1950 Crosley Hot Shot
edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado.
Information is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Photos were taken in February 2009.
The Crosley was manufactured by the Crosley Corporation and later by Crosley Motors Incorporated in the United States from
1939 to 1952.
Industrialist Powel Crosley, Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio, owner of Crosley Broadcasting Corporation and the Cincinnati Reds
baseball team, had ambitious plans to build a subcompact car and developed assembly plants at Richmond, Indiana, and
Marion, Indiana, USA. In May 1939, the first car was shown at the Indianapolis Speedway. It was a two-door convertible
that weighed under 1,000-pound (454 kg) and sold for US$250. It did not achieve sales success, but in 1941 more body
styles were introduced.
During World War II, the Crosley became attractive because of gasoline rationing and the good mileage it could achieve:
50 miles per US gallon (4.7 L/100 km; 60 mpg – imperial gallon). Crosley was the last company to cease production of
civilian vehicles in 1942, partly to allow car buyers the opportunity to purchase as many Crosleys as possible to aid in
fuel rationing, and partly because the War Production Board needed some time to determine a useful purpose for Crosley's
small factories.
Civilian car production resumed in 1945 at the Marion, Indiana, USA plant. Crosley introduced a number of "firsts" in the
American automobile industry, including the first mass-market single overhead camshaft (SOHC) engine in 1946, the first
American car to be fitted with 4 wheel disc brakes 1949, and the first American sports car, the Hotshot, also in 1949.
Sebring, Florida, USA's first race was held on New Year's Eve of 1950. The Sam Collier 6 Hour Memorial race was won by
Frits Koster and Ralph Deshon in a Crosley Hot Shot. This first race attracted thirty racecars from across North
America.
Regardless of its short life, and small size, the Hotshot is well remembered as phenomenal sports car with in its own
class. The Hotshot not only won the Index of Performance at Sebring, Florida, USA in 1951, but also the Grand de la
Suisse that year as well. Throughout the 1950s Crosley engines dominated 750cc sports car racing, winning 10 out of 12
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) west coast races alone.
