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Introduction to the 1949, 1950, 1951 Nash Airflyte
There has always been a touch of controversy about the 1949-1951 Nash Airflyte. Critics have decried their near cartoon-like styling, while supporters have praised them for their comfort, room, and quiet.
Naysayers have pointed to Nash's tendency to early rustout and poor resale value; enthusiasts brag about the pioneering technology used. While pundits quickly dubbed them the "bathtub" Nashes, the company proudly named them "Airflyte."
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The 1949 Airflytes were large and roomy, and Nash wasn't bashful about hyping its "Super-Lounge" interior. See more classic car pictures. |
The man probably most responsible for the Airflyte series was Nash's Vice President of Engineering, Nils E. Wahlberg. He was a respected automotive engineer, a graduate of the École Polytechnique fédérale in Zurich, Switzerland.
After working at several auto firms -- including Oakland, Maxwell-Briscow, and Packard -- he landed a job with Nash Motors in 1916, working his way to a vice presidency by 1931.
Although Nash engineering was located in Detroit, Wahlberg lived in Chicago in an upscale part of town known as the Gold Coast. From there, he commuted by train to his office at Nash.
"He was a brilliant man," recalls Bill Reddig, who began working in Nash Styling in 1950. "[He] always seemed deep in thought, as if working on an engineering problem. Wally [Wahlberg] would be striding down the hall completely oblivious to everything around him. You could see the concentration in his face. He would sometimes reverse direction suddenly, spinning around without missing a step, as some new thought caused him to reconsider his route."
Wahlberg was fascinated with aerodynamics, streamlining, and the effects of wind resistance on automobiles. He felt that the cars of the future would take into account air drag when they were being designed, using the advantages of aerodynamic styling to ensure a quieter cabin, more stable ride and handling, and improved fuel economy.
All the virtues of clean automotive design were, he felt, waiting to be showcased by any auto company smart enough to use them.
He wasn't alone in his thinking. In 1945, when postwar auto production was just beginning its slow start-up, nearly all of the auto companies took the easy route of simply reintroducing their prewar cars with minimal updating. It was realized by some, however, that life in the postwar era was going to be substantially different.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. Riding a 121-inch wheelbase, the Nash Ambassador Super measured 210 inches overall. |
For one thing, technology had taken a quantum leap forward, spurred on by wartime research for innovative new weapons. In addition, people had changed, becoming more aware of science and technology and the wondrous things that they could bring into their lives.
For many Americans, biplanes had been a marvelous sight in 1937. Just 10 years later, rockets and jet planes were coming into vogue, along with atomic power -- and there was even talk of space travel in the not-too-distant future.
The wartime advances in airplanes were to strongly influence the work of postwar automobile designers. It seemed like the right time to establish a new automotive design frontier.
Nash wasn't going to be left behind -- in sales or technology. Learn about Nash Airflyte development in the next section.
For more information about cars, see:
1949 Nash Airflyte Development
Let's look into the 1949 Nash Airflyte development. The president and chairman of Nash-Kelvinator, George W. Mason, was certainly willing to look at any plan that might help his firm increase sales. Nash had always been a conservatively run company when it was led by its namesake, Charles W. Nash.
Charlie Nash had hand-picked Mason as his successor, partly on the belief that Mason was a fiscal conservative like himself. It's doubtful that Nash ever regretted his choice, for Mason ran the company very well indeed, avoiding the pitfalls that had killed off so many other independent automakers.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The 1949 Nash Ambassador Super four-door sedan listed at $2,195 without options, and with 17,960 built, it outsold any other Ambassador model by more than two-to-one. |
By 1945, Nash was a solid company that had earned a reasonable return on its wartime contracts and had plenty of cash on hand to retool for the future.
But George Mason was cut from a different cloth than Charlie Nash.
Mason understood the need for fiscal responsibility, but a part of him yearned to take a chance on something a bit daring, bold, and out of the mainstream. He believed that the way to ensure success for a smaller independent automaker was to offer cars noticeably different from those of the mainline Big Three producers.
