Automotive Year in Review - 1946

[Otto Puzzell]

Long ago, while the AutoPuzzles magma was still cooling, one of our earliest joiners (who is now, regrettably, mostly absent, pursuing an education and a living) suggested threads that would be group effort reports of specific years from the history of automobiles. The original post is here:

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.msg385#msg385

To kick this effort off, I see 1946 as an especially memorable automotive year. After the end of WWII, there was a lot of pent-up consumer demand, a lot of bright engineers with more free time on their hands, industrialists with cash to burn, and a sense of optimism about the future. Those factors combined to make for an interesting mix of warmed-over pre-war models and some cars that were clean-sheet designs from companies that hadn't even existed when hostilities broke out in the late 1930's.

One of the clean-sheet designs that hoped to propel the auto business into the future was Hewson Rocket.

In 1945, William Hewson raised capital to form the Hewson Pacific Corp. and planned to produce the 'Hewson Rocket' to be sold for $1,000. Coachcraft co-founder Rudy Stoessel fabricated the body shape and his partner Paul Erdos welded the aluminum panels. What they built, to Hewson's spec, was body with a very aerodynamic shape that, in plan view, tapered to a rear that was narrower than the front. The prototype was equipped with a mid-mounted flathead Ford and a three speed transmission.

Hewson's burned through a lot of money by the time the prototype was completed in 1946, and he didn't have the funds to pay the $16,000 tab. Coachcraft retained the car as a display model for a number of years, and sold it to a used car dealer in Minneapolis for $650, in 1959.

Photo credit conceptcarz.com

[Otto Puzzell]

Production cars, pipe dreams, competition cars - what car from 1946 would you like tell about?

[Otto Puzzell]

OK, then...

[woodinsight]

Okay, this is a great idea and I hope others will contribute......

Although I'm based in Europe, I thought I would start with a car from the other side of the pond - the Beechcraft Plainsman.

The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita KS (an aircraft manufacturer founded in 1932 and establishing the Beechcraft brand name) built a large number of civilian and military aircraft over the years. The Beechcraft Bonanza was one of its best known aircraft and a direct competitor to Cessna. You can read more about the aircraft side on Wikipedia.
Turning to the Beechcraft Plainsman, it was an attempt by the company to address the burgeoning motor industry following the cessation of WW II hostilities.
The car was certainly unconventional.
It utilised an aircraft engine driving a generator, which in turn powered four electric motors, one for each wheel.
The body, very advanced for the time, was in aluminium, weighed 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) and carried six passengers with three abreast in front and three abreast in the rear.
Two prototypes were completed before the project was abandoned.

[Otto Puzzell]

Excellent!

Who'll be next?

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[Tom_I]

In Britain, the immediate post-war years brought different reactions from the population. On the one hand there was the elation of hostilities being over. A general election in 1945 resulted in a landslide victory for Clement Attlee's Labour Party, and they set about a programme of social reform that would transform the nation. A comprehensive national insurance scheme would provide benefits for the poor, the sick and the unemployed, and a national health service would provide healthcare, free at the point of use, for everyone. There was improved state-funded education, and ambitious plans (not fully realised) to build millions of new homes and clear inner city slums.

But the reality of life was rather different. The country had bankrupted itself with the war effort. Some foods and other commodities were in short supply, and rationing would have to be endured for years to come. Some things, such as bread, became subject to rationing for the first time, leading some people to feel that they were worse off in peacetime than they had been during the war. There would be years of austerity before conditions improved.

Into this situation of gloom, the British motor industry returned to production of civilian vehicles. The engineering factories had been fully employed in production of military vehicles, armaments, aircraft and parts, and with these demands suddenly removed, they could return to their normal business, provided they could find customers who could afford to buy their products.

Many manufacturers simply revived their pre-war models, sometimes with improvements, but in many cases making cars identical to those on sale in 1939.

