Bathtub Nashes....

[JimInSoCalif]

In 46 through 48 the big three had pretty much the same cars as prewar with perhaps slightly different grills and other minor details. I can still remember how disappointed I was with the design of the 1949 Chrysler products - I owned a 41 Plymouth coupe at the time. Besides 'blah' styling, I recall a lot of orange peel in the paint of 49 Chrysler products.

Of the other four auto manufacturers at the time does anyone recall which was the first to come out with a new body? My guess would be Studebaker, the styling of which, resulted in many jokes on the radio programs of the day of not being able to tell if it was coming or going.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[Flivver]

Of the other four auto manufacturers at the time does anyone recall which was the first to come out with a new body? My guess would be Studebaker, the styling of which, resulted in many jokes on the radio programs of the day of not being able to tell if it was coming or going.

Cheers, Jim.

Jim, you're right...Studebaker was the first with an all-new postwar design. Their 1947 models were introdiuced in mid-1946 with the slogan "First By Far With A Postwar Car".

Next came Kaiser-Fraiser in '47, Packard in mid-'47 with their '48s followed by Hudson with their '48 Step-Down models.

The first all-new cars from the Big 3 were the 1948 Olds 98 and 1948 Cadillacs (except the Series 75 which wasn't replaced until the 1950 model year). Ford followed quickly in the Spring of '48 with their all new '49 Lincoln, Mercury and Ford.

For 1949, most of the rest of GM plus Nash were new with Chrysler following in 1949 1/2. The last American cars to introduce postwar designs were the Buick Special and Cadillac Seies 75 which debuted for 1950.

So the independents beat the Big 3 to the market with postwar designs, but that may not have been the right strategy. The period 1946-1948 was a sellers market since new cars had been unavailable since February 1942. There were long waiting lists and customers would buy *any* new car they could get their hands on. Anticipating this, the Big 3 waited until the market was satiated and introduced their new models for 1949. And, the Big 3 took a somewhat different design direction from the independents which quickly obsoleted the independent's designs.

This was one of several causes of the demise of the independent car manufacturers in the mid-1950s.

 

[plain old dave]

This was one of several causes of the demise of the independent car manufacturers in the mid-1950s.

Others:

-Mergers without synergy, like Packard/Studebaker
-Independents without $$$ for innovation (Nash, Hudson, Frazer)

Seems like there was a thread about this, what if Nash and Packard had merged?

 

[Twitch]

That would have been viable. Read an editorial on same in Hemmings Classic Cars. Remember AMC lasted till the mid 80s

 

[MrNewportCustom]

That would have been viable. Read an editorial on same in Hemmings Classic Cars. Remember AMC lasted till the mid 80s

In a sense, AMC is still around. AMC acquired Jeep/Chrysler bought AMC/Jeep still exists. And Eagle lasted a bit past the '80s.


Lee
__________________________

But this logic needs three more degrees.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

Flivver thanks for all the good info - very interesting.

Back in 1941 I assume new cars came out later in the calendar year because I recall seeing very few 1942 models - perhaps Mercury and Chevy - my memory here is foggy except for the fact of the few 42's, some had painted grills and bumpers.

Of the post war cars, I think the Studebaker sporty coupe (I think it was called the Starlight coupe and was introduced around 50/51) was the most innovative in styling. It was low, sleek, and a clean design that carried four people. Even in the later 50's when they added a not very attractive grill and called it a Packard it was still not bad.

I think if that car had been built by Ford or Chevy that it would have been a big hit. Heck, Chevy was able to sell the original Vette with a Blue Flame 6 cylinder with body work so bad that they were only available in white the first year. I am not sure if it still had Chevy's 'Splash and Hope' oiling system or if they had gone to a proper pressure oiling system by then.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[Flivver]

Flivver thanks for all the good info - very interesting.

Back in 1941 I assume new cars came out later in the calendar year because I recall seeing very few 1942 models - perhaps Mercury and Chevy - my memory here is foggy except for the fact of the few 42's, some had painted grills and bumpers.

Of the post war cars, I think the Studebaker sporty coupe (I think it was called the Starlight coupe and was introduced around 50/51) was the most innovative in styling. It was low, sleek, and a clean design that carried four people. Even in the later 50's when they added a not very attractive grill and called it a Packard it was still not bad.

I think if that car had been built by Ford or Chevy that it would have been a big hit. Heck, Chevy was able to sell the original Vette with a Blue Flame 6 cylinder with body work so bad that they were only available in white the first year. I am not sure if it still had Chevy's 'Splash and Hope' oiling system or if they had gone to a proper pressure oiling system by then.

Cheers, Jim.

Based on ads in Life Magazine of the era, the '42 models were introduced in Fall 1941. I've always liked the styling of most '42s...why the DeSoto even had hidden headlamps! And they are rare because production was shut down for the war in early 1942.

The oiling system on Chevy's early 1950s 235 cid "Blue Flame" six was an interesting combination of pressure and splash. According to the 1953 Chevy brochure, a 4 part oiling system was used:

(1) pressure stream to connecting rods
(2) full pressure to main and cam bearings and timing gears
(3) metered pressure to valve mechanism
(4) splash to cylinder walls

This all seemed to work pretty well except for #3. You could always tell a Chevy 6 (or V8 Olds) at a stoplight by the sound of the ticking valve lifters! My dad had three "Blue Flame" Chevys when I was a kid. They all gave long troublefree service except for the fact that a valve oiling by-pass system always had to be installed to provide adequate lubrication to the OHV valvetrain.

Common knowledge has it that the so-called Chevy "Stovebolt" six was a uniform design from 1929 to 1962. That's just not so. The original 194/206 cid "Stovebolt" was made from 1929 to 1936. For 1937, an all new 216 cid engine was introduced. Then in 1950, an improved and enlarged 235 cid version was introduced. While the 235 *was* based on the 216, the 216 had nothing to do with the original 194/206 "Stovebolt".