About Nash
Nash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Nash production continued from 1954 to 1957 after the creation of American Motors Corporation.
History
Nash Motors was founded in 1916 by former General Motors president Charles W. Nash who acquired the Thomas B. Jeffery Company. Jeffery's best known automobile was the Rambler. Nash enjoyed decades of success by marketing mid-priced cars for middle class buyers.
Much of the early success of the company was owed to Charlie Nash's faith in engineer Nils Erik Wahlberg. Wahlberg was an early proponent of wind tunnel testing for vehicles. Wahlberg is also credited with helping to design modern flow-through ventilation, a process by which fresh, outside air enters a car's air-circulating system, is warmed (or cooled), and exits through rearward placed vents. The process also helped to reduce humidity and equalize the slight pressure differential between the outside and inside of a moving vehicle.
Nash's slogan from the late 1920s and 1930s was "Give the customer more than he has paid for" and the cars pretty much lived up to it. Innovations included a straight-eight engine with overhead valves, twin spark plugs, and nine crankshaft bearings. The 1932 Ambassador Eight had synchromesh transmissions and free wheeling, automatic centralized chassis lubrication, a worm-drive rear end, and its suspension was adjustable from within the car.
Creation of the Ajax
For the 1925 model year, Nash introduced an entry-level marque named the Ajax. A car of exceptional quality for its price, the Ajax was produced in the newly acquired Mitchell Motor Car Company plant in Racine, Wisconsin. Mitchell was the manufacturer of Mitchell-brand automobiles between 1903-1923. Sales of Ajax automobiles, while quite respectable, were disappointing. It was believed that the same car would sell even better if it were called a Nash. Thus the Ajax became the "Nash Light Six" in June, 1926 and sales did improve, just as expected. In an unusual move, Nash Motors offered all Ajax owners a kit to "convert" their Ajax into a Nash Light Six. This kit, supplied at no charge, included a full set of new hubcaps, radiator badge, and all other parts necessary to change the identity of an Ajax into that of a Nash Light Six. This was done to protect Ajax owners from the drop in re-sale value their cars were sure to suffer when the Ajax marque was discontinued. In this way Nash Motors showed the high value they placed upon their customers satisfaction and well-being. Most Ajax owners took advantage of this generous move, and so "unconverted" Ajax cars are quite rare today.
