1935–1942
The 1935 model year featured complete re-styling, described as "Aeroform", with a further trimming of body styles. A new two-door sedan was added to the Ambassador Eight series. However, the 1935 Ambassador Eight was now built on a shorter 125 in wheelbase and used the smaller, former Advanced Eight engine. Nash discontinued manufacturing and marketing the big models of the 1930 through 1934 era.[24]
While the Ambassador had been offered only with Nash's in-line eight from mid-1932 through 1935, the 1936 Ambassador Six added Nash's largest, 3848.3 cc in-line six as well, in a 121 in wheelbase model, formerly known as the Advanced Six. In 1937, Nash acquired the Kelvinator Corporation as part of a deal that allowed Charlie Nash's handpicked successor, George W. Mason, to become President of the new Nash-Kelvinator Corporation.
The 1937 models saw the return of coupes and convertibles to the Ambassador lines. From 1936 onward, the senior Nash models used identical bodies, relying on a longer wheelbase as well as the hood and front fenders (plus subtle trim augmentations) to provide visual cues to differentiate the more expensive Eights from the less expensive Six models.
Beginning in 1937, even the low-priced LaFayette series came under this plan. This basic formula was used through the final AMC Ambassador in 1974, except between 1962 and 1964, when the Rambler Ambassador and the Rambler Classic shared the same wheelbase and front sheet metal.
As a marketing innovation, the Sinclair Oil Corporation teamed up with Babe Ruth for a baseball contest where a 1937 Nash Ambassador Eight sedan was awarded every week.[25]
A custom-designed and -built convertible model was marketed for 1940, the Sakhnoffsky Special Cabriolet.[26] The CCA recognizes this Special Cabriolet as an "Approved Classic".[14]
For the 1941 and 1942 model years, all Nash vehicles became Ambassadors and were built in long and short wheelbases. The Ambassador Eight now shared the Ambassador Six's 121 in. The Nash Ambassador 600, built on a 112 in wheelbase, became the first popular domestic automobile to be built using the single-welded "unibody" type of monocoque construction that Nash called "Unitized", rather than body-on-frame. From 1941 through 1948, Nash Ambassador models placed this unibody structure on top of a conventional frame, thus creating a solid and sturdy automobile.[27] It was also one of the first cars in the "low-priced" market segment with coil spring suspension in front and back, giving it "the Arrow-Flight ride" along with other benefits.[28]
With wartime conservation, the 1942 Ambassador Six and Eight were not available with the twin ignition system. All reverted to a single spark plug per cylinder. The 1941 and 1942 Ambassador 600 was also the only Ambassador powered by an L-head engine. Nash would remain with this model arrangement through the post-war 1946 through 1948 model years, although the 600 would no longer be known as an Ambassador.
Civilian car and truck production was curtailed during World War II (1942–1945), and companies turned to production that became part of the "arsenal of democracy."[29][30]