Mason, in figuring out how long it would take the auto companies to satisfy the pent-up demand, was certain that when the thirst was slaked the market would quickly turn cold and cruel.
Knowing that he would need an all-new car when competitive conditions returned, he settled on 1949 as the year he would introduce the first all-new postwar Nash. This would be the car that would lead the firm into the future.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. Nash heavily promoted its seats that converted into a bed as well as the "Uniscope" instrument pod on the steering column. |
Preliminary work on the 1949 had actually begun during the war, 1943 to be exact. While laboring on wartime projects, Wahlberg had gained access to a large wind tunnel, something Nash didn't have.
He began to experiment with different shapes and forms, trying to determine an optimal package that would hold a full load of passengers and cargo while offering minimal wind resistance.
At about the same time, Wahlberg was visited by two independent auto designers, Bob Koto and Ted Piech. What they had to offer was a design for a large aerodynamically clean family car for the postwar market.
Although Wahlberg looked over the clay model and supporting drawings, he passed on the car, deciding to do one with his own team instead. But Koto's design almost certainly exerted a heavy influence on the car that Wahlberg eventually put into production.
Nash Styling in the late 1940s was a part of Engineering, so naturally Wahlberg had command. Actual work on the production cars was done by Wahlberg's assistant, Chief Engineer Meade Moore, and Ted Ulrich, perhaps the top unit-body designer in the country at the time and the man who popularized it with the landmark 1941 Nash 600.
Assisting them was a small band of engineering department employees. Ray Smith worked on the one-quarter-scale models, Don Butler on body details and chrome accessories such as wheel covers, mirrors, and trim.
What a car they built! The 1949 Nash was a standout, easily identifiable to the man on the street -- exciting and exotic all at once. The envelope shape was the most streamlined form on the road, a large step ahead of the vaguely similar Packard.
At Wahlberg's insistence, form was to follow function, with better airflow the main goal, and indeed the Airflyte generated just 113 pounds of drag at 60 mph, compared to 171 for Packard. The rounded fenders flowed smoothly, their gentle corners easing a path through the wind.
At 62 inches tall, the new car stood six inches lower than the 1948 Nash, and the windshield was one piece and curved. Semi-enclosed rear wheel housings had been a feature on the previous Nash 600, but for this daring postwar car both front and rear wheels were enclosed at Wahlberg's insistence.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The flying lady hood ornament on the Nash Ambassador cost an extra $9. |
George Mason became an instant convert to the aero look, championing the enclosed wheels as a boldly innovative feature -- and a Nash exclusive. So pure, in fact, was the aero look that buyers had to cough up an extra $9 if they wanted a hood ornament.
Find details on the 1949 Nash Airflyte series on the next page.
For more information about cars, see:
1949 Nash Airflyte
Nash put it this way: "Now you've seen EVERYTHING in postwar styling! No more ugly fender openings! Now a complete sweep of racing curves from massive front to perfect tear-drop back . . . from road to roof . . . and inside and out! Every line sings with action! There's nothing like it on the road."
Inside, the "Super-Lounge" interior ("Sky-Lounge" in 1950) featured a modern minimalist look "deliberately designed to be recessive in tone, restful, [with] no distracting halations."
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The Uniscope instrument pod took much of the clutter from the dash; note the vertical radio dial. |
"No need ever to take your eyes off the road . . . all instrument dials are grouped just below eye-level, on your steering post. That's the Uniscope."
Tied in with that Uniscope pod was a recessed dashboard: "Everything that could be has been built in, out-of-sight. Behind the baffle is your complete Weather Eye Conditioned Air System."
Nash's famous unified heater/defroster/ventilation unit first seen in 1938. The interior was cavernous and comfortable: "No protruding panel cramming against you in front. There's room here to cross your knees and completely relax if you like."
In addition, the all-coil spring suspension provided a truly luxurious ride, and the aero design kept wind noise to a minimum.
