1955 Nash Statesman - Don't All Rush At Once

 

By the time I was fully aware of cars from the 1950's, let's say that was around 1971 or 1972,  they were all but gone. I guess there were some vestiges of them still around but by and large they had all been hauled off to the boneyard; the ones that remained looking old, frumpy, dowdy, cartoonish and out of step. Therefore my gut reaction to them is as honest as my twenty-three year old son's opinion of cars from the 1980's; design both good and bad is enduring. Speaking of which, Nash had some pretty unique looking automobiles from the '50's most notably these 1949-1956 Nash Statesman. Our two-tone Nash Statesman "Super" here is a second generation model from 1955.

No doubt the most unique styling detail on all Nash models of this vintage are the fender openings. Or lack thereof. Such as they are, on our Statesman here these are actually wide open canyons in comparison to what they had been on their first gen models from 1949-1951.

Now, this 1950 Statesman is one funky looking automobile. Our second generation looks like a sad compromise between what the original was and what someone "upstairs" thought would sell better. I'm not going to say I like the first generation Statesman any more than the first gen design but this car here doesn't appear to be design compromise like our '55 is.

  

The enclosed fender openings, which were allegedly aerodynamic, where part of Nash's "Airflyte" design that they debuted in 1949. Prior to that Nash designs were all but indistinguishable from anything any other automobile manufacturer was putting out. They were nicknamed "bathtub" because they resembled an upside down bathtub.

Nash slotted the Statesman between the entry level sub-compact Metropolitan and the top of the line Ambassador. The Statesman sharing it's, if we're being polite, distinctive front end with the Ambassador. The pointy fender tops, dubbed "Road Guide", were supposedly there to help the driver keep "in lane". The driver would keep the edge of the fender aligned with the edge of the road. The hood being so huge and everything. My father used to do something similar with the center hood crease on the Ford wagon, Buick and Cadillac's of my youth.

The styling allegedly cribbed from the Nash-Healy convertible that, according to a Nash brochure, was voted one of the world's ten most beautiful cars. The Nash-Healy convertible, incidentally, was a two seat sports car made by Nash in partnership with the British automaker Donald Healy from 1951-1954.

The unusual styling and design of these cars carried over to the interior as well. What's different here is not so much the order of the automatic transmission shifter but the off-center speed-o-meter. The best that could be said for where it is on the dash is that the gigantic steering wheel never blocks it. By the way, there was no "park" on these cars; drivers used a parking brake instead. Can't blame Nash directly for that oddity since they used automatic transmissions supplied by GM.

Given the distance from the driver's eyes to where the speed-o-meter was, the single digits made them easier to read. Somewhat. You'd have to imagine there was a fair amount of mental gymnastics to be had at first as drivers got used to converting the single digits to double digit speeds. Given these cars had all of one-hundred and fifteen horsepower it's safe to say anything above "8" was wishful thinking.

Nash merged with Hudson in 1954 to form the American Motors Corporation or "AMC" in what was the single largest corporate merger up until that time. It's interesting to note tha there were several design cues on these cars that my father's (wretched) Rambler had. Like the contrasting white painted roof and single digits speed-o-meter.

My Old Man's Rambler had these crazy fulling reclining front seat backs too. Wow. This is one creepy photo. Where'd they change into their PJ's? In the trunk? Picture is from a brochure for a 1957 Rambler.

This Statesman is for sale on consignment by GR Auto Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a list price of, do you have the seats fully reclined??, $10,000. I think that's as absurd an asking price as the entire car is but then again, what should it be priced at? Just like my father's Rambler this is not my cup of either but someone out there will take a liking to it.

Another prime example of taste, armpits and a seat for every butt. In this case a fully reclining seat. Here's the listing. Don't all rush at once.