Sean C. Morgan
“It’s not a hovercraft, spacecraft or Batmobile.”
It’s a 1951 Nash Ambassador. When parked, its wheels are completely hidden, and the edge of its body rests on the ground.
When Bob Sorensen wanted to travel from Salem to Sweet Home, airbag suspension raised the car’s body to ride height – 4 inches – and he drove it here.
He created a sign explaining what he did with the car and answering plenty of questions – but then he’s used to that because he gets a lot of them. His daughter, Sonya Sorensen, said he gets all the questions anyway.
Sorenson brought his Nash to t the Fifth Annual Sweet Home Sweet Ride Saturday, one of more than 200 vehicles entered. Proceeds from the event go to help pay for Sweet Home and Lebanon children at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, children’s programs at Sweet Home Police Department and Sunshine Industries.
“It started when I was 17, driving my dad’s ‘51 Nash Ambassador to high school – to my embarrassment,” Sorensen said. He would take the long way home from school in Spokane Valley because it had a curve that he tried to drive a little faster each day.
One day, a tire blew and he landed in a field. The car sank up to its body line. That inspired the idea which led to his creation.
“I thought it was possible,” Sorensen said. “I didn’t have the wherewithal to do it in those days. Besides, I was restricted (following the crash).”
About six years ago, he found one on eBay. He paid the “buy it now” price for the rare two-door Nash, a rust bucket he found in a field in Missouri.
He went to work restoring it, installing a Corvette Z06 engine, and he’s been showing it since. He’s added a sign to answer common questions, but “the people didn’t read it, and I get just as many questions.”
Actual show attendance numbers and awards were not available at press time and will appear in next week’s edition of The New Era.