I'll be surprised if you don't find this unfortunate Ambassador has extensive rust damage.  In the late 1960's, there was a junkyard here in town our small used car dealer/garage took unsaleable cars which held fourteen Nashs.   When they were scraping the yard, when they went to move those Nash Airflytes, the bodies pulled apart and collapse, that how badly rust had ruined the body structures. 

 

One feature which should be saved if it has them, if this turns out to be a Brougham: two individual armchair rear seats and the side armrests and middle console, they are rare features only the Brougham has. 

[EmTee]

Too bad about the rust; the 2-door style is nice to see when all of the ones I have seen (not many, BTW) were all 4-doors.

[West Peterson]

13 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

Nash was the first unibody car in the US with the Nash 600 in 1940. By 1949 all their cars featured unibody construction.

 

 

"First" is a dangerous thing to say.

[Restorer32]

I think it deserves a full state of the art no expense spared show restoration.

[Buick35]

14 hours ago, MercMontMars said:

@31nash880 I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, the car is currently in Florida.

Where in Florida?

[alsancle]

2 door Ambassador is cool.  But sadly this car is not something that can be saved, even at the low entry price of free.

[The 55er]

So is there any way you can get the guy that gave it to you to take it back? I'd try to make that non-running rustbucket his problem, not yours. 

[Barney Eaton]

I am not home where I can access my reference material.... from memory it is a 1949 because the front fender side trim 

just says Ambassador.   Later years would have Special or Custom after the series name.    As noted above, the Statesman had a flat head engine and the Ambassador had a OHV.    As 58L-Y8 stated, the rear seat that looks like two overstuffed chairs was an option on 2 dr Ambassadors... he said it was the Brougham option but I seem to remember it as the County Club option,  but the option name could have changed with different years.    I think it is worth saving. 

[60FlatTop]

In the 1960s we would try to jack those cars up in the junkyard and the rear bumper was likely to uproot from the body. 15 years old or less at the time.

 

A lot of my impression of various makes and models has carried over from those formative years. Nash has the Statesman, Super , and Ambassador. But it is like reading the ads today "All Buicks are Roadmasters unless it's a new Deuce N a Quarta". It's ether a Nash Rambler or Ambassador. A lot of stuff gets lost in those gray folds.

[MercMontMars]

@Restorer32 Haha, have to grovel at Jay Leno’s front door to have a chance of that happening. Even with his money he’d probably say she’s done. 😆

[MercMontMars]

@Buick35 Sarasota FL, 34243.

[MercMontMars]

@EmTee That’s one thing that kills me about this one, every Nash I’ve seen is usually a 4-door. I’ve always been a sedan guy, but 2 doors look really good on this car and they’re not common by any means.

Edited April 25 by MercMontMars (see edit history)

[MercMontMars]

For anyone interested in parts I have listed some highlights in the main post, including a 100% rust free front drivers side fender that came with the car.

[Bloo]

2 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

I am not home where I can access my reference material.... from memory it is a 1949 because the front fender side trim 

just says Ambassador.   Later years would have Special or Custom after the series name.    As noted above, the Statesman had a flat head engine and the Ambassador had a OHV.    As 58L-Y8 stated, the rear seat that looks like two overstuffed chairs was an option on 2 dr Ambassadors... he said it was the Brougham option but I seem to remember it as the County Club option,  but the option name could have changed with different years.    I think it is worth saving. 

The differences between 49 and 50 are few and subtle, but I believe what gives this away as 50 with the pictures provided is the gas filler door. I think a 49 would have had an exposed gas filler neck. i blew the picture up and it looks like the script says Ambassador, but there is not enough detail to tell for sure. The most obvious external difference between an Ambassador and a Statesman is the length of the nose. A Statesman Six engine is absurdly short, shorter than a lot of 4 cylinders. An Ambassador nose is about 9 inches longer than a Statesman nose to accommodate the more normal sized Ambassador engine. When one is used to looking at these cars regularly, the length between the back of the front fender opening and the front edge of the door gives away which is which. It's been too long ago for me. It is also worth noting the shorter Statesman was known as a "600" in 49.

 

Edited April 25 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Might be worth getting as a parts car, if you really want a 2 door Nash bad enough to seek out a good one, or at least one with a rust free body. And if you have space to store it. After a lifetime of the old car hobby I am bored with 57 Chevs, Road Runners etc and the odd and unusual intrigue me. I can totally see why someone would want a car like this even though most people never heard of it.

[The 55er]

Nash bumper guards look different from 1949 (narrow) to 1950 (fatter, more rounded). They have different part numbers too. Judging by  the bumper guards, you have a 1950 Nash there.

Edited April 25 by The 55er (see edit history)

[Bloo]

Here is an example of the way to sort out Statesman/600 cars from Ambassadors quickly. So many of them are misidentified online. One of these is allegedly a 49 and the other a 50, but ignore that for now. Look between the back of the front wheel and the front edge of the door.

 

Statesman (or 600):

 

Ambassador:

 

 

[bryankazmer]

20 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

Nash was the first unibody car in the US with the Nash 600 in 1940. By 1949 all their cars featured unibody construction.

 

Cord 810?

[alsancle]

13 minutes ago, bryankazmer said:

Cord 810?

Definitely a unibody. Also what about the Chrysler airflow? I sort of recall that might’ve been too, and that was earlier.

[60FlatTop]

A Lincoln Zephyr would be a big surprise to anyone who thought they were going to take the body off, right up through 1948.

[Barney Eaton]

My parents had a new '49, '50 and 53 at a time I was getting an interest in cars.  All our cars were Statesmen 4 dr. 

I had my first date using the '53 and for some reason they traded it in on a new Chevy.... could it be that the seats made into a bed?

[Jim Skelly]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

Definitely a unibody. Also what about the Chrysler airflow? I sort of recall that might’ve been too, and that was earlier.

Myths and Legends of the 1934-37 Chrysler Airflow - Mac's Motor City GarageMac's Motor City Garage (macsmotorcitygarage.com)

[alsancle]

10 minutes ago, Jim Skelly said:

Myths and Legends of the 1934-37 Chrysler Airflow - Mac's Motor City GarageMac's Motor City Garage (macsmotorcitygarage.com)

Thanks.  I wasn't 100% sure on that one.  But I've spent a lot of quality time with the Cord and that is definitely a unibody with a front stub frame.

[Paul Dobbin]

You will have to become an expert in welding in body panels if you decide to restore it.   The rust you can see is

just the beginning.    Good luck, & keep us posted.

 

Edited April 26 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)

[MercMontMars]

Got the hood open and it is a nice looking inline-6. I found the original radio for the car in the backseat, and with it I found a receipt saying that someone had it recapped/redone in 2000. Crazy what 24 years will do to a car..