thumb|Crosley's plant (1950)
thumb|Crosley's all-steel Wagons were their best sellers (1947–1952)
thumb|The Crosley Hotshot, introduced in 1949, was America's first post-war sports car. Shown is a 1950 Super Sports, the dressed up version of the Hotshot
Crosley Motors Incorporated was a small, independent American manufacturer of economy cars or subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 1939 to 1952, interrupted by World War II production. Their station wagons were the most popular model, but also offered were sedans, pickups, convertibles, a sports car, and even a tiny jeep-like vehicle. For export, the cars were badged Crosmobile.
Crosley introduced several "firsts" in American automotive history, including the first affordable, mass-market car with an overhead camshaft engine in 1946; the first use of the term 'Sport(s-) Utility' in 1947, for a 1948 model year convertible wagon; and the first American cars to be fitted with 4-wheel caliper type disc brakes, as well as America's first post-war sports car, the Hotshot, in the 1949 model year.
All of Crosley's models were lightweight () body-on-frame cars with rigid axles front and rear, and engines with less than displacement. With exception of the late introduced Hotshot and Farm-O-Road models, the vast majority of all Crosleys were built on an wheelbase, and with leaf-springs.
History
thumb|Powel Crosley Jr. ca. 1940
Powel Crosley Jr. made his fortune in the automotive parts and accessories business, before diversifying into manufacturing other consumer products and Crosley automobiles in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1925 his company became the largest manufacturer of radios in the world. The financial success of his manufacturing and radio broadcasting businesses provided the funds for Crosley to pursue his lifelong interest in manufacturing automobiles. He introduced the first Crosley compact car in 1939.
During World War II the Crosley company discontinued civilian automobile manufacturing and began production of war-time materials, including development of experimental vehicles. In 1946 Crosley resumed production of compact and subcompact vehicles at its facility in Marion, Indiana, in addition to introducing new models and innovations to its offerings. After gas rationing was discontinued and the Big Three car makers began producing larger cars, consumer interest in Crosley's compact cars declined. The last Crosley car rolled off the assembly line on July 3, 1952, and the company focused on its other, more successful business ventures.
Developer and company founder
Industrialist Powel Crosley Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, owner of Crosley Broadcasting Corporation and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, among other business interests, had ambitious plans to build subcompact cars. Crosley had built his first automobile at the age of twelve, and in 1907, at the age of twenty-one, formed Marathon Six Automotive in Connersville, Indiana. Crosley built a prototype of the "Marathon Six," a six-cylinder automobile priced at US$1,700, which was at the low end of the luxury car market, but failed to fund its production.
After working for several auto manufacturers in Indianapolis and Muncie, Indiana, and several more failed attempts to manufacture his own cars, including a cycle car model, Crosley found success in manufacturing automobile accessories as cofounder with Ira J. Cooper of the American Automobile Accessory Company in 1916, and bought out Cooper’s interest in the company. By 1919, Crosley and his younger brother and business partner, Lewis M. Crosley, had sold more than $1 million in parts and were diversifying into other consumer products.
thumb|right|1939 Crosley convertible
thumb|1950 Crosley CD pickup
Crosley increased his fortune in the 1920s and 1930s by developing, manufacturing, and selling inexpensive radios, such as the "Harko", the Crosley "Pup" and the "Roamio" models. The Crosley Radio Corporation became the world's largest radio manufacturer in 1925. It expanded operations at Camp Washington, a Cincinnati neighborhood, and began commercial radio broadcasting with WLW radio, considered "the Nation's Station." Crosley's company also introduced new consumer products and home appliances in the 1930s, including the "Shelvador," a refrigerator that had shelves in the doors, and other product innovations. The wealth that Crosley amassed from sales of these products provided the funds to diversify into other areas, including automobile manufacturing.
First Crosley automobiles
Beginning in the late 1930s Crosley developed low-priced compact cars and other pint-size vehicles.
On April 28, 1939, the first Crosley production car debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to mixed reviews. the Crosley cars were cheaper than the nearest competition, the American Austin Car Company's American Bantam, which sold for $449 to $565. and had a fan as an integral part of the flywheel. The engine was connected to a three-speed transmission that provided power directly via a torque tube to the rear axle, eliminating the need for joints. This arrangement was judged unreliable, and conventional universal joints were fitted starting in 1941. For 1941 a range of new, body-style variations of the wide Crosley built nearly 2,300 cars in 1941. Crosley was the last company to cease production of civilian vehicles in 1942, after building another 1,000 units that year.
