Nash trivia

1. Nash built 4wd vehicles three separate times. First from 1916 to 1920. When Charles Nash bought Jeffery to start his own company, Jeffery’s best-selling product was the unique Quad truck, with 4wd and 4-wheel steering. The military bought plenty of them for WW1, and Nash kept production going under his own name until the demand faded. Here’s a Jeffery Quad doing civilian duty in a classic 4wd situation:

The second time was in 1960 when AMC got a military contract to build several thousand Mighty Mites, a smaller jeep-like vehicle.

The third time, of course, was from 1970 to 1987 when Nash bought Willys and pretty much became Willys. They should have done it in 1954 instead of buying Hudson. Willys would have added a new non-overlapping niche, while Hudson’s products were exactly matched to Nash’s products. The previous merger with Kelvinator succeeded because appliances and cars don’t overlap. Why did Mason make such a simple error? “Sources” say it was personal. Mason didn’t like Willys chairman Ward Canaday and didn’t want to negotiate with him.

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2. The first Car Guy president was Taft. He seems to have been fully at home with real people and real machines including cars, and was OFTEN seen doing Car Guy things like supervising endurance runs. Here he’s filling the back seat of another Jeffery product, the Rambler.

We’ve had at least three presidents in the last century who were at home with real people and real machines. Taft, Harding, and Truman for sure, maybe Carter. Hoover was the techiest of all Tech Guys but not at home with real people. He was an engineer who designed the federal radio regulations based on a clear vision of the potentials and problems of broadcasting. His administration built several big dams. He didn’t understand why people were suffering from Wall Street’s crimes.

Elon doesn’t count. He’s a fake Tech Guy, a fake Car Guy. He only posed as a Car Guy to build up a cult following. He posed as a Gaian Guy to build up a cult following. In reality Elon is an Elon Guy, in the same way that Trump is a Trump Guy. The only thing Elon enjoys and worships is Elon.

Irrelevant sidenote. The man in the Smokey The Bear hat seems to be standing on the running board. He’s probably Secret Service; Google shows SS men from that period wearing the same hat. After running boards were deleted in 1940, presidential limos were fitted with slide-out running boards to continue the tradition. The man in the German-looking uniform seems to be on the street, not on the car. Maybe he’s Major Cummings.