1920 Nash Touring Sedan, Model 681, 4-door, 5 passenger
Owner: Bernie and Janice Taulborg Collection
Original cost: $1,490.00
Engine,etc.: 6 cyl., 249 cid, 55 hp; 3-speed; 127 in. wheelbase; 2,930 lbs.
(Notice tire tread – it spells “NO SKID” – Firestones)
Nash, Kenosha, Wisc.,1917 – 1942; et seq.
Charles W. Nash was abandoned by his parents at age 6 and became indentured to a Michigan farmer with whom he was legally obligated to stay until age 21. He ran away at age 12 and learned to become a carpenter. He later became one of the most influential and successful individuals in the automobile industry.
He was appointed manager of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company in 1895. Fifteen years later he was running Buick..
In 1912 he was running General Motors.
He resigned the presidency of General Motors in 1916 following a dispute with Bill Durant.
In 1916, with a former General Motors man, James Storrow, he bought the Thomas J. Jeffery Company, which was producing the Rambler and the Jeffery for $9 million.
The first Nash automobile was produced that year. By 1919 Nash was selling 27,000 cars a year. A year later the company ventured into the luxury car segment by offering the LeFayette V8 priced at $5,000 which later proved to be a financial loss for the company. Other Nash models were selling well, however, and the company remained highly profitable.
Nash sales passed 50,000 for the first time in 1923.
Nash weathered the Great Depression and assisted the World War II effort by manufacturing Pratt and Whitney aircraft engines.
Its slogan in the late 1920’s and 1930’s was “Give the customer more than he has paid for” and the cars lived up to it.
The company pioneered unitary construction in 1941, a heating and ventilation system whose operating principles are now used universally in 1938, seat belts in 1950, and the manufacture of the compact car (1950), subcompact (1970), and muscle car (1957).
In 1954 Nash acquired Hudson Motor Car Company, creating the American Motors Corporation. The company then pinned its future on the Rambler line, phasing out the Nash and Hudson nameplates by the end of the 1957 model year.
Sources: Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805 -1942. Beverly Rae Kimes, et al. 3rd ed. Krause Publications, 1996.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Motors (selected information only)
http://uniquecarsandparts.com/lost_marques_nash.htm (History)
https://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/nash.html (History)
