RARE 1950 Nash Ambassador Custom - 99% ORIGINAL

1950 Nash Description

Calling all classic car lovers! Here is a very rare find for you.

This is a 1950 Nash Ambassador Custom, the highest model and trim level available from Nash back then (the super was one step below the custom). This car is ALL original too except for the front seat which was taken out by the previous owner and swapped out with the front seat of a 1951 Nash Ambassador Custom. All the seats were reupholstered by the previous owner the current vinyl brown/cream color with no holes or rips that I can see (There are some in the cloth material that is only on the back part of the front seat but they are minor.)

The car comes with one of the original ignition keys! (And it also comes with a spare one and two trunk keys.) One of the cool things about this car is how you start it. You put the ignition key in and then pull the column shifter towards you to start the car. Nash called this, “Select-O-Lift” starting.

To open the trunk, you put the key in and unlock it. You then pop a chrome handle out and turn it. And yes, this trunk is huge! There is a spot to store a full-size spare tire in it upright.

Nash designed this car to be futuristic for its day and it was meant to look like something from the modern, aerospace industry. Nash called this “Airflyte”. Reflecting its Airflyte name, the chassis and body were designed, engineered and styled to be as aerodynamic as possible; with its new, state-of-the-art unit-body construction, therefore, there was no separate chassis. You can see that the car is streamed lined. You will see that the bottom line of the sides of the car is completely straight from stem to stern (the wheels are enclosed) to help give it this look which I happen to love. The car is considered a fastback.

The car is big but only weighs 3,300 pounds!

The car also comes with a forced air conditioning system that Nash called, “Weather Eye”. There are vents on the hood (by the windshield) that stick up from the hood. You can see it in the pictures. When the car is moving, it forces air down these vents, through tubing, and then vents it into the car. That is what the black lever you see in the picture of the underside of the dash is for. It opens and closes these vents. As close to air conditioning as you were going to get in 1950!

The 1950 Nash Ambassador came with a straight-line, six cylinder, 238 cubic inch engine that produces 115 hp that was comparable in power to the many V8s of the day that produced about 118 hp. What's particularly interesting about Nash's engine is that the intake manifold was cast directly into the cylinder head. They called it "sealed-in-head and water heated," which featured an Ambassador-only aluminum bolt-on plate. Just as interesting is the single exhaust system, the manifold of which is U-shaped, hugging three sides of the engine. It's held in place by a series of U-clamps; a gasket between the manifold and block is not required. You can see both of these in the pictures.

You will not find the typical instrument cluster in this car! Instead, Nash designed what they called “the Uniscope” that houses all the normal gauges. It is round and mounts directly on the steering column. It is very cool and beautiful to boot! It is made of high quality that you just don’t find anymore!

There were several options available from Nash for this car. One of them was the factory installed optionfog lights which are exceedingly RARE! I’ve never even seen them on another Nash. They are the yellow ones you see in the pictures. They are so cool looking! They are all chrome and say “NASH” on the top. There is a lever inside by the radio controls that you use to turn them off and on. I do not know how to tell if they are the original glass or not though.

Another cool factor is the front seat that folds down to the size of a queen-size bed! This was a standard feature on the two-door version. But on the four-door, like this car is, it was a factory installed option that you had to pay extra for.

Another factory installed option this car has is the electric antenna. The control lever is also inside by the radio control knobs. Unbelievably, the entire antenna is still there and appears to be the original one.

Yet another factory installed option the car has is the electric fuel door. 1950 Nash Ambassadors came with the fuel cap enclosed in keeping with the air streamed look. There is a control lever in the same spot as for the other factory options. This option, while common today, was very rare on any vehicle in 1950!

And another factory installed option this car has is a four speed automatic transmission. This car comes with the “Hydra-Matic” automatic transmission which happens to be the very first mass produced and fully automatic transmission that was ever made for passenger cars (made by GM starting in 1940). These transmissions are considered bullet-proof!

