One of the failed post-war cars

… failed for a very good reason, I think.
Front wheel drive, with the engine placed in the rear?
Yikes!

This 1947 Gregory never made it past the prototype stage.

And the chassis layout indicates there’s a radiator at the air cooled engine.

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Was Crosley the only compact car of the 40s that actually saw some marketing success?

Wasn’t the Henry J from that era also a compact?

Yes, but the Henry J wasn’t brought to the marketplace until 1951, and it was thoroughly conventional. Think of the Henry J as an early inspiration for the Ford Maverick.

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Thank you I wasn’t sure when they came out also not sure when the Maverick came out I had one in the early 80’s it was a decent car.

The Playboy was a postwar two seater built at a former Chevy plant in Tonawanda NY. it was definitely not a sports car, just a tiny convertible. They got about 50 prototypes make before the inevitable bankruptcy.

Another failed car right after the war was the Muntz Jet

And, I was the one who posted a link to a Playboy automobile-centric website about 1 1/2 years ago!

:wink:

:+1:

Kind of reminds me a bit nose first of the first SAABs although this one is black. The first SAABs were only offered in one color; OD Green.

speaking of the term “Playboy” . . . I think Hugh Hefner probably ruined that term, as many people will think of the magazine, not the cars

I always hated him, his personality and pretty much all he stood for

I suppose the playboy jazz festivals probably had good music, but I never went to one

Quite a few playboys stayed in the Buffalo area, they are a common sight at car shows here. They had 5 at a car show at the Historical Society here. All the ones I have seen were slightly different, even the engines.

Yup!
During their brief production run, a switch from one supplier to another took place.
I’m not sure if they went from Continental engines to Hercules engines–or vice-versa–but the engines do vary from one sample to another.

After both WWI and WWII a lot of manufacturing tried to switch to consumer products. There were quite a few cars produced in the early 20’s and late 40’s and 50’s that failed. Think of all the mini cars from Europe and Japan and the entire Kaiser-Frazier line in the US after WWII.