Meet the most glamourous Nash Rambler of all, the 1955 Country Club,

The surprising success of the original Rambler back in 1950 was based on a shrewd decision by Nash president George Mason: Make it small, but don’t make it look cheap. (See our heature here.) The introductory model was a rollback convertible with nice upholstery and full appointments, and the Rambler succeeded where the other American compacts, including the Henry J and the Hudson Jet, failed to win over buyers. That winning strategy continued in 1952 with the introduction of the Country Club, a handsome two-door pillarless hardtop.

In 1955 came a simple but significant change to the Rambler: the dated and dowdy enclosed front wheels, a Nash signature feature that bagan with the 1949 Airflyte, were discarded in favor of conventional wheel openings. As much as any single styling change can, the new wheel openings transformed the Rambler. It was no longer a bathtub, no offense. Also: Following the 1954 merger of Nash and  Hudson to form American Motors. the Rambler—and the tiny Metropolitian, too—were sold by both Nash and Hudson dealers.

The Rambler’s interior was designed by Helene Rother, a pioneering female stylist of the Motor City who got her start at General Motors in 1943. The colors and fabrics she selected gave the cars a fashionable look not often found in the cheap cars of the period. A  glance at the pricing for the ’55 line reveals the Rambler strategy. At $1,995, the Country Club hardtop sold for hundreds more than tjhe full-sized base models from Ford and Chevrolet. The Country Club was for buyers who wanted a small car, not a cheap one—a second car for affluent suburban housewives, for example.

By 1955, American Motors was backing away from the grand old Nash and Hudson brands and embracing the Rambler name across the board. But ironically, perhaps, the original Rambler compact was discontinued after ’55 as the Rambler badge was attached to larger cars. However, when the U.S. economy slowed down in 1957-58, George Romney, Mason’s successor, reversed field and re-introduced the compact as the Rambler American. But for the ’58 revival, there was a single body style, a two-door post sedan. The glamorous Country Club did not return.