CarBrandLogos archive · Nash · 1941

NashNash 600

America's first mass-produced unibody, sold on the miles it could do per tank.

Photo: CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz — a photo credit is required if this image is · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Nash history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Nash 600, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The number was a marketing claim. Nash said the car would cover 600 miles on a single twenty-gallon tank, which meant roughly 30 miles per gallon at a time when a full-size American sedan managed half that. It was not idle boasting. The 600 was light, and it was light because of how it was built.

1942 Nash Ambassador X-ray · The original uploader was CZmarlin at English Wikipedia. · Public domain

1949 Nash 600 Super two-door Airflyte at 2015 Macungie show 10

Design and engineering

Introduced for 1941, it was the first mass-produced unibody car in the United States. Welding body and frame into a single structure saved several hundred pounds over conventional body-on-frame construction, improved rigidity and cut noise, and Nash had the plant and the nerve to do it a decade before Detroit's larger firms took the idea seriously.

1949 Nash 600 Super two-door Airflyte at 2015 Macungie show 10 · CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz — a photo credit is required if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

The engine was a 172.6 cubic inch side-valve six, modest by American standards, driving through a three-speed gearbox with optional overdrive. Production stopped for the war in 1942 and resumed in 1945, running to 1949 before the Statesman replaced it.

Nash Nash 600 · CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz, a photo credit would be appreciated if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. · CC0

Legacy

The 600 matters less for what it was than for what it proved. Every Nash and Rambler that followed used unitary construction, and the weight advantage that gave them is the reason a small independent could compete on economy with companies twenty times its size.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1940–1942

Engine

172.6 CID Nash 600 L-head I6

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The Nash 600, in detail.

Production: 1940–1942 and 1945–1949
Body style: 2-door coupé; coupe ; 2-door Sedan (car); sedan ; 4-door sedan ; 4-door fastback sedan
Engine: 172.6 CID Nash 600 L-head I6
Transmission: 3-speed Manual transmission; manual ; 3-speed manual with Overdrive (mechanics); overdrive
Assembly: United States ; Australia

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The marque