Page 15 - Nash-Healey A Grand Alliance by John Nikas

Charles Nash held a reception
for Nash dealers and distributors at Racine’s baseball stadium to introduce the Ajax on May 6, 1925. The new car’s arrival helped Nash reach a new production record of 135,520 vehicles in its first and only year on the market. (Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum)
The next few years were perilous times, with 108 automotive manufacturers in operation during 1923, attrition whittling that number down to 44 in 1927.9 While competitors fell out in droves, Nash survived thanks to its founder’s steadiness at the tiller.
Recalling the flock of sheep that he owned as a child, Nash said: “That was the start and it’s the biggest thing in my life that I still have those sheep – meaning, of course, that since I was thirteen, I have never reached the stage when I was absolutely without resources, despite some staggering knocks. Now don’t think I champion parsimony or penuriousness. I hate it. But when I was still almost a baby, I saw so much poverty and so much actual want that I vowed just as hard as I
could vow that I would work myself out of the poverty-stricken class or die. Unless you have worked for nine dollars a month – unless you had to actually count every penny you spent – unless you have had to debate between a warm pair of pants and a dollar in the bank – you can’t ever know how hard it was for me to buy those sheep. And you can’t ever know the glorious satisfaction I got out of finally buying them.”
With dozens of car companies in trouble, Nash took the opportunity to purchase the defunct Mitchell Motor Company’s assets in Racine, Wisconsin. Rather than resume production of Mitchell vehicles, Nash wanted to launch a new brand called Ajax, dedicated to offering exceptional value without sacrificing innovation or quality. The first
Chapter 6: a brave new world / build up to a standard, not down to a priCe
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