From the cars you don’t see parked on public roads everyday department comes this 1949 Crosley car in red. The Crosely was manufactured by the Crosley Corporation, which to this day makes appliances and portable traveling turntables. 1949 was a pivotal year for the runabout, as the brazed aluminum and steel engine block that served with valor in World War II was upgraded to cast iron for durability. Peacetime engine coolant formulation combined with poor owner maintenance waged war on the coatings inside the The Mighty Tin’s cooling water jackets. The corrosive brew ate away at the bonds that held the the engine block together. The lightweight engine that worked so well buzzing along at a constant RPM to power generators for the war effort lost the battle against demands imposed by civilian automotive use. This particular Crosley was seen on the same block as one of the largest American road tankers cars ever built. The Crosley had a for sale sign in the window for over ten times the asking price of the Newport. Crosley scuttled the Mighty Tin engine for an iron block version in 1949, but it was ultimately too late for an automobile built with wartime thrift in mind to appeal to a public hurtling into the interstate highway age at turnpike speeds.
More: The Crosley Automobile Club
I have one of those tin-block engines on my desk here. Anybody who asks what it is, I tell them to pick it up, and they’re always surprised at how light it is.
That same engine (in cast iron) powered many pumps in the second World War. It also powered the Homelite/Bearcat 55 HP outboards at 6000 RPM’S Yes that is 6,000 RPM’s stock !
It was the Mighty Tin [Crosley Auto Club] that was used in the war. The cast iron version came later.