Rambler Sales Took off in 1959
Perhaps the most intriguing item on the Custom was a 125-horsepower six-cylinder engine. In a test of 10 domestic station wagons, Motor Trend found that the American Custom could hit 60 mph from a standing start in 12.9 seconds. It had the same bore and stroke dimensions as the engine in Deluxes and Supers but featured overhead valves and a compression ratio raised to 8.7:1. Because of space problems, air conditioning wasn’t available with the ohv six.
Since the corporation’s birth in 1954 from the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson, sales of Hudson and Nash cars had fallen dramatically. Hope for recovery came with the introduction of a new, larger Rambler for 1956. It got off to a slow start but by mid-1957, sales started to climb. Romney later admitted, “Frankly, we very nearly got knocked out of the automobile business in the process of succeeding in our audacious decision to challenge the Big Three by outflanking their product position.” Although 1957 ended with a financial loss, it was clear a turnaround had begun.
Bonded brake linings replaced the riveted type used previously, linkage for the manual shift was improved, can a foreigner buy a condo in bangkok and fuel capacity was increased to 22 gallons. Power steering was a new option. Demand for the American continued to grow, climbing to 120,603. While the Custom series provided not quite 7,700 units to that total, the four-door sedan was a hit. Rambler resale values ranked among the highest. Exterior color choices were expanded to 12 solid and 22 two-tone combinations. There was more to the American’s appeal than just low price and high gas mileage.
Styling director Ed Anderson put his men to work on revising the small Rambler. Thus, even though the hood, decklid, and roof panels were redone, the original dies were used. Anderson never liked Nash’s enclosed wheels so he was happy to open up the American’s wheel wells. However, since fenders, hoods, and decklids are produced by a series of stamping operations, minor changes in tooling and processing could be made to affect the appearance of the finished product. Basic fender shapes couldn’t be drastically altered. There was enough money to restyle some of the exterior, but even there changes were limited. As the tooling budget was very tight, the basic car had to remain the same, with essentially all major under-the-skin stampings unchanged.
See the next page to read about the 1960 Rambler American. The 1960 Rambler American line grew further with a new body style and a third trim level. A four-door sedan was added to all series, including the new top-line Custom range. Unlike other Americans, the four-door wasn’t hewn from old tooling. This new four-door was mounted on the same 100-inch platform as the American two-door sedan and wagon. There had been a Nash Rambler four-door sedan in 1954-1955, but it was built on a 108-inch wheelbase with a commensurately longer body.
