Hudson dealers and they carried respective Nash and Hudson brand logos. The new for 1956 Rambler was arguably "the most important car American Motors ever built" in that it not only created and defined a new market segment, emphasized the virtues of compact design, but also enabled the automaker to prosper in the post-World War II marketplace that shifted from a seller's to a buyer's market. The new Ramblers came only as four-door models. Along with the usual four-door sedan and the station wagon was a new four-door hardtop sedan, as well as an industry first, a four-door hardtop station wagon. An OHV version of the engine was also introduced for 1956 to replace the L-head version that was used in previous models. The OHV I6 was the only engine available in the 1956 Ramblers, as the new AMC V8s did not appear until the 1957 model year. Nash Rambler Palm Beach American Motors' relationship with the Italian designer Battista 'Pinin' Farina as a styling consultant resulted in the 1956 Nash Rambler Palm Beach. All the major mechanical components for the concept car came from a wheelbase Nash Rambler. The only indication of the origin of the car are the Rambler “R” emblems on the hubcaps. Influenced by aerodynamic and technical innovations, the Palm Beach was constructed "so that it could be introduced to the market in a short period of time." The fully functional show car was intended as a replacement for the Nash-Healey, but AMC no longer included a sports car in its lineup by 1956. Revival With AMC's focus on economical automobiles, management saw an opportunity with the economic recession of 1958 to revive the small wheelbase Nash Rambler. The automaker had retained the old tooling and the old model would fit between the bigger wheelbase family-sized Ramblers and the imported two-seat wheelbase Nash Metropolitan. This would be a smaller and more efficient alternative to the standard-sized cars that were marketed by the domestic Big Three at that time. The old Nash design was slightly modified and used for AMC's "new" 1958 Rambler American. Epilogue The book listing the 75 noteworthy American automobiles that made news from 1895 until 1970, documents "the 1950 Nash Rambler was a historic car on two counts: its ancestry and its small size." While other compact-sized cars were introduced by the small independent automakers, such as the Henry J, Hudson Jet, and