Cars We Remember; More ‘baby boomer’ TV cars from The Real McCoys, Superman, and Nash-Kelvinator

Q: Greg I look forward to your nostalgia car columns, especially when you discuss the cars used in the popular TV shows. Being a baby boomer, I’m happy to see that The Real McCoys reruns are back on TV. However, Amos McCoy looks out of place in his Ford Model A. 

Also, how did Kelvinator, known for its appliances back then, get involved in the Nash car company? I really liked the old Nash cars used in the Superman TV shows in the Fifties. Thanks, and keep up the informative columns like the one you did on the military tanks that were built in Berwick, Pa. Robert S., Owego, N.Y. 

A: Robert, thank you very much for being a dedicated reader and your kind words. Specifically, the rerun of The Real McCoys on World Harvest TV (WHT) revives one of the most popular half-hour TV shows that ran from 1957 to 1963. Starring 3-time Academy Award winner Walter Brennan as family patriarch Amos McCoy, it was a popular Thursday night stop for the entire Zyla family and always promoted wholesome family values with a great cast of characters. The 30-minute situation comedy centered on the McCoys re-locating from West Virginia to an inherited farm in sunny California.  

As for Grandpa’s car, it was a 1930 Ford Model A that was in deplorable condition. Even the tires clearly showed patches on all four, with an engine that didn’t sound too well either. Comparable to The Beverly Hillbillies Oldsmobile pickup, another of the beat-up, out of place family cars, Grandpa McCoy had a love of his Model A, which is the center focus of Season 2, Episode 1 – “The New Car,” when the family talks Grandpa into trading the car in. They all regret it and get the Model A back for Grandpa.  

Ford Motor Company was responsible for supplying the vehicles for The Real McCoys, and it was always fun when grandpa’s best friend, George MacMichael (played by TV/movie legend Andy Clyde), would show up in a shiny new Ford Galaxie, while other characters arrived in Ford’s new compact Falcon or Mercury Comet. Be it Thunderbird to the Ford pickup, Ford built vehicles were everywhere to behold in The Real McCoys. Surprisingly, during its popular seven year TV run, there are a total of 225 episodes to enjoy.  

As for your Kelvinator appliances question, Kelvinator officially merged with Nash in 1936 when Charles Nash, president and CEO of Nash Motors, sought a successor. Nash chose George W. Mason, who was president of the successful Kelvinator Corporation since 1926, and a businessperson we’ve centered on in this column before. Nash offered Mason the presidency of the Nash Corporation, but Mason turned him down as Kelvinator was really taking off and becoming the leader in the refrigerator business. Undaunted, Nash kept pursuing Mason, and Mason finally gave in when Nash put together a merger with Kelvinator, luring Mason into an agreement and thus forming the new Nash-Kelvinator Corporation.

It turns out Mason was quite the car entrepreneur, relying on his master marketing skills to become the first to manufacturer American made compact cars, namely the Nash Rambler and Nash Metropolitan. When Mason worked a deal with Tony Hulman, of the Indy 500, Nash became the official pace car of the 1947 500; he drove the car himself on the pace laps, much to the delight of the crowd. His riding partner that year was none other than Indy 500 winner Wilbur Shaw, and he also had actor and race fan Clarke Gable come over and pose for some publicity photos.

Mason also provided 18 Nash cars for Indy officials, and a fleet of new Nash cars for the fans to see. Mason also had a large tent erected for entertainment and information on Nash automobiles. Thus, it is clear Mason knew how to promote, and do it very well. 

Additionally, and a bit of Nash trivia, when NASCAR formed in 1948, Nash was the very first car company to get involved with a corporate sponsorship, supplying cars for founder Big Bill France and Curtis Turner in 1950 for a Mexican Road Race. Next came racecar sponsorship, and Nash won but once in NASCAR when Turner won April 1, 1951 at Charlotte Speedway’s 150-lap event on its 3/4-mile dirt oval. (No fooling.) 

As for the Superman series, the mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman, did drive Nash cars in the shows, including a Nash-Healy two-seater. I, too, loved the show that ran from 1952 to 1958, and especially the earlier episode Nash cars.

When watching Superman, it seemed whenever Inspector Henderson of the Metropolis police department arrived, it was a Nash that brought the actor to that part of the set. Additionally, co-star Lois Lane drove a Nash Rambler Convertible in the show. Combined with Mason’s promotion of Nash at the Indy 500 and in NASCAR, Mason knew the value of providing cars for the Superman series, resulting in an excellent return on investment in those early days of television.   

Sadly, Mason died suddenly on Oct. 8, 1954, following his successful negotiation of the merger of Nash and Hudson, which would then be called American Motors Corporation. George W. Romney, who would also go on to a successful career in politics as the Governor of Michigan for three terms, from 1962-1969, succeeded him.

As for all those great Nash cars, my personal favorites, in addition to the Nash-Healy that Superman drove, were the “bathtub” Nash Airflyte models from 1949-1950, when a total of over 300,000 of these cars were sold. These large cars offered seats that turned into full size beds with a flip of a few levers. Additionally, the 1951 and 1952 Statesman, Airflyte and Ambassadors are similarly nice. I also liked the 1954 Ambassador Custom, another Superman favorite.

The last Nash to appear on an AMC build schedule came in 1957 ala the Nash Ambassador. AMC, with Romney at the helm, made the decision to drop the Hudson and Nash names in 1958. 

Thanks for your questions, and hope this all helped.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions and comments on collector cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com, or by snail mail to 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840.)