Vehicle Description
Zoom Classic Cars presents this unique 1936 Nash Lafayette. This
Nash Lafayette has been meticulously cared for with pride of
ownership. Pictures show the very good condition this American
Classic sedan is in. The Lafayette is not a common car. Check out
this information from Hemmings: Reintroducing the LaFayette as a
popular-priced entry-level line hadn't improved sales figures as
much as Nash Motors had hoped it would in 1934. This was more a
reflection of the general economic climate than it was of the
well-engineered, conservatively attractive cars, whose lines came
from the pen of the famous Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. In 1936,
Nash tried again with a freshly redesigned, quite modern-appearing
LaFayette range, and went as far as offering two unique grille
treatments in one year's time. It was a treat to encounter this
rare 1936 LaFayette DeLuxe in the car corral of the 2016 AACA
Hershey Fall Meet. This trunk-equipped four-door sedan represented
the second series of LaFayette built for that year, its unique
grille treatment setting it apart from the first series 1936 cars
that were introduced as the "Series 3610" on June 15, 1935. Those
summer-build 3610s came in nine body styles that included two-door
coupes, Victorias and Cabriolets, and four-door sedans, largely
shared with the least-expensive Nash 400 line. The LaFayette 3610s
were well-engineered six-cylinder cars with desirable features like
all-steel bodies with seamless steel roofs on closed models,
hydraulic brakes, comfortable wide seating, and the availability of
the Kenosha, Wisconsin, automaker's famous in-car bed conversion.
The first-series 1936 LaFayette followed contemporary senior Nash
cars with Chrysler Airflow-influenced Streamline Modern styling.
They sported tall, narrow, oval-shaped radiator grilles that
wrapped over and under on top and bottom and stood proud of the
front fenders. Their slender vertical bars--13 to each side of the
thick center bar that was home to an emblem and the base of the
hood ornament--were often finished in body color paint (the outer
areas) and chrome (in the center, vaguely like Pontiac's Silver
Streak treatment). The hood side panels featured simple, attractive
horizontal louvers. That side panel design was altered on
second-series 1936 cars, which entered production on October 15,
1935. The horizontal louvers now emerged from an embossed circle
whose lower half contained the "LaFayette-Nash Built" emblem, which
also bore the profile of this car's namesake, Gilbert du Motier,
the Marquis de Lafayette. The grille styling was also subtly
different, as our feature sedan reveals: This notably V-shaped unit
retained the waterfall look with 19 slender vertical bars inside
the frame, but no longer curved over the top of the hood. This
grille's upper edge now butted up against bright metal trim panels
that offered the look of horizontal cooling vents through their six
black-painted recesses; this treatment was also seen on the solid
panel at the bottom of the grille, which wrapped under the body.
The second-series hood ornament was also new, replacing a stylized
zeppelin with a circle bearing the script initials, LF.While Nash's
efforts to boost the LaFayette's profile among those considering
buying a Ford, Chevrolet, or Plymouth were honorable, history shows
this company never made much of a dent in the Big Three's sales; it
seems that fewer than 28,000 model-year 1936 LaFayettes were
built.Car is located in Long Island, NY. Call Mike for more
information: 973-768-6426
