I really don't understand this one. What was he thinking? Start with the cheapest new car you can find and spend what it takes to make it look a little different? It's still the 1953 equivalent of a Hundai. For the same money he probably could have had a nice Ford or Olds, or a Studebaker coupe. Maybe if he had a Cadillac in it, but...
Weren't these era Nash's a Pininfarina design? They do have a lot of Italian design themes going on. I feel like a little longer wheelbase and some wheel arches would transform these cars into real stunners.
There is one for sale locally and I can't decide if I want it or not.Now maybe I can think a little harder.As for this one,well done like the other without the bad wheel choice.A direct hit ,in my opinion.
Just because it was done once, doesnt make it 'traditional. Like the Alakart with airbags. Yep it was done but 99.99% of hotrods and customs did not have airbags. The Alakart fits into the Showcar genre, many of which were not usable on the streets.
Just for fun I tried my extended wheelbase and wheel openings, I don't know if I like it as much as I thought I would.
My Pop had one, well really two. A hardtop and a convertible. He use the convertible for parts to restore the hardtop. He painted it red with a black top. As a kid, who like cars, was not to excited at the time, when the guy next door had two 1957 Chevy's. At the time we were station at Offutt AFB, the home of SAC
More food for thought (from Kustomrama). A major appeal to me would be in applying old time hop-up techniques (milled head, chopped flywheel, reground cam, etc.) to the flathead 6, while hunting down any ultra-rare vintage speed parts that may have been produced. Like JJ said, dare to be different.
I think a centrifugal blower like they used on Graham and some other cars would be appropriate. I don't think this car qualifies as cute. A Nash Metropolitan maybe, but not this one. Maybe a bit of a sleeper?
Don't play the "traditional" card! That Nash may not have been the most popular choice to customize, but it's still a bonafide 50's custom.
The February '58 issue of Car Speed and Style has an article about a Nash Rambler wagon that had a '55 265 and Powerglide installed; fair amount of work but a pretty straightforward installation. I'll scan it later tonight.
'Not the most popular choice' ...That's an understatement. In 1957, we were cruising the main downtown (San Jose, CA) in older pal Bill's '40 ragtop. Mike Donahue, resident smart***, was riding shotgun. The '40 was raked, bigs & littles, dumped rims, 'Baldy' caps, 331 Cadillac mill, LaSalle sideshift, column shift...Washington blue... We come up alongside this radically chopped '49 Merc coupe, everything smooooth, Appletons, '55 Olds Fiestas, white tuck & roll, the guy's got shades on, epitome of 'Cool'. He looks up at the '40, and Donahue delivers: "Heyy, is that a Naaash???" Bill laid rubber getting out of the gate, the guy was like 9 axe handles wide, and sure looked 'irked'. Lost him in a flurry of tire smoke...
In the late 60's my mother had a lady friend; she asked my mom to have me come over and see if I was interested in an old car she had in her barn, it was supposed to be "special". That's not quite the word I used when I first spied it. Yes, it had Pininfarina emblems on it, had no clue of it's significance at the time.
May 1952 Popular Science. Sealed in, Early style headlight frenching and a Carson top. Sharp little Nash!
Going up in Milwaukee Wisconsin, saw lots of Nash cars 50's-70's and my Dad had a few, one was a mid 50's 2 door hardtop w/ a Continental kit, 2 carb inline 6, production line car. The Metropolitan model has a big following in Wisconsin, see them at car shows, from stock to ProStreet, V6 GM seems to be a popular swap. As always in our Hobby "Different Strokes for Different Folks"
The Jalopy Journal
