Classic Crosley Cars for Sale

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Frequently Asked Questions about Classic Crosley

Crosley was founded by Powel Crosley Jr., a Cincinnati, Ohio, industrialist who had made his money in auto accessories, radios and appliances, and the cars carry his family name. The first production Crosley was shown at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in April 1939. It was a two-door convertible on an 80-inch wheelbase with an air-cooled two-cylinder Waukesha engine, and it was sold through department and appliance stores.

Crosley cars were assembled in Indiana, while Crosley Motors kept its main office and engineering facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. The prewar cars of 1939-1942 were built at Richmond, Indiana, and the Crosley Automobile Club's history also names Cincinnati as a prewar production site. The factories turned to war work during World War II. Car production resumed in 1946 at Marion, Indiana, where it stayed until the end in 1952.

The CC was Crosley's first postwar model line, introduced in 1946 and built through late 1948, after which the CD replaced it for the 1949 model year. It was offered as a sedan, convertible, pickup, panel delivery and, from late 1947 as a 1948 model, an all-steel station wagon. CC models used the sheet-steel CoBra four-cylinder engine.

The CoBra was the four-cylinder engine Crosley put in its cars from 1946, and the name is short for copper brazed. Instead of a cast-iron block it used sheet steel parts brazed together, with a single overhead camshaft. It displaced 44 cubic inches and made 26.5 horsepower. The design originated with engineer Lloyd Taylor. Corrosion in the steel block led Crosley to replace it in early 1949 with the cast-iron CIBA engine.

Yes. Crosley began fitting disc brakes on all four wheels in May 1949, and the Crosley Automobile Club describes them as the first disc brakes on an American-built car. The system was adapted from Goodyear-Hawley aircraft brakes. Road salt caused the brakes to corrode and freeze up, so Crosley went back to conventional Bendix hydraulic drum brakes in mid-1950.

The Hotshot was a small two-seat roadster that Crosley introduced in 1949 on an 85-inch wheelbase. The original car had no conventional doors, and a version with hinged doors was sold as the Super Sports. On December 31, 1950, a Hotshot driven by Fritz Koster and Ralph Deshon won the first race held at Sebring, a six-hour event decided on an Index of Performance handicap. Crosley built 2,498 of these roadsters through 1952.

The Farm-O-Road was a small utility vehicle resembling a scaled-down Jeep that Crosley introduced in 1950 for farm work. It rode on a 63-inch wheelbase and used Crosley's 26.5-horsepower four-cylinder engine. It remained in the line until the company stopped production in July 1952. Crofton Marine Engineering later revived the design as the Crofton Bug, built from 1959 to 1963.

Crosley stopped building cars in July 1952. Sales peaked in 1948 and dropped sharply from 1949 as American buyers moved toward larger cars, and newer models such as the Hotshot and Farm-O-Road did not reverse the decline. General Tire and Rubber Company then acquired Crosley Motors and its Marion, Indiana, plant, and car production never resumed. Sources give either July 3 or July 17, 1952, as the final day.

The 5 Crosley listings on Classic Cars Arena right now are priced from $5,995 to $44,495, with a median asking price of $9,995. These are the prices sellers are asking today, not sale prices, and the figures change as cars are listed and sold.

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