1956 Ramblers

 By Bruce Shawkey

Here are the new Nash Ramblers for 1956, my birth year, as reported by Popular Mechanics magazine. 

























Nash Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 until the '70s founded by former General Motors president Charles W. Nash. Their most famous car was arguably was the Rambler, built in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Innovations by Nash included the introduction of an automobile heating and ventilation system in 1938 that is still used today, unibody construction in 1941, seat belts in 1950, a U.S.-built compact car in 1950, and an early muscle car (the Healy, left) in 1957.









In 1936, Nash introduced the "Bed-In-A-Car" feature, (right) which converted the car's interior into a sleeping compartment. The rear seatbacks were hinged to go up, allowing the back seat cushion to be propped up into a level position. This also created an opening between the passenger compartment and the trunk. Two adults could sleep in the car with their legs and feet in the trunk and their heads and shoulders on the rear seat cushions.

I have a soft spot for American Motors because I once owned a 1972 metallic green Gremlin (sample image shown at right).  It had a six cylinder engine, 232 cu in (3.8 L) inline six: AMC's first modern six-cylinder engine, introduced in 1964. The car had factory air conditioning and cost just $2,700.   I installed air horns in it that I could turn on and off with a switch between regular horn and air horn. God, that was a great car, and gas was a quarter a gallon.







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