Nash had previously offered a bed option in its cars, but for 1949 it introduced "the new Nash Twin Bed arrangement." The bed (or beds) were formed by dropping the front seat backs to meet the rear seat, a big improvement from the former style that had used only the rear seat, forcing owners to sleep with their legs tucked into the trunk area.
Special mattresses were optional, and window screens were soon offered, much to the comfort of campers who wanted to let air in and keep mosquitos out.
Although Nash had popularized unitized design for its 1941 600 series, the 1941-1948 Ambassador had retained a separate frame. For 1949, however, Nash went over to unit-body construction exclusively because the new cars shared their chassis as well as bodies with no extra framework underneath the costlier Ambassadors.
In 1949, Nash called it "Unitized" or "Airflyte Construction," and claimed it was "1 1/2 to 2 1/2 times as rigid as conventional cars," partly because of its 8,000 electronic welds.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. With its 28.5-cubic-foot capacity, the Nash Airflyte's trunk was huge. |
Both series shared identical styling. The 600s rode a 112-inch wheelbase, while the Ambassador boasted a 121-inch span, both as in the previous year. The Ambassador's extra nine inches rode ahead of the windshield, so longer front fenders and hood were fitted as well. The body sharing meant that interior dimensions were identical.
Although fastback styling cues had shown up on earlier cars, like the previous year's Packard and "Step-down" Hudson, the Nash rendition went a step beyond them.
Nash had talked about "Aero-Form" design way back in 1935, but the new car was quite beyond that, and beyond any other sedan on the market for "pure" aerodynamics, including the concurrent semi-bathtub Lincoln.
Following wind-tunnel tests at the University of Wichita, Nash could boast in its 1950 brochure that "The Nash Airflyte moves through the air with 20.7% less air-drag than the average of all other leading makes of cars tested. Other cars used as much as 51% more power . . . at speeds ranging from 30 M.P.H. upwards. The new Nash Airflyte for 1950 requires 11 horsepower less at 80 miles per hour for air drag alone than the average of other modern automobiles."
Powertrains were conservative. The 600 came with Nash's four-main-bearing flat-head six displacing 172.6 cubic inches and rated at a modest 82 horsepower. The Ambassador boasted a larger 234.8-cid overhead-valve six that put out 112 horses at only 3400 rpm and featured a sturdy seven-main-bearing crank for longevity that was hard to beat.
"Both engines give you the unfaltering smoothness of Uniflo-Jet carburetion, exclusive with Nash," said the brochure, saving the gas "customarily wasted in acceleration." The carryover motors were mated to a three-speed manual transmission. However, they could be ordered with overdrive -- which Nash preferred to call "Automatic Fourth Speed Forward" -- and a large percentage were.
Both cars were available in just two body styles, a two- and four-door sedan, though the first was also offered as a Brougham, which differed only inside. All came in three trim series: Super, Super Special, and Custom.
Nash 600 base prices ranged from $1,786 to $2,000, while Ambassadors cost $2,170 to $2,363. This placed the 600 in direct competition with the Buick Special, while the Ambassador went up against the Buick Super.
This was formidable competition, as the Buicks rode a 121-inch wheelbase, same as Ambassador but weighed about 400-700 "road-hugging" pounds more than the equivalent Nashes and had straight eights delivering 110-120 horsepower.
Other rivals included the Olds Futuramic 76 and 88, Mercury, Chrysler Royal and Windsor, DeSoto, Pontiac, Hudson, Stude-baker Commander, and Kaiser.
Learn about the 1950 Nash Airflytes in the next section.
For more information about cars, see:
1950 Nash Airflyte
Let's consider the 1950 Nash Airflyte. It had cost Mason $15 million to put the 1949 Nash Airflyte into production -- a large pile of money in those days. But the firm was in good shape then, having worked its production up from a Depression low of 14,973 cars in 1933 to 118,621 in 1948, only the second time the company had exceeded the 100,000-unit level since 1929.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The 600 line was renamed Statesman. Here it is shown as a Super. |
Profits in 1947 and 1948 were $18 and $20 million, so this was a gamble Mason felt he could afford to take. The man on the street loved the new Nash, although some prospects reportedly made salespeople prove to them, before they would buy, that a flat tire could actually be changed.
