Crosley CC / CD Four History

When civilian production resumed in 1946, Crosley relaunched at Marion, Indiana with the all-new CC Four. Its headline feature was the CoBra (COpper-BRAzed) engine: a 44-cubic-inch (724 cc) overhead-camshaft four built from stamped sheet-metal sheets brazed together — America's first overhead-camshaft automobile engine produced in five-figure numbers, and a remarkably light, advanced design for a budget car.

The post-war Crosley peaked in 1948, when the company built around 24,000–28,000 cars and the station wagon became its best-selling model. In 1947 Crosley also coined the term 'Sport Utility', applying it to a 1948-model convertible wagon — the first recorded automotive use of the phrase. The fragile CoBra 'tin-block' engine proved a liability, however, corroding and failing in service.

For 1949 Crosley replaced it with the CIBA — a conventional cast-iron block of the same 44-cubic-inch displacement and far greater durability — and renamed the line the CD Four. But the CoBra's reputation, postwar buyers' return to full-size cars, and a contracting small-car market sank sales: from the 1948 peak, Crosley fell to about 7,400 cars in 1950, 4,839 in 1951 and just 1,522 in 1952. Production ended on July 3, 1952.