page_title: Crosley
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Crosley / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Orphan Car Show, Ypsilanti, Michigan, June 2007 The Crosley and Crofton Bug were pretty similar. (The Crofton Bug was the Farm-O-Road built by Crofton with a different grille after Crosley stopped making cars.)
context_page_description: Crosley was a small, independent American manufacturer of subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 1939 to 1952, interrupted by World War II production. Their station wagons were the most popular model, but also offered were sedans, pickups, convertibles, a sports car, and even a tiny jeep-like vehicle. For export, the cars were badged Crosmobile.
  Crosley introduced several "firsts" in American automotive history, including the first affordable, mass-market car with an overhead camshaft engine in 1946; the first use of the term 'Sport Utility' in 1947, for a 1948 model year convertible wagon; and the first American cars to be fitted with 4-wheel caliper type disc brakes, as well as America's first post-war sports car, the Hotshot, in the 1949 model year.
  All of Crosley's models were lightweight body-on-frame cars with rigid axles front and rear, and engines with less than 1 litre displacement. With exception of the late introduced Hotshot and Farm-O-Road models, the vast majority of all Crosleys were built on an 80 inches wheelbase, and with leaf-springs.
context_section_description: Powel Crosley Jr. made his fortune in the automotive parts and accessories business, before diversifying into manufacturing other consumer products and Crosley automobiles in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1925 his company became the largest manufacturer of radios in the world. The financial success of his manufacturing and radio broadcasting businesses provided the funds for Crosley to pursue his lifelong interest in manufacturing automobiles. He introduced the first Crosley compact car in 1939. 
  During World War II the Crosley company discontinued civilian automobile manufacturing and begin production of war-time materials, including development of experimental vehicles. In 1946 Crosley resumed production of compact and subcompact vehicles at its facility in Marion, Indiana, in addition to introducing new models and innovations to its offerings. After gas rationing was discontinued and the Big Three car makers began producing larger cars, consumer interest in Crosley's compact cars declined. The last Crosley car rolled off the assembly line on July 3, 1952, and the company focused on its other, more successful business ventures.
caption: 1950 Crosley Farm-O-Road with a front power take-off
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