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IKEA Special: 1952 Crosley Super Sports

1952 Crosley Super Sports

UPDATE: Sold for $4,300.

The Crosley Hotshot and Super Sports represented America’s first low-buck sports cars. They were small and crudely built, but they were lightweight and fun. Many were even raced around the country with some success. This particular example has seen better days, but we think it would make for a good project. The owner had a heart attack so they have decided to sell off their entire collection in order to focus on more important things. The sale includes a pair of engines and transmissions, but like Swedish furniture, some assembly is required. Find it here on eBay where bidding is at $3,950. Better hurry though as the auction only has two hours left!

Comments

  1. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Auction ended. Sold for $4,300. This car looks almost complete and has 2 engines and 2 transmissions, which looks like a very good deal.

    The Crosley company was very innovative, and was willing to go out on a limb to make very small cars like this Super Sport when everyone else was making large cars. They made a brazed sheet metal engine that was used by US forces during WW2 for small power needs. The brazed engine also had an overhead cam in the 1940s when most car engines were flathead designs, and OHV engines were just coming in as top technology.

    I have a lot of respect for Crosley. It’s a shame they didn’t survive, especially when you think what they might have produced during the late ’50s and the ’60s.

    The Hotshot/Supersport cars are usually in the running for the title of first production American sports car. I think they are the first, but others think the Stutz Bearcat deserves that title. I still have very old car magazines that report on the 1960 Sebring 6-hour race, which was won by a Hotshot.

    Great little car, and I would pick it over many other interesting microcars for its mechanical design and Crosley heritage.

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    • Avatar Dolphin Member

      Sorry, that should say the 1950 Sebring race.

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    • Avatar Jim-Bob

      The interesting thing about the Crosley COBRA (COpper BRAzed) engine is that it was initially used as a stationary power plant during WWII. In that role, it was very successful in running generators and pumps at remote military installations. It was cheap and easy to produce, and I believe it won an award for wartime manufacturing. However, it was less than brilliant as an automotive engine. It simply was not designed to cope with the shock and vibration of being installed in a vehicle which would be operated over a wide variety of surfaces. Thus, Crosley replaced it with a cast iron block engine in it’s later cars.

      The biggest problem for Crosley however was…well…size. In the US, gasoline was cheap and wartime austerity rapidly became a distant memory. Thus, the reason for buying such a tiny car rapidly disappeared in the States and they went out of the auto business. This wasn’t the end of Crosley though. They went on to produce consumer electronics for many years after they stopped making what was arguably America’s most successful microcar.

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  2. Avatar rancho bella

    I like Crosleys. I was going to bid on this but I am waiting to find Crofton Brawny Bug or Crosley Farm O’ Road to restore. Same thing
    The truck and wagons are sooo kaaaoool.

    Crosely engines were big in certain competitions. Boat racing and car racing.

    Sorry….got carried away. Check out the Crosely website to get a feel for the cars.

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  3. Avatar Mark E

    $4300 seems like a good deal, especially with the spare drivetrain parts. And the Hot Shots go for, what seems to me, silly money. This is more what a Crosley should go for. They are simple, fun cars that make people SMILE!

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  4. Avatar Chris Bater UK

    What a brilliant looking car, good cheap fun, though it would seem not so cheap these days. I.ve just spotted the blue 1947 Crosley sedan on ebay, what a visual treat that is, do I see echos in the Chrysler PT cruiser. Crosley sound like an innovative and forward thinking company, a real automotive “what if” situation if ever there was one. The UK saw many small companies offer similar sized post War offerings throughout the “cash strapped” 50,s, some struggling on into the early 60,s but early safety considerations/requirements and increasing buyer aspirations in terms of quality, fit and finish, put an end to many GRP based designs, and probably not before time. CB

    Like 0

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