Nash cars were often recycled for their steel instead of being collected and so they are very rare cars because of this. This car is also rare because of the fact that Nash only produced 12,427 of the Ambassador Custom four-door sedan versions in 1950. YOU WILL NOT FIND ANOTHER 1950S NASH AMBASSADOR THAT IS A COMPLETE, ALL ORIGINAL CAR IN THIS CONDIDTION FOR SALE ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY! I know because I just spent the last several months looking and could not find one. This car is in amazing condition for its age and I can’t believe how little rust there is on the car!

CONDITION:

This is a very old car. As such, it will need a restoration to bring it back to a show-car, mint condition. But this is very doable and it is a great car to do so with. You could also just fix the engine and drive it the way it is.

Outside of media blasting it, there should be very little body work you would need to do. Even the bumpers are straight (well curved but you know what I mean). There are no major dents or dings that I can find in the body. There is some rust as you can see from the pictures, but it mostly looks to be surface rust. There are some pin holes in the trunk floor closest to the opening. I could not find any rust holes anywhere else in the car. The body appears to be all original but I can’t tell for certain without media blasting it of course. There are some scratches that go down to the metal and perhaps some very small, minor dings that can easily be removed. The paint appears to mostly be the original paint which I can’t believe! It does have a nice patina going on with some scratches in the paint here and there and some paint chips. There are some spots in the black paint here and there that look like they were painted or touched up after the original paintjob.

The interior ceiling has the headliner missing, but all the metal headliner poles appear to be there as can be seen in the picture.

There is a picture that shows all the engine compartment parts that are not currently on the car. I honestly believe that everything is there. The air filter, a rubber boot and some sort of an oil pan can be seen.

All the wiring in the entire car appears to be original so, while that is very cool, plan on rewiring the entire car. Please!

The car has the original tube radio and the original clock on the dash.

At some point, someone decided to paint part of the dashboard a salmon color. I am not sure of the original color.

You should be able to use and rebuild everything on the car except the windows. They are all original but they are delaminating and need to be replaced. I’ve kept them on the car to use as templates for replacement ones if need be.

There is also a picture showing all the interior parts that come with the car that are not currently attached. Such as the interior chrome handle for the driver’s window spot light, dome lighting covers, molding, a chrome door handle, original screws, interior door panel, etc. that will help you during your restoration. The original molding for the interior windows can be seen in the pictures so you will have a template to use. I’ve included a picture of one corner that shows the original color of the interior carpet. Two of the original hand-hold handles are included that also show their original material.

There is also a little fan (painted the same salmon color) with gray, rubber blades and a base that mounts. I cannot find out if it is original to the car, but if it is not, it is very old as the wiring looks to be from the 1950s.

Three of the four original hubcaps are on the car. Two spare ones are included with the sale of the car (and are in the pictures) though they are missing the red paint outlining the word Nash. They can be easilypainted of course.

The car is sitting in storage and was put there a year ago. When I drove it before storing it, the original radiator did not leak and the transmission worked. The previous owner changed the oil in the car using synthetic oil instead of regular oil and this caused the engine to have some problems. Before he did this, the car ran just fine. The previous owner told me the odometer’s 84,000 miles were the original miles and based on the condition of the car, and that it was running before the synthetic oil stunt, I believe it. When I put it in storage, the car drove but the engine was very rough (it only drove slowly) and it put smoke into the interior so it needs to be rebuilt. I recently tried to start it up, and while it turns over, it will no longer start. I don’t think there is enough compression. A small amount of fluid has leaked out while it has been in storage which I think is oil.

All in all, this is a great old car in fantastic condition for its age!

“Get While the Getting is Good”!

The car is sold as-is so please ask any questions you have before you bid. And yes, the car HAS A CLEAN TITLE in my name that I have in hand.

SHIPPING:

You must pick it up or arrange to have it picked up within one week of the auction ending (unless you arrange otherwise with me BEFORE the auction ends). Sorry, but I do not have the means to deliver it to you.

PAYMENT:

Payment is expected to be received within ONE week of the auction ending. I prefer cash, but if you want, you can also pay using a wire transfer but you must pay any fees yourself. If you use a personal check or Cashier’s check, you must wait to take delivery until your check clears your bank, which I am told can take up to one month. I can’t take PayPal as I don’t have an account with them and I don’t like their absorbent fees. If you want to use a credit card, and it falls within eBay’s policies, then please email me beforehand to discuss this.