Nash Rambler. George Mason at Nash-Kelvinator was a Visionary in many ways in the Automobile Industry. He was the first to see that a small American car or "Compact" could be marketed successfully in America a full decade ahead of GM, Ford, and Chrysler's introduction of Corvair, Falcon, and Valiant, respectively.
The Nash Rambler was introduced in April, 1950 as a convertible with fixed posts and side rails. It was not a stripped model. It came well-equiped with accessories like a radio, heater, and clock. It cost $300-$400 more than a Chevy or Ford two door sedan, but included those items that were extra cost options on the Chevy or Ford. By 1951, it was offered as a station wagon, Country Club two-door hardtop, and the convertible, body styles as yet not available on the senior Nash Airflytes.
George Mason was the first to recognoze that if the Independent automakers were to survive and compete successfully with the Big Three, that they would need to come together and form a cooperative association. The Independents were making huge profits during the Seller's Market immediately following World War II. Auto production had been shut down since early 1942 because of the war and practically every American wanted and needed a new car. So they did not see the necessity to form an alliance for the future. Mason's vision saw Studebaker as the entry level or low price car to compete against Chevy, Ford, and Plymouth. He saw the Nash and Hudson automobiles as entries in the medium price field to compete against Pontiac, Olds, Dodge, DeSoto, and Mercury. Packard was to be the luxury automobile to compete against Cadillac, Lincoln, and Chrysler Imperial.
By 1950 that demand was starting to subside and the Independents were beginning to feel the effect and were running out of the necessary capital to invest in new tooling for new models and more modern overhead valve v-8 engines, and were beginning to wish they had listened to Mr. Mason. But by the time Nash & Hudson merged to form American Motors in 1954, and Studebaker and Packard merged that same year, they were already too far behind and so financially strapped that they could not bring competitive cars with the latest technology to the market place in order to compete. Thanks to George Romney and the Rambler, and Studebaker's Lark, both Compacts, American Motors and Studebaker contined to survive into the sixties, but eventually succumbed to the pressures of the marketplace.
