I really like Crosleys, this one included. This is a 1951 Crosley Super Sedan and it’ll need a little spit and polish, and a little welding and interior work, but you can do it! It’s located in Westhampton, New York and is listed on eBay with over 70 bids (!) and a current price of only $2,650! This is one to watch if you’ve been looking for a Crosley.
The seller says that this is a “2 owner” car, but I never know if that means before the current seller bought it, or if they’re the second owner. In either case, this is a great looking car. There is a bit of “rust on bottom of left door” but if you can’t make a patch panel, lots of different panels are available. The seller mentions that the hood is unlatched in the photos, but it’s odd that there are no engine photos, which seems like a reason why you’d unlatch the hood. From 1949-1952 and again in 1955 Crosleys had the CIBA (Crosley Cast Iron Block Assembly) four-cylinder engine with about 28 hp, as opposed to the famous/infamous CoBra (Copper Brazed) engine, nicknamed “The Mighty Tin”, a 133 pound engine with 26.5 hp.
There is no mention as to if the driver’s door is also unlatched, I hope that it is. The seller has this one listed as a “Deluxe” but I think it’s a “Super”. The Super had the Super script on the side whereas the Deluxe didn’t have any script on the side. Also, the Supers had the propeller on the grille as standard equipment.
Here’s an enlarged photo showing the propeller; that is “Super” cool! The Super also had the Crosley Bird hood and fender ornaments which this one has.
There aren’t many photos of this car and the ones that are here are a little iffy, but I guess sometimes you have to trust your gut when it comes to buying a vehicle online. More often than not things aren’t quite as good as they look in the photos. In this case, the car may actually be better than it looks in the photos. The interior will need to be worked on, upholstery-wise. The door panels are water-stained, hopefully that’s not a bad sign for rust in the floors and there is no mention of rust other than on the bottom of the driver’s door. The interior should look like this one, very nice! This car has the optional Crosley radio but doesn’t appear to have the optional heater.
This looks like a “super” nice little project, and the price is certainly right. I love these small cars, and all small cars. They’re so much easier to store and to work on and get around in the garage than a bigger car is. Are there any Crosley fans out there?
Things were this bad, post-war, that people actually bought and drove awful cars like this? Cheap and ugly. Just sad. I cannot imagine anyone wanting anything to do with this.
Not enough people did want these cars. These were oddities when new at a time when bigger was better.
In many ways the Crosley was ahead of the time. They had disc brakes and a cool little 44 vid engine that was used in midget racing for years.
We’re glad we don’t have to rely on your imagination.
The didn’t waste money on a skilled and artistic designer did they?
A good little “A” to “B” car… as long as “A” and “B” weren’t too far apart. I like these little buggies but I have no room or use for one at the moment.
The “Smart Car” of two generations ago
this was found and on Ebay a while back…….
When I was a kid (long time ago), my dad bought a used ’50 model. I remember it pretty well because it was such a weird little car and even back then I didn’t know of anyone else who had one. He did some work on it, drove it for a short while, then sold the engine out of it. I still have the chrome hood badge. Looking back, I wish I had it now. Not worth a lot, but kinda cool. And I still don’t know of another one around here.
Same transmission as a Power King garden tractor.
When I was a kid in Sandy, Utah, we used to go to the UTE drive-in theater for movies. This was in the late 50’s-early 60’s. The people who owned and ran it had a little train ride as part of the playground and the “engine” part of it was the front part of a Crosley. I was a true car geek at an early age and knew what it was, although I don’t know how.
When I got to high school, one of teachers there was Mr Brown and his was the family who owned the drive-in. I actually asked him once about the Crosley and he was surprised that anyone remembered it, let alone knew what it was. He told me then that his uncle had found it wrecked, hit in the rear and cut off all the parts to make the train engine. Wish I had some pictures.