April 28, 1939
Cincinnati, OH, entrepreneur Powell Crosley Jr. enters the car business for the fifth time with the unveiling of his Crosley minicar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After failing at three car-making ventures between 1907 and 1914, he amasses a fortune making automobile accessories, radios and refrigerators before again trying his hand in car production. Two 80-in. wheelbase '39 models are offered: a $325 convertible coupe and $350 convertible sedan. Both are powered by a Waukesha air-cooled 2-cyl. engine and featured 12 inch diameter wheels. Output at plants in Cincinnati and Richmond, IN, totals just over 2,000 units in 1939. Initially, the cars are marketed through department stores, appliance dealers and hardware stores. The line is expanded to include a delivery model and a station wagon in 1940 with a “covered wagon” convertible station wagon and sedan-delivery added in 1941. Total pre-WWII output is 5,700 units. During the war, Crosley sells a variety of vehicles to the U.S. armed forces, including a 2-passenger mini-utility vehicle.
The updated 1946 car has a new stamped-steel and copper brazed 0.7L SOHC 4-cyl. developing 26.5 hp. Crosley's peak year is 1948, with output of 27,700 cars, but the price of the least costly model rises to $850 against $1,017 for the cheapest Chevrolet. A more modern body style, a 2-passenger sports car, a cast-iron engine to eliminate leaks in resulting from poor brazed joints and 4-wheel disc brakes are introduced in 1949, but only 8,900 cars are built, 750 of them the Hot Shot sports car. The disc brakes are subsequently replaced by drum brakes due to problems with the calipers becoming jammed with debris from the road. A unique vehicle called Farm-O-Road appears in 1950, but after losing between $3 million and $4 million from 1949 to 1952, Crosley calls it quits in July 1952.
