A FINE WAY TO GET A CAR
I spotted this pre-war classic at the Pittsburgh Area Camaro Enthusiast’s charity show in Baden, PA back in August of this year. I really had to look closely to see what kind of car it was. Not a Ford or a Chevy or a Dodge. Not even an Olds or a Packard. This was a 1927 Nash. A Nash Light Six to be specific. The owner was holding court in a lawn chair behind the car, so it took me a few laps around the show field before I could approach him and ask about the car.
Glenn Welling of Baden has owned this Nash for the past 58 years! Originally purchase by a professor at Lehigh University and was passed down to his son who ended up cracking the engine block. From there it ended up in the hands of one of Glenn’s friends in Ambridge who had Dodge Polara that he street raced. Glenn fell in love with the Nash and really wanted to buy it, but as a high schooler in the mid-sixties, he wasn’t flush with cash.
As fate would have it, his friend got busted for drag racing and didn’t want his mother to find out. “Hey Glenn, you still want that Nash?” he asked. “I didn’t have what I thought he would ask for it. Turns out, he just wanted me to pay his fine.”
So, for the modest sum of $100, the Light Six was his. He made the necessary repairs and got the Nash back on the road. As time went on, he didn’t drive it very much because wasn’t very streetable. Fast-forward to his now-adult son urging him to make it more drivable. The original six-cylinder engine and 3-speed floor-shift were swapped with a 4.3L Chevy V-6 backed by 700R4 automatic and the rear end from a Chevelle with 2.73 gears. He also added in more modern seats and steering wheel.
Now the Nash can go anywhere and is a stunner with it’s 100% original 1927 body and gorgeous pre-war styling and accessories. Talk about a restomod!
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