Summary
This didn't deter Powel Crosley, Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio from trying the same idea a few years later. Crosley had made a fortune manufacturing radios, refrigerators and other appliances. He was an innovative entrepreneur, the first to market a low-priced radio and the first to put shelves in refrigerator doors with his famous Shelvador model.
The immediate post-war years were a seller's market for manufacturers, created by the lack of civilian vehicle production for 3 1/2 years during the war. During this peacetime period, Crosley did reasonably well, reaching a record high of 29,089 sales in 1948 before serious problems surfaced with the Cobra engine. Corrosion of the steel allowed coolant to leak out or contaminate the engine oil, with disastrous results. A switch to cast-iron blocks in 1949 solved the problem, but Crosley's reputation was damaged and it would never fully recover.Despite the vehicle's minuscule size, the Farm-O-Road was equipped to act like a real grown-up machine. It had two gear ranges with six forward speeds. Top speed in low range was 24 kilometres an hour and it would pull such farm implements as ploughs, rakes, harrows and mowers. Front and rear power takeoffs were optional as was a hydraulically operated drawbar and dual wheels. Power came from the overhead-cam, four-cylinder car engine.See the full content of this document
Extract
Farm-O-Road Positively Lilliputian
Despite its minuscule size, equipped to act like a real grown-up machine
Bill VanceFollowing the Second World War, the Willys-Overland Co., took the popular military Jeep through a successful transition into the peacetime market by converting it i...See the full content of this document
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