War-time production
thumb|One of thirty-six Crosley CT-3 'Pup' extra-light, 4WD, mini-jeep prototypes.
The Crosley Corporation was involved in war production planning before December 1941, and like the rest of American industry, it focused on manufacturing war-related products during the war years. The company made a variety of products, ranging from proximity fuzes, radio transceivers, field kitchens, and quarter-ton trailers, to gun turrets, among other items. Powered gun turrets for PT boats and B-24 and B-29 bombers were the company's largest contract.
Crosley also produced a number of experimental vehicles during the war for the U.S. government. Crosley's auto manufacturing division, CRAD, in Richmond, Indiana, produced experimental motorcycles, tricycles, four-wheel-drive military light utility vehicles, a self-propelled gun, and continuous track vehicles, some of which were amphibious models. All of these military prototypes were powered by the 2-cylinder boxer engine that powered the original Crosley automobiles. Crosley had nearly 5,000 of the engines on hand when auto production ceased in 1942, and hoped to put them to use in war-time production of miniature vehicles.
One vehicle prototype was the 1942–1943 Crosley CT-3 "Pup," a lightweight, single-passenger, four-wheel-drive vehicle that was transportable and air-droppable from a C-47 Skytrain. Six of the , 2-cylinder Pups were deployed overseas after undergoing tests at Fort Benning, Georgia, but the project was discontinued due to several weak components. Seven of 36 Pups built are known to survive.
- first mass-production overhead camshaft engine, the CoBra (for Copper Brazed), carried over from military production, also starting in the 1946 model CC,
- first American cars to be fitted with 4-wheel caliper type disc brakes, for the 1949 model year only — (the Chrysler Imperial introduced four-wheel disc brakes as standard equipment on Crown Imperials for the 1949 model year, but they were not of the caliper type), and
- first American post-war volume production sports car, the Hotshot, also in the 1949 model year.
In 1950 Crosley brought the Farm-O-Road model, a wheelbase utility vehicle, decades ahead of the John Deere Gator and other small Utility vehicles. From 1950 onwards, Crosley's main models gained roll-down instead of sliding side windows.
Post-war production and demise
Post-war production began with 4,999 vehicles in 1946, and increased to five-figure numbers, producing more than 22,500 cars in 1947. Crosley sales peaked in 1948, with 24,871 or 27,707 cars sold, depending on the source;
More trouble came after the Big Three automakers introduced bigger, more lavish cars, and began manufacturing them in higher volumes and priced, in some cases, only a little higher than a new Crosley car. Crosley sales dwindled to 4,839 units in 1951; only 1,522 Crosley vehicles were sold in 1952. Crosley continued building engines for a short while to fulfill a government contract, but eventually the rights to the engine were sold.
- 1939: Series (C)1A – Convertible Coupe and Convertible Sedan
- 1941: Series CB41 – Convertible Coupe, Sedan and Deluxe Sedan; Station Wagon, Panel Delivery, Parkway Delivery, Covered Wagon and Pickup
- 1942: Series CB42 – Convertible Coupe and (Deluxe) Sedan, Station Wagon, Panel and Parkway Delivery, Covered Wagon, Pickup and steel-top 'Liberty Sedan'
Post-war production with 1946–1949 CoBra water-cooled straight-four engine
- 1946: CC Four — fastback Sedan and Convertible coupe
- 1947: CC Four — fastback Sedan, Convertible coupe and Pickup (roundside)
- 1948: CC Four — fastback Sedan, Convertible coupe, Station wagon, Panel van, Pickup (square), and 'Sport Utility' convertible wagon
Post-war production with 1949–1952 CIBA water-cooled four-cylinder inline engine
- 1949: CD Four including Deluxe Sedan, Coupe, Station Wagon, Pickup Truck and Panel Truck; VC Four including Hotshot Roadster and Super Sports Roadster
- 1950: CD Four including Sedan, Super Sedan, Coupe, Super Coupe, Station Wagon, Super Station Wagon; VC Four including Hotshot Roadster and Super Sports Roadster; FR Four including Farm-O-Road (in various submodels)
- 1951: CD Four including Business Coupe, Super Sedan, Station Wagon, Super Station Wagon, Super Coupe; VC Four including Hotshot Roadster and Super Sports Roadster; and FR Four including Farm-O-Road.
- 1952: CD Four including Standard Business Coupe, Super Sedan, Station Wagon, Super Station Wagon, Super Coupe; VC Four including Hotshot Roadster and Super Sports Roadster; FR Four including Farm-O-Road.