Industrialist Powel Crosley, Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio, owner of Crosley Broadcasting Corporation and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, had ambitious plans to build a subcompact car and developed assembly plants at Richmond, Indiana, and Marion, Indiana. In May 1939, the first car was shown at the Indianapolis Speedway. It was a two-door convertible that weighed under 1,000-pound and sold for $250. It did not achieve sales success, but in 1941 more body styles were introduced.
The chassis had an 80-inch wheelbase using half-elliptic springs with beam axle in front and quarter-elliptic springs in the rear. The power came from a two-cylinder Waukesha air-cooled engine that had the fan as an integral part of the flywheel. The engine was connected with a three-speed transmission and then directly via a torque tube to the rear axle, thus eliminating the need for joints. However, this arrangement was judged unreliable, and conventional universal joints were fitted beginning in 1941.
During World War II, the Crosley became attractive because of gasoline rationing and the good mileage it could achieve: 50 miles per US gallon . Crosley was the last company to cease production of civilian vehicles in 1942, partly to allow car buyers the opportunity to purchase as many Crosleys as possible to aid in fuel rationing, and partly because the War Production Board needed some time to determine a useful purpose for Crosley's small factories.
Civilian car production resumed in 1945 with the aerodynamic CC, but only at the Marion plant; the Richmond facility had been sold during the war years.
Crosley introduced a number of "firsts" in the American automobile industry, including the first use of the term 'Sport Utility' in 1948; first mass-market single overhead camshaft (SOHC) engine in 1946; first slab-sided postwar car, also in 1946; first all steel-bodied wagon in 1947; first American car to be fitted with 4-wheel disc brakes in 1949; and the first American sports car, the Hotshot, also in 1949. 1950 brought the Farm-O-Road model, a 63-inch wheelbase utility vehicle predictive of the John Deere Gator and other UTVs.
With 24,871 cars sold, Crosley's best year was 1948. Sales began to slip in 1949, and adding the Crosley Hotshot and a combination farm tractor-Jeep-like vehicle called the Farm-O-Road in 1950, could not stop the decline. In 1952, only 1522 Crosley vehicles were sold. Production ceased after the July 3rd shift that year, and the plant was sold to the General Tire and Rubber Company.
Regardless of its short life, and small size, the Hotshot is well remembered as a phenomenal sports car within its own class. The Hotshot not only won the Index of Performance at Sebring in 1951, but also the Grand de la Suisse that year as well. A Siata 300 fit with Crosley power won the SCCA's 12 hour Vero Beach race. Throughout the 1950s, Crosley engines dominated 750cc sports car racing, winning 10 out of 12 SCCA west-coast races alone.
This Lovely low mileage example has been carefully upgraded to Show Standards, while retaining as many original features as possible. The car was sensitively restored in 1993 , garnered an AACA 1st Place Award, and has been used sparingly although regularly since. The car is generally considered one of the finest Super Sports in existence in Crosley circles. Fitted with new tires in 2007, the car retains its original tools and manuals, and is ready for continued enjoyment on the Show or Touring circuit.