Nash belted a home run with its new bathtubs. Car production rose to 130,000 for the 1960 model year, 142,592 for the calendar year. The latter was an all-time record, and profits of $26 million were the best the company had registered since the consolidation of Kelvinator and Nash. Mason's gamble on aerodynamics had paid off big!
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The longer-wheelbase Ambassador, also a Super, could be told by the longer distance from front wheel opening to front door. |
Though styling for 1950 remained static, the rear window was widened 10 inches and the bumper guards were smoothed out. Other refinements included Nash's famous "glove-locker that pulls out instead of spills out" and Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, purchased from GM as an option for Ambassadors. The latter boasted "Selecto-Lift Starting" -- lifting up the shift lever engaged the starter.
Meanwhile, the 600 nameplate was dropped in favor of "Statesman," clearly more in tune with the Ambassador nameplate. The Statesman's engine was stroked a quarter-inch to 184 cubic inches, upping horsepower to a still-modest 85, while the Ambassador's six got a new cylinder head that increased output to 115 horses.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. As in 1949, the most popular Ambassador for 1950 was the Super four-door sedan, seen here with optional hood ornament and fog lights. |
Seat belts became optional on both series, a first for an American car, as did a five-position Airliner Reclining Seat for the front passenger.
With not much else new to talk about, buyers were reminded that "Only Nash has a curved, undivided windshield in all models!" As in 1949, a rear window wiper was offered, a novel touch at the time.
Check out the next section for details on the 1951 Nash Airflyte.
Tom McCahill began assessing new cars for Mechanix Illustrated
right after World War II, quickly establishing himself as the dean of
American road testers. Affectionately known as "Uncle" Tom, he was
widely read, highly respected, and much beloved for the witty manner in
which he described the cars he tested. Among the hundreds of cars he evaluated were the 1949
Nash 600 and Ambassador, both equipped with overdrive, which he had
driven at Nash's proving grounds in Burlington, Wisconsin. A few
excerpts from his report follow: Styling
Features
Conclusion
|
For more information about cars, see:
1951 Nash Airflyte
Trim levels for the1951 Nash Airflyte were reduced to two, Super and Custom, although the Statesman line also offered a single low-priced DeLuxe business coupe. Custom models came with more upmarket trim, full wheel discs, custom steering wheel, and a folding rear-seat armrest.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. For 1951, Nash gave its Airflytes a more thorough restyling. Up front was a new vertical-bar grille. |
In April 1950, Nash unveiled an all-new companion line, the Rambler. In one of those footnotes to history, the Rambler was originally going to be called Diplomat, keeping the civil servant nomenclature intact. But Chrysler owned that moniker, so Nash dug into the past for an old name used by Nash's predecessor, Thomas B. Jeffery & Company, from 1902-1913: Rambler.
The new car carried the Airflyte look, complete with enclosed wheels and soft corners, and even wore Airflyte badges.
There is nothing more satisfying than following up a great year with an even greater one, and for 1950 Nash did just that. Total production for the calendar year was 191,865 cars, helped along by decent sales of the Rambler. Along the way, on April 18,1950, the two-millionth Nash was produced.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The 1951 Ambassador Statesman lacked any extra brightwork, as the Super four-door next to the lighter Ambassador Custom shows. |
Long before the 1951 model year rolled around, it had been determined that the big Nashes would need a freshening up. New squared-off, more conventional-looking "Sky-Flow" rear fenders appeared on both the Ambassador and Statesman, complemented by vertically placed oval taillights.
Up front, the sheetmetal was unchanged because the differences in length would have doubled the tooling cost. But the grille was new, sporting a handsome, toothy grin that had a bit of 1951 Buick flavor to it, making the two look more-or-less related from a head-on view.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. This 1951 Nash Ambassador Custom looks like the squad car Inspector Henderson of the Metropolis Police drove in the Superman TV show. |
The 1951s also received horizontal parking lights and new "Guard-rail" front bumpers, and for Ambassadors a distinctive molding that swept rearward from the parking light down two-thirds of the front fender.
