With perfect Michigan weather yesterday, there was no excuse for us not to make the drive over to Ypsilanti for the annual Orphan Car Show. Yes, it's a show dedicated to the fantastic classic cars left out in the cold by their dead brands. This year, the show's featured marques were Plymouth and DeSoto, but there were plenty of other cars there too, including this pair of sleek Nash classics.
Though looking practically identical, the black car is a 1952 Nash Statesman 2-door, and the maroon sedan is actually a 1950 Ambassador. Sure everybody usually associates Nash with the cute little Metropolitan, but these Ambassadors were actually quite spacious. One interesting fact, is the 1950 models were the first non-GM vehicles to use the General's Hydramatic transmission. But frankly, we don't particularly care what's under the skin. Just look at them. They're fantastic examples of a relatively minimalist streamline design, like bullets with wheels and bumpers. Maybe we're seeing things, but we think the black coupe feels like a bigger, Americanized version of the original Saab 92001 . Either way, we've got plenty more of the poor orphan cars that we'll be showing off over the week.
Images copyright: Mark Arnold / Jalopnik.com