A few were more enterprising, and Jowett Cars Ltd., a modest sized producer from Bradford, Yorkshire, announced their all-new post-war model, the Javelin, in 1946, with production starting the following year. Its modern concept made the products of most of the major manufacturers look desperately outdated.

Jowett had built their reputation on simple, robust but very basic vehicles, but the Javelin was a completely different conception. It was a small to medium sized family car of remarkably advanced design. The body was light and reasonably aerodynamic, with a long sloping rear, and could seat six people at a pinch on the two full-width bench seats. Suspension, independent at the front, was by torsion bars, and a 1.5-litre horizontally-opposed four-cylinder engine was mounted low down, ahead of the front wheel axis. This drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox. The engine had a cast aluminium block with wet cylinder liners, and twin carburettors gave it a respectable output (for the day) of around 50 bhp. Top speed was about 80 mph, and fuel consumption around 25-30 mpg (imperial).

Performance and handling were both excellent, and though the cars were not cheap, they sold reasonably well, and developed a loyal following. I remember a friend of my parents taking us on a trip in one in the early 1960s. The car would already have been over ten years old by then, but its owner had no intention of replacing it. Compared with the small Fords which my father had been running, it was very impressive in its comfort, acceleration and ability to cruise at quite high speeds.

But unfortunately, as with many smaller British producers, things ultimately went wrong. Unable to keep up with demand, Jowett subcontracted production of the bodywork to an outside firm, Briggs Motor Bodies, who built them in a factory in Doncaster. Briggs were bought out by Ford in 1953, and the Doncaster factory, surplus to their requirements, was sold on to another company, which was almost immediately taken over by the British Motor Corporation.

Jowett's supply of bodies dried up, and they were unable to recover from the situation. In 1954 they sold their main factory to International Harvester, and switched to making aircraft parts. They were taken over by the Blackburn and General Aircraft Company in 1956, and the name disappeared, though they continued to make parts available for their post-war cars until the early 1960s.

So sadly, an innovative car failed to meet its potential due to poor business strategy, and perhaps over-confidence, a situation that would inevitably be repeated by other small manufacturers, showing that the development of a good and innovative product is not by itself the key to long-term success.

[Otto Puzzell]

Nice entry - thanks!

[GrahamClayton]

The Scootmobile, built by the Norman Anderson Company of Corunna, Michigan:



Anderson made a few of these three-wheel cars in '46, apparently looking for a market at $350 each. Though Anderson claimed 75 mpg and 40 mph top speed, buyers were not interested. The body was a war surplus auxiliary bomber tank.

[pnegyesi]

In 1946 Endre Suranyi, a Hungarian mechanic, journalist who later became the "chauffeur of Mátyás Rákosi" (the dear leader of Hungary in the early 1950s) built his first motorized vehicle, a 50 cc thing

[faksta]

In 1946 the production of one of the cult Soviet cars has begun - GAZ M20 Pobeda. A very appealing design for those years IMO and a big step forward for our automobiles. It was produced until 1958 when it has been replaced by Volga and was even raced rather extensively, including events abroad and in the hands of foreign drivers. Pictured are production Pobeda and the one in the hands of Finns Harri Kivirinta and Kauko Nykanen at 1958 Hankiralli.

[faksta]

Another milestone in USSR was a Zvezda record car, which first evolution also appeared in 1946.

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=7642.0

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[pnegyesi]

In 1946 the Hungarian state received a loan of USD 15 million from the American government with very, very favorable rates to buy American goods, surplus military equipment etc.

Part of the money was spent on buying basic foodstuff like Hershey chocolates. A lot of locomotives were obtained which enabled the Hungarian railways to properly function again.
Additionally 2119 ex-military vehicles were obtained. 700 Jeep, 820 trucks and 96 passenger cars.
These were used by private transportation companies, the military, the police and some other organisations.

See more at: http://www.autoszektor.hu/hu/content/ujrakezdes-hitelbol
though it is in Hungarian