Inside, the Uniscope was gone, replaced by a new "Pilot Panel" dashboard color-matched to the exterior. Though more conventional now, it still placed all of the "driving dials" directly in front of the driver, sported a "curved cowl," and retained the sliding Glove Drawer.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The Statesman's L-head six delivered 85 horsepower. |
Statesmans added Hydra-Matic to the options list, necessary because automatic drive was fast gaining in popularity -- more than 60,000 Nashes were ordered with it in 1951. Overdrive was also still popular: about 87,000 installations.
Though mechanical changes were few, prospects were reminded that "Only Nash and Rolls-Royce have the husky 7-bearing, 100% counterbalanced crankshaft . . . that's super-quiet, vibration-free, built for years of rugged service."
Nash also boasted that a 1950 Ambassador had traveled 712 miles at 95.3 mph in the Pan American Road Race in Mexico, "Believed to be a class stock car record never equaled!"
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. For three years running, the 600/Statesman Super four-door had been Nash's bestselling model. |
Another Ambassador won the Bell Timing Award Trophy as the fastest sedan tested at El Mirage Dry Lake, California; it did 99.4 mph in the flying mile.
Calendar-year production fell to 161,140 units in 1951, and that included 57,555 Ramblers. Model year results were more encouraging: 205,307, including 70,003 Ramblers.
The latter was getting the lion's share of the firm's attention now as a new Country Club two-door hardtop joined the station wagon and convertible. Interestingly, Ramblers came in body styles that the big Nashes didn't offer. Conversely, the Rambler lineup still lacked sedans, though they would soon appear.
There were several reasons why production was beginning to falter as the 1951 model year ground on. First off, the Airflyte was in its third year, so it was no longer the newest car on the block.
Secondly, the public was tiring of the fastback look in general, and not just Nash's. General Motors, for example, was quickly abandoning that body style across its vast lineup.
Finally, the overall auto market was having an off year after record-breaking 1950.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. The 1951 Ambassador Super four-door cost $2,330; 34,935 were built. |
It was proudly pointed out in 1951 that "the Sales Gain of Nash since the war has been 5 Times as Great as the Industry's!" George Mason was thus rightly well pleased that he had decided to go ahead with the aero look and made sure the enclosed wheels and smooth fender shapes were retained when he directed Styling to come up with the next generation of senior Nashes. This new automobile would be ready for Nash's Golden Anniversary celebration in 1952.
Wally Wahlberg had left the firm by then, replaced by Meade Moore. But Airflyte styling remained a hallmark at Nash and its successor, American Motors, perhaps longer than it should have.
Styling opened up the Rambler's front wheels for 1955, but Ambassadors wore enclosed wheels through 1956, and of course the little British-built Metropolitan carried that look right to its 1962 demise.
Aero-styling didn't reappear on American sedans until the mid-1980s, when Ford picked up the torch and ran with it -- covering much of the ground the Airflyte had already traveled!
For 1949-1959 Nash Airflyte specifications, see our final section.
For more information about cars, see:
1949, 1950, 1951 Nash Airflyte Specifications
The 1949-1951 Airflytes remain the most successful Nashes in history, beating every old sales record and setting a peak never to be reached again by Nash. Find specifications for this series in the chart below.
