1926 Nash Roadster was rum runners' choice during prohibition

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Vancouver classic car buff Jonathan Parker doesn’t know if his 1926 Nash Advanced Six roadster was ever used as a rum runner. But he does know it came from Chicago and he knows that one bootlegger purchased five cars like this to transport illegal booze during prohibition in the U.S. that lasted from 1920 through 1933.

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Nash cars featured a hot new engine in 1926 with very modern overhead valves and a five main bearing crankshaft for durability. These cars were reliable and fast – capable of nearly 80 miles per hour. Just the thing for outrunning the Bureau of Prohibition ‘revenuers’.

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Ordered without the popular rumble seat, this roadster had more storage than almost every other model with a very large boot. All the better to stash cases of whiskey for those late-night runs carrying clandestine shipments – many coming from Canada where liquor production was legal. Could Parker’s car have this history?

The retired trucking company owner has a near 70-year history with cars, having purchased a 1930 Chrysler sedan at the age of 13. Parker and boyhood friend Richard Dunsterville, who later went on to captain Boeing 747 aircraft, paid $10 for the old car and then proceeded to remove the body with an axe. They learned to drive by piloting the chassis on the open fields in Vancouver’s Southlands area.

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As the years passed, Jonathan Parker owned some very rare British Cars including a Jaguar XKE coupe and a 1960 AC Ace roadster. Four years ago, he saw an ad for an unrestored and very original 1926 Nash Advanced Six roadster. It spoke to him and soon the car was transported from Illinois to be picked up in Blaine, Washington – an hour south of Vancouver.

“I was attracted to the Nash’s classic roadster proportions, its advanced mechanics and, of course, its performance capabilities,” Parkers explains. “It was fast and could stop quickly with its enormous four-wheel drum brakes.”

The car ran and drove and had the original leather interior, although that was in very rough condition. It needed a complete restoration. The job was taken on by brothers Rob and Sid White at their shop in Aldergrove. The restoration was overseen by retired engineer Brian Beard who is well known for his restoration of vintage fire engines. The car needed very little bodywork as the metal was in good condition.

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“The steel used in the 1920’s on premium cars such as the Nash is amazing. It is seven times thicker than today’s vehicles, Useful for fending off the revenuers’ bullets,” Parker says.

The engine was rebuilt by Ed and Doug McLellan of Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. Ken Johnson stitched the leather interior and Martin Collins of Rags to Riches in Langley installed the convertible top. The results of the nut and bolt restoration are spectacular. Painted mallard green with black fenders and running boards, the attention to detail is dazzling.

All bright work was replated in nickel, as it was when the Nash left the Kenosha, Wisconsin factory 95 years ago. The factory gauges were rebuilt to new condition by an expert in the U.S. The original bevelled glass rear window was re-installed when the restored top bows were recovered.

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An unusual feature is a set of original tools that came with the car. They are hidden in a special compartment inside the driver’s door panel. Another compartment behind the seat holds the tonneau cover used when the convertible top is lowered. Could this compartment have once been used to smuggle booze? Did the roadster deliver cases of liquor to speakeasys in the Roaring Twenties? This car will never talk.

There are only five 1926 Nash Advanced Six roadsters known to exist and only three have been restored.

“The restoration was straight forward as there was no body rust,” Parker says. “However, there was a problem sourcing the complex starter to fix a slipping clutch drive.”

A drive in the car shows that the peppy six-cylinder engine produces lots of power so the car accelerates quickly and can keep up with today’s traffic.

It must have been quite the speedster in its day, and it may well have had an illicit past.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in a Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com