1950 Crosley Hotshot

Cool little car! My family (before I came along in '57) had a Crosley station wagon (pale yellow), which got used for road rallies on occasion...tended to be a bit tippy on sharp turns.

The engine found continued use for marine propulsion, notably, the "Crosley VIP (Vertical In-line Propulsion)" units, the Lou Fageol-designed outboards of the 1950s, leading to similar models by Crofton, Homelite , and the Fisher-Pierce 55HP "Bearcat" motors...

Thanks for posting this bit of history!

BTW- Frank Lloyd Wright owned several crosley's and he loved them!

That's interesting, Matt..sounds like offbeat Frank Lloyd Wright! He also had a vintage V12 Lincoln Continental, too! Thanks!  :) Jack

I passed a "hot shot" in Milford, OH yesterday...man it was cherry =)

Cool....great to see them on the road! Thanks! :) Jack

The name rings a bell but I haven't seen one of these before. My first thought was that it was an American microcar, but if is supposed to rival European sports models I guess it reminds me a bit of the Austin Healey Sprite, though it predates the old Frogeye by a few years. I guess if its contemporaries were the vintage MG models, then it would have looked quite streamlined, but it looks a bit tall and ungainly compared to the Sprite. Wonder why the discs rusted so much, we all have them now.

Yeah, Mick, the car was really based on the sedan, so minimal modifications were made, especially since this was a low budget car. I have a vid. of a regular Crosley..I think a station wagon in the collection..it also came as a 2 door sedan. I'm not sure why the parts rusted...but it sure put an end to that experiment with Crosley! Thanks for the comment! :) Jack

Yeah, I love those humorous plates..my favorite.."you may laugh, but it's paid for"!
Thanks for the comment! :) Jack

(cont) under the clutch- you had to press the clutch down to start the car. The key start was pioneered by Chrysler corporation in 1949,
and they made a big deal about it in their advertising! My aunt's 48 Plymouth had the big push button, by 49 that was done away with and there was just the ignition switch!
Good thing you could spring out of the way when the truck lerched forward..I keep on reminding myself to watch the door if I have it opened for some reason! Thanks for the comments! :)Jack

(continued) has 3 speeds forward, 1 reverse..and heaters were really optional back in the 40's and 50's. Florida cars of the period sometimes did not have heaters, probably California too..and some hearty souls in the rest of the U.S. who did not feel the need. But I'll tell ya, there are mornings in Florida where you have to have a heater to clear the frost on the windshield!
I grew up with pushbutton starters..in fact that was fairly new...the Studebaker we had had a starter switch-