Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[Stanley Doble]

The net says Ajax, and Nash Light Six, used a six cylinder Nash engine of 170 cu in with seven main bearing crankshaft and full pressure lubrication. The car was capable of 70MPH. Pretty impressive for a car that sold for under $1000 in 1926.

 

[redlinerobert]

1936 Delahaye Competition with coachwork by Figoni & Falaschi

 

[vitanola]

The net says Ajax, and Nash Light Six, used a six cylinder Nash engine of 170 cu in with seven main bearing crankshaft and full pressure lubrication. The car was capable of 70MPH. Pretty impressive for a car that sold for under $1000 in 1926.

Nash always built overhead valve engines. The Ajax used a flathead. Ajax cars were built in the former Mitchell plant, which Nash bought in '24, along with all tooling and spares. Mitchell machines were equipped with an excellent seven main bearing flathead Six. The Mitchell Little Six had a relatively small displacement engine. I wonder how many similarities there might be between the two marques. I'll check Hollander when I get home.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Nash may have used the Mitchell engine. In later years they made a lot of flathead engines with the most expensive models being OHV.

 

[vitanola]

Nash may have used the Mitchell engine. In later years they made a lot of flathead engines with the most expensive models being OHV.

Well if they did then the Ajax was probably a pretty good machine. Actually, having beennbuolt by Nash is MUST have been a pretty good car.

 

[David Conwill]

A little digression, but talk of early Nashes always reminds me of my great-aunt Harriet (b. 1913). She and my grandmother (b. 1915) were born exactly two years apart. Watching my own girls interact, I can imagine that they had a somewhat contentious relationship in their younger years. This is borne out by Grandma's story of being forced to ride around in the rumble seat of Aunt Harriet's '32 Nash roadster while her sister and friends drove around smoking cigarettes.

I was always impressed that my great-grandfather could afford such a swanky car for his daughters to use. But maybe the Nash dealer in Flint, Michigan, was cutting locals some VERY good prices to compete with the home team.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Nash was always known for offering quality and more for the money than other makes. They were responsible for important innovations like the first modern heating and ventilating system (1938) wind tunnel streamlined bodywork (1949) and the first integrated air conditioning system (1954). They had others too like unit construction with no chassis frame (1939) and strut suspension (1939). They were pioneers of light weight practical economy cars (Nash 600 in 1939 and Rambler in 1949) years before the industry took economy and efficiency seriously.

These were the sort of innovations that made for happy customers but did not make sensational headlines or make them valuable collector's items. They were not known for 16 cylinder luxury cars or super duper race cars, although they made some luxury models and some fast cars.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And they were also nice to look at.

 

[Stanley Doble]

You aren't kidding. This is a factory offering, believe it or not. Nash's answer to the Packard Darrin and Lincoln Continental, it was a custom design by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky seen here behind the wheel. Nash made about a dozen of them.

 

[1955mercury]

There's a 1924 Nash Victoria for sale on craigslist. Unusual seating arrangement in it.
https://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/d/1924-nash-victoria/6477626259.html

 

[Big Man]

There's a 1924 Nash Victoria for sale on craigslist. Unusual seating arrangement in it.
https://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/d/1924-nash-victoria/6477626259.html

I don't claim to know anything about the value of this kind of car, but $29,000 sounds a little (actually a lot) high to me.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was always impressed that my great-grandfather could afford such a swanky car for his daughters to use. But maybe the Nash dealer in Flint, Michigan, was cutting locals some VERY good prices to compete with the home team.

I imagine selling Nashes in Flint was not unlike trying to sell Chevrolets in Kenosha.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I'm surprised you can buy a car of such quality, in such good condition, for such a low price. In 6 years it will be 100 years old.

 

[vitanola]

I'm surprised you can buy a car of such quality, in such good condition, for such a low price. In 6 years it will be 100 years old.

Meh.

1920s coupes and sedans of middling makes in very nice condition which finally sell generally do so for closer to $10,000 than to $20,000. Heck, I knew of a late 1927 (four wheel brake) Franklin 11B in nearly perfect restored condition which took more than a year to sell with an asking price of $15,000. This for a full AACA Classic!

 

[LizzieMaine]

On the other hand, if you've ever wanted to own a nice pre-WW2 mainstream American car, now is the time to buy. The supply far, far exceeds the demand -- if it doesn't have tailfins or a "muscle" engine, nobody seems to want it. The same fate, I suspect, awaits the postwar cars once the Boomers have receded from the scene.

 

[Big Man]

I'm still looking for that 1922 Dodge Brothers Touring Car and that 1927 Oldsmobile four-door sedan that I can afford.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We have a major antique auto auction up here ever fall at the Owls Head Transportation Museum, and some quality cars go for, essentially, peanuts. A lot of them come out of estates, where the heirs are just trying to get rid of the old man's stuff, and there are real bargains if you know what to look at. Prewar Fords and Chevies will still go for top dollar, and luxury makes go for luxury prices -- but other makes can be scooped up for very little. A really nice 1929 Plymouth four-door sedan went last year for $4620, and a beautiful '39 Nash Lafayette coupe with a "woody" side treatment got no bids at all.

 

[Big Man]

Sounds like a road trip may be in my future.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Let me know if you do, and I'll see that you get to see a movie for free!

 

[Fading Fast]

On the other hand, if you've ever wanted to own a nice pre-WW2 mainstream American car, now is the time to buy. The supply far, far exceeds the demand -- if it doesn't have tailfins or a "muscle" engine, nobody seems to want it. The same fate, I suspect, awaits the postwar cars once the Boomers have receded from the scene.

I agree, but if I live that long, it will be interesting to see if those cars have something besides nostalgia going for them. Certain old - "antique -" items maintain their value past their nostalgic vogue - will muscle cars do so?