Ajax (American Automobile) - Badge Engineering

Badge Engineering

Despite receiving good reviews from the automotive press and the general public, the Ajax brand was discontinued in 1926 after over 22,000 models were sold. Charles Nash ordered that the production continue instead as the Nash Light Six. The Nash was a known and respected automobile brand that was the name of the company's founder. Production was stopped for two days while Nash hubcaps, emblems, and radiator shells were trucked to Racine where all unshipped Ajax brand cars were converted into Nash badged automobiles. Likewise, changeover kits were sent to dealers to retrofit all unsold cars by removing Ajax badges such as hubcaps.

One of the first cases of "badge engineering" began in 1917 with Texan automobile assembled in Fort Worth, Texas, that made use of Elcar bodies made in Elkhart, Indiana. However, the transformation of the Ajax was "probably the industry's first example of one car becoming another.". Nash even made the kits available at no charge to consumers who bought Ajax cars, but did not want to own an orphaned make automobile, to protect the investment they had made in a Nash Motors product. Because of this, few unmodified original Ajax cars have survived.

Sales of the rechristened Nash Light Six improved with the more known moniker. The 1926 four-door sedan was now advertised for $1525. The combined Ajax and Nash Light accounted for more than 24% of the automaker's total production in 1926.