“I just bought a 1950 Nash Ambassador Airflyte Super.” Just think how satisfying that would be to say to friends and neighbors alike. What would they imagine hearing the name? A car every bit as handsome as this one actually is. Here’s your chance to provoke such imagination. Get a look at the ad on eBay and start up your dream factory. The price is certainly right, at a current starting bid at $5 grand and no takers. If this is an encouraging sign, get in there and make a play. You’ve got three days for this to work. Then, you’ll get to Lake Forest, IL to pick up your new wheels.
What was the vision of the future from the vantage point of the half-century moment? You can partially tell via the enthusiasm in the name of this car. It’s kind of like people—those with more than three names are just a scene in themselves wherever they go. In the case of this Nash, the big, curving bustle back suggests the contours of a spaceship, though space travel was going to be a feature of the 1960s, not the nascent 1950s. But who cares? Go inside, and check out the huge, round speedo binnacle. And the radio, which has a little sliding door to cover it, almost like a secret spy compartment. This cockpit just looks like a fun place to spend time.
Nash was known as a company which prized innovation. This ran to include seat belts, unibody construction, and more. What became of Nash? It merged with Hudson and was phased out by 1957. American Motors was eventually the result. The legacy the company left, however, was real. It even made into a character in the Cars 3 movie, Louise Nash, described as a tough veteran racer who liked to mix it up alongside the Fabulous Hudson Hornet.
Tons of original paperwork and an underneath that looks absolutely spotless make this a buy worth checking out if you want a mid-century classic. What the reserve on the auction is, is not known, but if this car is as solid as it looks and goes anywhere near a four-figure number, someone is getting a heck of a cool car for pennies on the dollar. What else is cool? The fact that the front seat folds down flat(ish) for those late nights when it’s better to rest up than try to drive home. Mechanically, this particular model has a 6-cylinder engine with about 46,000 miles on the clock, though there’s no claim that this is authentic nor that the odometer has not rolled over. In fact, there’s not a lot of information in the ad, so you can decide for yourself whether that means this car speaks for itself or that the seller hopes you won’t ask the hard questions. Unravel that mystery, and you might have your next collector piece staring you right in the face.
Hopefully it will get some bids. Putting up a car like this for auction with no reserve is a gutsy move that hopefully doesn’t prove to be foolish. This helps highlight how this segment of the market has collapsed.
I for one am interested in what this car sells for.
Steve R
I bet it’ll be hard to find another one in this nice of condition. I like the fastback style of it, though I have to say it had to be hard as hell to see out of the back window, if at all driving.
Great looking Nash! I saw many of these on the original Superman shows in the 50’s. I often wondered if they had limited steering abilities with the front fenders being lower than most cars, no offense. I am sure this is a rare bird indeed! I’d love to have it.
And besides that back window, I would have to imagine that changing a tire all around the car would be a nightmare also, with those built-in fender skirts front and back. Don’t get a flat in the rain.
Hi John, I know it looks difficult, but it wasn’t that bad. These cars, and our 1950 Packard, used lug bolts, instead of studs and lug nuts, and without the protruding studs from the brake drum, there was enough clearance to slide the tire off past the drum. If I remember, the drivers side had reverse threads.
I never knew that Howard. And it makes perfect sense too. I always learn something new from you!! Thanks!!
Thank you Howard. I couldn’t imagine they would design it like that, and make it harder to change the tires. But I was hoping someone would know and post how it was done. I learn a lot from people like you on this site! Thanks
That and the body would lift up high enough, if one would use the bumper instead of the differential, for clearance.
Ohhh, Fudge! I imagine there was a lot of that dealing with reverse threads.
Thats no correct they use lug nuts. I have several of these cars.
Chrysler products from that era also used lug bolts with reverse threading on one side.
Changing a tire is no different than any other car. Jack up the car by the bumper the wheel comes down to remove.
