Junkyard Gem: 1954 Nash Ambassador Tremendous 4-Door Sedan

16 years ago 2 min read

In January of 1954, Nash Motors merged with Hudson Motors to create the American Motors Company. At the moment, the Hudson Hornet grew to become the largest and strongest car provided by the brand new firm, however the Nash Ambassador had a fame because the luxurious “Kenosha Duesenberg” going again to the Twenties. Right this moment’s Junkyard Gem is a type of high-snazz 1954 Ambassadors, discovered final winter in a northeastern Colorado automobile graveyard.

That is an Ambassador Tremendous four-door sedan, which was priced at $2,412 (which is about $27,064 in 2023 {dollars}). The extra upscale Ambassador Customized hardtop coupe price $2,730 that 12 months ($30,632 in at the moment’s cash).

Battista “Pinin” Farina did the styling on this automobile, and it has the badges to show it. I’ve documented another well-known Pininfarina designs within the junkyard, together with the Cadillac Allanté, the Fiat 124 Sport Spider and the Lancia Beta.

This automobile is supplied with the Nash Climate Eye heating/air flow system, which debuted in 1939. The Climate Eye identify survived in numerous AMC fashions right through the 1977 Hornet and Gremlin.

The engine is lengthy gone, however it will have been a late-Nineteen Thirties-technology overhead-valve straight-six with 253 cubic inches (4.1 liters) of displacement and both 130 or 140 horsepower. The bottom transmission was a three-speed column-shift handbook, however this automobile was constructed with the non-compulsory GM Hydra-Matic four-speed automated; that choice added a hefty $179 to the value ($2,009 now).

The flooring are rusty and the inside has been degraded by many years of out of doors storage, however there’s nonetheless quite a lot of good things left on this automobile.

The Ambassador identify moved onto a stretched model of the Nash Rambler chassis for the 1958 mannequin 12 months, changing into a Rambler within the course of; the Nash identify disappeared after 1957, although everybody continued to name the Austin-built Metropolitan a Nash after that. Beginning within the 1966 mannequin 12 months, the Ambassador bought AMC badging, and Ambassador manufacturing continued right through 1974.

It was nonetheless a giant sedan on the finish, however the Detroit Huge Three may at all times step on AMC once they felt prefer it. Finally, Chrysler purchased the corporate.