The American luxurious model that grew to become a price marque.
Based in 1919, The LaFayette Motors Company is likely one of the many pre-war carmakers that, although it produced a major quantity of vehicles, has been largely forgotten.
Not like Edsel, which bought vehicles for simply three mannequin years—and is now recognized virtually completely for being an enormous failure—LaFayette produced luxury-priced vehicles for a lot of years earlier than changing into a Nash sub-brand–one thing even few gearheads appear to know.
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 vehicles had been priced as excessive as $5000 at a time when most autos may very well be had for beneath $500.
In 1921, Charles Nash, president and stakeholder in Nash Motors, grew to become president of LaFayette. For just a few years, Nash saved the 2 firms 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 excitement.
Nash Takes Over
In 1924, Nash took full management of Lafayette, halting manufacturing of the model, and utilizing the Milwaukee manufacturing facility to provide a more-affordable mannequin beneath 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 beneath 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 vehicles Nash Gentle Six.
This sophisticated drama ought to have meant the tip of the LaFayette model, and it did for an extended whereas. However in 1934, Nash resurrected the model identify, and launched a sequence of vehicles branded “LaFayette by Nash.” As an alternative of being positioned as luxurious choices, the brand new line of vehicles was as a response to Melancholy-era swings in auto demand, and positioned in value beneath 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 virtually 28,000 in ’36. For 1937, the LaFayette ceased to be a separate model, and as a substitute grew to become 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 Battle II, producing its final automobile in 1957.
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