By Jay Hirsch
The 1957 Nash Ambassador can have its lineage traced back to 1916 when Charles Nash was the president of General Motors.
Nash resigned in 1916, as he wanted to have his own car company. In 1918 Nash bought the Thomas Jeffrey Company, which was known for making the 1902 Rambler car and trucks. The Jeffrey Company was at one time the largest producer of trucks in the world. To aid the U.S. army in WWI, the Jeffrey Company built 11,000 four-wheel drive trucks. Four-wheel-drive was a revolutionary engineering marvel at the time. Nash changed the name of the company to Nash Motors.
In the mid-1930s, Charles Nash was looking for someone to head Nash Motors, and George W. Mason seemed like that person. Mason was the CEO of Kelvinator Corporation, which made refrigerators and appliances for the home. When first approached by Nash, Mason said he was not interested, unless Nash and Kelvinator merged and became one company. In 1937, Charles Nash agreed to this proposal by George Mason, and the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation was born. In 1938 Nash introduced the Weather Eye heating and ventilation system to its cars. Until then the heaters in cars just kept re-circulating the same air in the car’s cabin. In 1948 George Mason became the CEO of Nash Motors. Mason brought in George Romney, who was director of the Automobile Manufacturing Association, to be part of the Nash-Kelvinator team. In 1954, this decision would propel Romney into becoming president and CEO of the newly-formed American Motors after Mason died from pneumonia. American Motors Company was the merging of Nash and Hudson.
In 1950 Nash revitalized the Rambler name in the form of a smaller car for the American car market. While smaller on the outside the Rambler had ample interior space and was not a cheaply made car. Nash still made a big car, and in 1952 it received a new body designed by the Italian firm PininFarina.
This body, with some slight style changes, would be made by Nash until 1957, the last year of a “big Nash” But what a farewell the 1957 Nash was!
The 1957 Nash Ambassador was the first American car to have the new four-headlight system for a 150-percent increase in lighting power at night on dark roads. The full-size Nash had more interior space than any other 1957 car, due to its unitized body. The front and rear seats were the widest of any car on the road. To keep you safely in those seats Nash had seat belts! The rear doors on the four-door Nash, when locked, could only be opened by the driver.
The Nash Ambassador came in only two body styles — a four-door sedan and a two-door hardtop, as seen here. The pillarless hardtop was often called a “hardtop convertible,” for when all four windows were lowered, there was the feeling of being in a convertible.
Among the many options on the Amassador was air-conditioning, which Nash, through its Kelvinator division, helped to create as the first affordable air conditioning system for cars that fit compactly in the engine compartment. It featured power steering, power brakes, power windows, automatic transmission, and reclining front seats, which also folded all the way down to make a bed — no need to worry about finding a motel, or using a tent with cots. The Continental-tire mount was made by Nash and added 10 inches to the length of the car. Most other cars that offered continental tire kits had them made by separate companies, and these could add 18 to 24 inches to the car’s length. The Ambassador’s continental tire was designed to be part of the body.
For 1957 Nash had the new transistorized radio. Unlike most radios of this time, which had tubes, the Nash transistor radio was instantly on when the power button was pushed. With a tube radio you had to wait any where from 20 seconds to almost a minute before the sound came on the radio.
Standard equipment included directional signals, back-up lights, electric clock, cigarette lighter, rear seat arm rest, and dual exhaust.
The 1957 Nash Ambassador Country Club epitomized all that was good in post WWII America. It was big, comfortable and “flashy” in a good way. Its Italian-inspired design evoked a sense of class, while its over-the-top trim and tri-color paint was as bold and as brash as the United States was in the post-WWII economic boom of the peaceful 1950s.
The Ambassador seen here has the Nash 4 bbs, 327 cid OHV V-8/5.4-liter engine, putting out 255 hp @ 4700 rpm. The Ambassador rides on a 8.00 x 14 whitewall tires on a chassis that has a 121.25-inch wheelbase (219.25 inches long with the continental tire) and is 58 inches in height and 78 wide.
Wade Jacobs, the current owner, belongs to several car clubs, the Nash Owners club being one. A few years ago Wade, who then owned a 1951 Rambler convertible, saw this Ambassador on the club’s website and contacted the owner, who lived in Indiana. He told the owner that if he ever decided to sell the car to keep him in mind. In 2016 the owner called Wade and said it was time to move on: “I am selling the Ambassador and only to club members who appreciate these cars. This is my price and there is no bargaining!”
Wade flew out to see the car, since it was several years since he last saw it. The car was everything he remembered and Wade bought the car. Except for a repaint in its colors of red, white and black, the car is original. The interior and trunk lining are as they were when delivered in 1957. The car has 87,000 original miles, as it was always a weekend driver. The owner had the engine rebuilt in 2008, as he and his wife were going on a road trip to Los Angeles to see their son.
When Wade got the car, he replaced the 10-year-old bias tires with new 8.00 x 14 bias tires. Wade has cars with radial tires and knows the characteristics of bias tires, but the original look of the tires is what Wade wanted, and he drives the car accordingly. When on smooth roads that are not rutted out from 18-wheelers, the big Nash rides and handles excellently. Those deep foam cushioned seats and coil spring suspension at all four-wheels make for a cloud like ride,
On the front cover of the 1957 sales brochure these words describe: “1957 Ambassador — Join The Switch to the Travel King — NASH — World’s Finest Travel Car!”
Unfortunately many American did not agree, and Nash sold 3,561 Ambassadors. Being an independent, Nash had a problem obtaining dealers. Unlike today, when one car dealer can have several makes, in 1957 a dealer could lose his franchise if he took in another car make. •