Somebody may get a heck of deal on this beautiful looking Nash. Not a lot of information in the ad, they don’t even say what kind of transmission it has. By looking at the pics close up I see an indicator on the steering column. I think that would make this one a GM Hydra-matic. This one also has the Uniscope?set up for the speedo and gauges. I’m not a big fan of that and neither was the public, I think it was for one year only. I hope it finds a good home.
I went to the eBay ad and it shows the bottom of the car while it’s on a hoist. The transmission is an automatic.
The trunk lid also shows “HydraMatic” in picture #4.
This is in incredible condition. One of these early 50’s Nash’s have been on my bucket list since I was a little kid. Somebody (hopefully) will be getting a beautiful classic for a good price. It’ll be interesting to see of it sells and for how much. I do think what Steve said is right, this segment of the market is shrinking unfortunately.
At that price, immediately upon winning I would contact Ian Roussel and have the beauty customed!!
If it were mine, I would leave it as original as humanly possible. Used to see lots of these when they were new, but they gradually vanished from the roads. The ’49-’50 ones looked a lot better than their 1951 attempt to modernise the rear fenders and tack-on more standard tail-lamps. We called these “bathtub Nashes”.
Blasphemy!
This is an interesting error of auto design. Studebaker came out after the war with a brand new body in 1947 and it was quite attractive. Packer destroyed the beautiful clipper body with an unable update and was called a bathtub. Nash had something very similar and it was just as ugly and it’s featured in this article. I’m surprised they survived at all. Hudson came out with a good looking car. In general motors had their senior series redesigned and they looked very nice as well. But this Nash is just ugly. I look at it as a curiosity.
In the context of 1949, it did not look either ugly or out-of-place. And a car which would double as a place to park and sleep was one cool idea. They changed it very little for 1950, because the ’49 sold rather well. But by 1951, it was looking dated for sure.
Does it have an automatic transmission?
Here are more pictures. I think it’s the same car with seat covers over the newly upholstered striped seats. Apparently sold previously in Schaumburg, Illinois: https://classiccars.com/listings/view/891930/1950-nash-ambassador-for-sale-in-schaumburg-illinois-60173
To Zappenduster: All of this makes me WANT it!
Oh I really like this Nash. It’s quite attractive to me in that it doesn’t resemble anything else like it when these were new. Eclectic cars and me go together like PB&J. Like Steve R said I have added it to my watch list. But so have a lot of other people. So fortunately the old Nash should find a new home if the seller isn’t unrealistic. If I could be assured that the vehicle is turn key; I’d go about $7,000 tops but I have to factor in shipping to the middle Atlantic. Others might offer more. Thanks Howard for the information on the wheels. I had wondered about the access myself. I would think that up on the lift it would be even more accessible. Good thing too because the seller says it needs new tires. I know I will garner disagreement, but I would choose blackwalls. Anyway, GLWTS.
Really beautiful car. If I had room I’d scoop this car in a second and I’m a 60’s 70’s gear head. I do had a dumb question seeing the car was made before my time. How was the turning radius with the front tires behind the fender skirts?
The turning radius of the 1950 Nash Ambassador Super is 21 feet, 4 inches.
Source: 1950 Nash Airflyte brochure under https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1950-Nash-Airflyte-v2.pdf
I am a fan of the so called ” bath-tub” designed cars of the late 40’s and early 50’s . I owned a ’50 2 door Packard 23rd series and that car was great with the straight eight and ‘Ultramatic Drive’ or Packard’s 1st automatic! Now, I could see out the back window but seeing this Nash I wonder? Still, I wouldn’t mind if she was in my garage. Some of the design was probably influenced from movies like ”the day the earth stood still” although that was in ’51. Once I had my Packard at gas station filling her up and a young kid said ‘sir your car looks like a spaceship’ a favorable comment. Yeah they back then said they were pregnant elephants or upside down bath tubs but hey that was the way is was, aka like Walter Concrite would say! p.s. and yeah they did not need crumple zones! Real steel !
Beautiful car. The two door models are much harder to find than the 4 doors.
What year engine installed in the 1950 Nash?
Sold for $8,988.88. That was a steal.