American Motors was formed from the merger of Hudson Motors and Nash-Kelvinator. The deal was the largest corporate merger up to that point - worth $197,793,366.
The Hudson and Nash car lines remained unchanged. The Jet, Hudson's slow-selling entry into the compact market, was dropped. The little Nash-Healey sports car was also discontinued after leaving its mark on European sports car racing.
The next year, the Hudson Wasp and Hornet were moved to the more contemporary Nash platforms. The Nash Rambler and Metropolitan were badged as Hudsons and sold under both marques.
Hudsons retained their in-line six cylinder L-head (flat head) engines; standard models had single carburetors, while optional "Twin-H Power" brought a special higher compression head with dual carburetors.
Nash Ambassador and Hudson Hornet models received the Packard 320 V-8 producing 208 hp with Packard "Ultramatic" automatic transmissions.