The American luxurious model that turned a price marque.
Based in 1919, The LaFayette Motors Company is likely one of the many pre-war carmakers that, although it produced a big quantity of automobiles, has been largely forgotten.
In contrast to Edsel, which bought automobiles for simply three mannequin years—and is now identified nearly completely for being an enormous failure—LaFayette produced luxury-priced cars for a lot of years earlier than turning into a Nash sub-brand.
LaFayette: Forgotten Automotive Manufacturers
LaFayette Historical past
Named for the Marquis de LaFayette, a French nobleman and army officer who volunteered to hitch the Continental Military, LaFayette produced its first automobile in 1920. Early gross sales had been comparatively modest, as LaFayette automobiles had been priced as excessive as $5000 at a time when most autos might be had for underneath $500.
In 1921, Charles Nash, president and stakeholder in Nash Motors, turned president of LaFayette. For a number of years, Nash saved the 2 corporations separate, concerning LaFayette as a halo model. Round this time, LaFayette operations had been moved from Mars Hill, Indianna, to new quarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Interval rumors had Nash promoting its stake in LaFayette Pierce-Arrow, Rolls-Royce, and probably even Basic Motors, however nothing got here of the thrill.
Nash Takes Over
In 1924, Nash took full management of Lafayette, halting manufacturing of the model, and utilizing the Milwaukee manufacturing unit to supply a more-affordable mannequin underneath the brand new Ajax model. Demand for Nash merchandise was at an all-time excessive, and Charles Nash sought to extend gross sales quantity by including a brand new, lower-priced product sequence positioned under Nash.
Sadly, the general public didn’t settle for the Ajax fashions as true Nash merchandise, and the corporate killed the Ajax identify, and rebadged the Milwaukee-made automobiles Nash Mild Six.
This sophisticated drama ought to have meant the tip of the LaFayette model, and it did for a protracted whereas. However in 1934, Nash resurrected the model identify, and launched a sequence of automobiles branded “LaFayette by Nash.” As an alternative of being positioned as luxurious choices, the brand new line of automobiles was as a response to Melancholy-era swings in auto demand, and positioned in value under Nash’s core choices. Per the Encyclopedia of American Vehicles, Nash retailed 5000 of the value-priced Lafayette’s in 1934, 9000 in ’35, and nearly 28,000 in ’36. For 1937, the LaFayette ceased to be a separate model, and as an alternative turned a Nash trim stage.
Closing Down
The rebranded Nash LaFayette 400 stayed in manufacturing till 1941, when it was changed by the Nash 600, and the LaFayette model retired for good. Nash itself would survive the melancholy and World Struggle II, producing its final automobile in 1957.
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