1949-1951 Nash: Models, Prices, and Production
| 1949 | ||||
| 600 (wb 112.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 4923 | Super Special Brougham 2d | 2,960 | $1,846 | 2,564 |
| 4928 | Super Special 4d sdn | 2,950 | $1,849 | 23,606 |
| 4929 | Super Special 2d sdn | 2,935 | $1,824 | 9,605 |
| 4943 | Super Brougham 2d | 2,960 | $1,808 | 2,954 |
| 4948 | Super 4d sdn | 2,950 | $1,811 | 31,194 |
| 4949 | Super 2d sdn | 2,935 | $1,786 | 17,006 |
| 4953 | Custom Brougham 2d | 2,970 | $1,997 | 17 |
| 4958 | Custom 4d sdn | 2,985 | $2,000 | 199 |
| 4959 | Custom 2d sdn | 2,985 | $1,975 | 29 |
| Total 600 | | | | 87,174 |
| Ambassador (wb 121.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 4963 | Super Brougham 2d | 3,390 | $2,191 | 1,541 |
| 4968 | Super 4d sdn | 3,385 | $2,195 | 17,960 |
| 4969 | Super 2d sdn | 3,365 | $2,170 | 4,602 |
| 4973 | Custom Brougham 2d | 3,415 | $2,359 | 1,837 |
| 4978 | Custom 4d sdn | 3,415 | $2,363 | 6,539 |
| 4979 | Custom 2d sdn | 3,400 | $2,338 | 691 |
| 4993 | Super Special Brougham 2d | 3,390 | $2,239 | 807 |
| 4998 | Super Special 4d sdn | 3,385 | $2,243 | 6,777 |
| 4999 | Super Special 2d sdn | 3,365 | $2,218 | 2,072 |
| Total Ambassador | 42,326 | |||
| Total Nash | 130,000 | |||
| 1950 | ||||
| Statesman (wb 112.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 5032 | DeLuxe bus cpe | 2,830 | $1,633 | 1,198 |
| 5043 | Super club cpe | 2,940 | $1,735 | 1,489 |
| 5048 | Super 4d sdn | 2,965 | $1,738 | 60,090 |
| 5049 | Super 2d sdn | 2,930 | $1,713 | 34,196 |
| 5053 | Custom club cpe | 2,965 | $1,894 | 132 |
| 5058 | Custom 4d sdn | 2,990 | $1,897 | 11,500 |
| 5059 | Custom 2d sdn | 2,950 | $1,872 | 2,693 |
| Total Statesman | 111,298 | |||
| Ambassador (wb 121.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 5063 | Super club cpe | 3,335 | $2,060 | 716 |
| 5068 | Super 4d sdn | 3,350 | $2,064 | 27,523 |
| 5069 | Super 2d sdn | 3,325 | $2,039 | 7,237 |
| 5073 | Custom club cpe | 3,385 | $2,219 | 108 |
| 5078 | Custom 4d sdn | 3,390 | $2,223 | 12,427 |
| 5079 | Custom 2d sdn | 3,365 | $2,198 | 1,045 |
| Total Ambassador | | | | 49,056 |
| Total full-size Nash | 160,354 | |||
| 1951 | ||||
| Statesman (wb 112.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 5132 | DeLuxe bus cpe | 2,835 | $1,841 | 52 |
| 5143 | Super club cpe | 2,935 | $1,952 | 152 |
| 5148 | Super 4d sdn | 2,970 | $1,955 | 52,325 |
| 5149 | Super 2d sdn | 2,930 | $1,928 | 22,261 |
| 5153 | Custom club cpe | 2,950 | $2,122 | 38 |
| 5158 | Custom 4d sdn | 2,990 | $2,125 | 14,846 |
| 5159 | Custom 2d sdn | 2,940 | $2,099 | 2,141 |
| Total Statesman | 91,815 | |||
| Ambassador (wb 121.0) | Weight (lbs) | Price | Prod | |
| 5163 | Super club cpe | 3,370 | $2,326 | 40 |
| 3168 | Super 4d sdn | 3,410 | $2,330 | 34,935 |
| 5169 | Super 2d sdn | 3,370 | $2,304 | 4,382 |
| 5173 | Custom club cpe | 3,395 | $2,496 | 37 |
| 5178 | Custom 4d sdn | 3,445 | $2,501 | 21,071 |
| 5179 | Custom 2d sdn | 3,380 | $2,474 | 1,118 |
| Total Ambassador | 61,583 | |||
| Total full-size Nash | 153,398 | |||
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