Does time fly or what? I started this series last year and this is the next installment.
As you know the US government asked and eventually forced the auto industry to contribute to the war effort. This series is to highlight some of the major contributions. This time is Nash.
As many know, Nash was a premier car manufacturer prior to the war.
Here is their 1942 Nash Ambassador
During the war Nash used it plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin to produce engines for (among others) my favorite aircraft of all time…the Corsair.
The WWII Corsair.
Nash build the Pratt & Whitney engines that powered this awesome aircraft.
Nash produced Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engine
Their work force consisted mainly of women.
Here they are being sworn in at the WI Plant
Later on Nash would morph into the American Motors Company (AMC).
Thanks for reading
Tim
WOW! I’m very happy and humbled to have stumbled across this site. My dad, Richard C. Mortensen Sr., started at Nash in the late 1930’s in the chemistry department. Although he was not a degreed automotive or industrial engineer he quickly learned the business, so well that he was promoted to chief plant engineer with additional title of chief inspector. I remember the stories of what he and his team did to convert the Nash plant from automobile production to P&W radial aircraft production during the war, and then back to making cars thereafter. Fast forward to July 1864 when he, mom, and I moved to Mexico City, Mexico, for American General. In the space of two years he built the Vehiculos Automotores (VAM) engine plant in Toluca, Mexico, which is still in operation. He went on to build factories in South Africa, Iran, and South Korea. The deal in Moscow, Russia, fell through. Over the years our family of course owned several Nash or AMC automobiles. I well-rembember the ’56 Nash Statesman, the ’58 Rambler Rebel with the 327, and then later a Matador, Gremlin, Concord, Ambassador, and even an AMX. In 1967 my first car was my mom’s 1962 Rambler Classic four-door with the small in-line six. Great car but the engine was grossly under power. And in 1969 I joined the Army and after basic training found myself the proud owner of a 1964 Rambler American 440 with a six. I found time and money to soup it up a bit and really loved that car. Great ride for double-dating. I could go on, but this is enough for now.
Impressive career your Dad had. Thanks for sharing it.
Pingback: 76 Groovy Cars on eBay… Part 52, 1951 Nash Statesman | Cool Car of the Day
Thanks for the note. That is a great looking Nash.
I forgot to add that AMC was China’s FIRST automobile manufacturer! YEP, good ol’AMC had a joint venture Jeep and Gremlin build operation in China WAY BACK in the 1970s. It was one of their most profitable operations.
When we lived in San Jose, my wife worked for Kaiser Permante Hospitable. It was interesting to find out that good ol’Henry J Kaiser needed on site medical care for his ship building operation during WWII, so he created his own HMO (I do not think he realized that he created his own HMO at the time). After WWII, ‘Kaiser Medical Care’ was spun off into a state wide California HMO that still survives today.
The ‘family tree’ of AMC zig zags more than any auto company. They were not just an effort to combine Nash, Willys, Frazer, and Hudson into one company, but they also ‘fathered’ Hummer and helped get ISUZU off the ground in the USA. They were close partners off and on with MG and Austin Healy, and they ‘invented’ the SUV in 1960 with the Grand Wagoneer.
Although I have never owned an AMC, Ialways respected them for ‘fightig a good fight’ in the Big Three world at the time. The AMC 304 V8 never gained the respect it should have as in the Trans Am series it was a great competitor.
My motor head buddy used to collect Rambler American two door post and coupes, and I always helped him wrench on these cars. Most were straight six strippers, but he did have a V8 auto sleeper that used to blow off the smog choked Mustangs and Camaros of the day. I was always amazed at the build of these cars; Delco alternators, Motorcraft carbs, Carlite glass, Torque Flite transmissions, Motorola ignitions, etc, etc-I used to joke that AMC=ALL MAKES COMBINED!