Although these Nash’s are known for their bare bones simplicity, their styling is magnificent and extremely eye catching. Considered a true “Barn Find” by the seller, this toaster like wagon is a fairly solid survivor that is nearly on the verge of being a driver. With the auction nearly half over, bidding has only risen to $1,525.00. Check out this stylish beauty here on eBay out of Oak Run, California.
Peeking inside you can see that the bench seat has seen better days, but also notice that the floors are freshly painted and repaired of what would seem to be minor rust. Recover the seats, door panels, and door pulls, and this wagon would be sitting pretty enough from the interior perspective. The inline 6 engine does turn over, and nearly catches when trying to start. I imagine some tinkering, and fresh fluids would get this Nash going in no time.
The exterior chrome trim is all accounted for, and the interior is quite spacious and useful in this stylish two door wagon. Also note that the back seat folds down offering even more utility of this classic.
Restoration is always a big word used in the automotive world, but some cars aren’t worthwhile when it comes to restorations, or they simply look good enough as they are in their current state. I personally find the current appearance of this Nash charming, and would likely opt to leave it as is. With that being said, this wagon would also look absolutely amazing in its factory color with a deep and rich luster. Thankfully the body work appears rather nice, but there are a few areas where spray paint has been used likely to arrest the spread of any surface rust. Looking the car over closely there is no rust or rot to be seen, other than some very minor surface rust on some of the thinning paint areas. With loads of style, two doors, and plenty of room to haul whatever you please, what would you do with this Nash? Restore or preserve?
nother USA ‘down sized’ wagon… well
still searchin a ’79/86 LTD ” .
By 1951 , Nash was doing everything possible to survive prior to the buy-out….there are plenty of 79 to 86 LTD’s to be had….
Nash’s……not so much. When it comes to LTD’s, I’d prefer a 91 P Series Interceptor.
only original once leave as is.
I bought a 1955 belair 2dr post with 19 k miles and that is the plan.
Cool car. The reserve won’t be cheap, which doesn’t imply it won’t be reasonable.
Steve R
Yep. Seller mentions another one that sold for 180k and some other B.S. about it being on a show. This flipper is all about dollar dollar bills yall. I’m thinking his number is 25k. Anybody else want to do a pool on said reserve?
It’s a Nash Kelvinator !
These are just quirky enough to be interesting, and not seen often at your local car show. I have seen a couple that were heavily modified sold at auction for stupid money. This looks like a worthwhile project. I wouldn’t do a complete restoration, I would fix what needs fixing, replace the upholstery, and paint it. Then this would be a nice utility vehicle for my home projects, and local car show star.
Replace the interior, fix mechanically what is broke and drive it daily.
When new, I could see a dad, smoking his pipe, wearing his trench coat and a fedora, using this to drop off three or four of the neighborhood kids for their weekly Cub Scouts meeting.
How did these steer with the front wheel wells closed off like that?
Like……….
Takes 7 more feet to turn it around than same year Chevy.
“….and would opt to leave it as is.”
Are you purposely leaving out the dreaded “P” word? LOL
Unfortunately these old Ramblers were rust buckets in their day. My dad bought a cute 1952 Rambler hardtop convertible in 1957 for $225 from private owner for use as a 2nd car. Inside trunk and tops of rear fenders plus side of left fender were totally rusted through. We spent days fixing rust holes with fiberglass repair kits. Result looked awful but it did hold fenders together. Note, putting spray paint over rust does not stop rust!
Now THAT is patina. I’d be tempted to leave it pretty much as is, except for fixing up the inside a bit.
The patina that we see in these photos was 2005 patina (notice the photos are date stamped). So it has “patina-ed” for another 12 years since then. It would be helpful if the seller had provided more current photos,…. say, October 2017. Then you could get a much more accurate picture of what you’re dealing with. But I must say, it looked great in January of 2005!
It’s hard to find one of these that hasn’t been slammed and tubbed. This one looks like driver-quality material. They were honest, simple cars that were fairly reliable for their time. My mother had a ’51 two-door that lasted a decade, which says a lot for the days of planned obsolescence and ten Michigan winters. This ranks right up there with the Falcon Squire, the Pinto wagons, and the Vista Cruiser among my favorites. Hope it gets preserved and not rodded.
10 Michigan winters is surprising for one of these but I suppose if it had good undercoating that could make a difference. We were in western PA. We also had a 56 Ford wagon that began rusting out at 3 years old. I spent my teen years fighting rust on that car.
Dennis, I grew up in Warren, OH. We had a 74 or 75 Dodge that started getting fender rust before it was one year old. Our neighbor who worked at the notorious (Chevy Vega) Lordstown assembly plant said that at the end of every shift was one poor car that didn’t get primered (make it to the spray booth) and would be a guaranteed rust bucket.
Seller says “The pictures speak to condition” . The pictures are 12years old… How about current pics.
ya bunch of dummys. when you replace a camera battery it starts at 2005… if you dont reset it to the correct date. my wife gives me a crappy look everytime se sees a current photo with the 2005 date on it look in the background then ask yourself!
This one looks amazing after its transformation, only a 2 seater now though..
https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/2397/1952-nash-rambler
Wow! Quite a nice ride and write-up. Even though it’s priced out of my league, I believe the price to be on the low side.
I wouldn’t mind a mild resto rod on one,
nothing crazy, late model v6/v8 auto trans
maybe A/C,wheels and nice paint/trim.
these are pretty rare,and I wouldn’t want to do anything
that would cause it to not be able to put back to stock,
but yes mild upgrades would be nice.Flip this wagon over,
and we can make it a “retro hot tub” LOL.very nice find!
I have an AMC 401 that will fit in there nicely.
I would make a restomod with a Vortec 4200 inline-six. Easy to work on. Dependable.
Add all the bells and whistles.
Rust proof it and drive the living daylights out of it every day
I just placed my bid on this one! If I should happen to wind up with it, I will put it back together! Fix or rebuild what is necessary and drive and enjoy this car!
I must retort! These are among the ugliest cars known to man! Bathtub -mobile!
This car is freaking awesome! I’m usually at ‘leave ’em as us’ guy but I would put a late model straight six of some sort in it – maybe a Jeep 4.0 to sort of keep it in the family – but would keep the three-on-the-tree (unless I could find a 4-speed). Redo the interior. Keep as much exterior patina as possible. Drive it.
Scroll down on the eBay page to see the 1950 Nash. Love these cars.
Paging Lois Lane.