Watson Motors

Darrel Watson emigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s. Thanks to a solid experience of 10 years acquired at General Motors, this brilliant engineer decided to found Watson Motors in New Orleans in 1936. During the Second World War, this company provided troop transport vehicles to the United States military. At the end of the war, thanks to his significant profits accumulated during the war, its founder directed production towards the manufacture of passenger cars and light trucks.

Wednesday, March 7, 1952

Somewhere at the Watson Motors headquaters in New Orleans, Darrel Watson meet the team who’s working on the future entry-level model. They have a prototype to show him.

James Stephenson, the design team manager, is proud to show their car to their CEO.

J.S. : “This car is powered by a 200 ci inline-six engine.”
D.W. : " Power ?"
J.S. : “Around 90 PS”
D.W. : “Wheight ?”
J.S. : " Around 2650 lbs. "
D.W. : “It’s quite light, isn’t it ?”
J.S.: “Not really. This car is based on a ladder frame with double wishbone front suspension and a rear solid axxle coil. It’s quite simple and low cost.”
D.W. : “Let’s take a look at the body style! I like it!”

J.S. : “Thank you sir.”
D.W. : “What’s the scale of this model?”
J.S. : “…” After a long silence “This is… a 1:1-scale model…”
D.W. : “Are you kidding ? Can you remind me the design brief ?”
J.S. : “We have to design an entry level car which have 6 people capacity, for the american market.”
D.W. : “We said american market… This car is designed like a sardine can! So… :wastebasket: … Or… we could sell this design to european carmakers like Courageux Motor Company!” :smiling_imp:
J.S. : “Or we could sell it by ourself to european customers…”
D.W. : “May be or may be not… American market is our top priority. It remains four years to our company to design an entry level car. Keep the body style, design a larger wheelbase chassis, a powerfull engine and we’ll have it!”

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Not a bad start. Its design and engineering features are generally typical of the era, but its coil-sprung live rear axle might give it better ride and handling than a leaf-sprung one if tuned correctly.

1956 Watson Antlia

This 2-doors sedan is the all new 1956 entry-level car of Watson Motors.

It is powered by a 235 ci Inline-six engine. Hydraulic power steering and AM radio are standard across the range.



Model Watson Antlia
Layout Front longitudinal RWD
Chassis Chassis steel ladder / steel panels
Suspension Double wishbone (front) / Solid axle leaf (rear)
Brakes front and rear drums
Length 5,16 m
Width 2,05 m
Wheelbase 3,25 m
Weight 1 569 kg (1575 kg)
Transmission 3-speed manual gearbox (optional 2-speed automatic transmission)
Engine name 1956 Watson I6-235
Type OHV 2V Inline 6
Capacity 3847cc - 235 ci
Bore x stroke 85 x 113 mm
Fuel system 2 barrels twin carburetor
Power 133 hp @ 4100 RPM
Torque 255 Nm @ 2500 RPM
RPM limit 4300 RPM
0-100 km/h 15,1 s (20,4 s)
80-120 km/h 10,0 s (20,0 s)
1/4 mile time 20,41 s (22,20 s)
1 km time 36,31 s (40,21 s)
Top Speed 179 km/h (172 km/h)
100-0 braking distance 87,90 m (88,20 m)
Fuel Economy 22,7 L/100 km (23,7 L/100 km)

1956 base price : 1,250 $ (optional 2-speed automatic transmission 65 $)

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1956 Watson Trucks Cargo

This Watson Trucks Cargo series is the first pick-up designed by our company.

It is powered by a powerful 235 ci Inline-six engine. It allows the payload to rise up to one ton. AM radio is standard across the range.



Model Watson Trucks Cargo
Layout Front longitudinal RWD
Chassis Chassis steel ladder / steel panels
Suspension Front and rear solid axle leaf
Brakes front and rear drums
Length 4,80 m
Width 1,89 m
Wheelbase 2,92 m
Weight 1 303 kg
Transmission 3-speed manual gearbox
Engine name 1956 Watson I6-235
Type OHV 2V Inline 6
Capacity 3847cc - 235 ci
Bore x stroke 85 x 113 mm
Fuel system 2 barrels twin carburetor
Power 133 hp @ 4100 RPM
Torque 255 Nm @ 2500 RPM
RPM limit 4300 RPM
0-100 km/h 11,9 s
80-120 km/h 10,8 s
1/4 mile time 18,91 s
1 km time 35,1 s
Top Speed 163 km/h
100-0 braking distance 71 m
Fuel Economy 23,7 L/100 km

1956 base price : 1,100 $

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1956 Watson Auviera

This 4-doors sedan is the all new 1956 senior car of Watson Motors.

It is powered by a powerful 353 ci V8 engine. Hydraulic power steering, AM radio & automatic transmission are standard across the range.



Model Watson Aviera
Layout Front longitudinal RWD
Chassis Chassis steel ladder / steel panels
Suspension Double wishbone (front) / Solid axle coil (rear)
Brakes front and rear drums
Length 5,30 m
Width 2,05 m
Wheelbase 3,25 m
Weight 1 873 kg
Transmission 2-speed automatic gearbox
Engine name 1956 Watson V8-353
Type OHV 2V V8
Capacity 5781cc - 353 ci
Bore x stroke 85 x 113 mm
Fuel system 2 barrels triple carburetor
Power 230 hp @ 4100 RPM
Torque 442 Nm @ 2500 RPM
RPM limit 4300 RPM
0-100 km/h 11,6 s
80-120 km/h 9,24 s
1/4 mile time 19,39 s
1 km time 34,51 s
Top Speed 211 km/h
100-0 braking distance 97,8 m
Fuel Economy 25,3 L/100 km

1956 base price : 1,100 $

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1960 Watson Ariesa

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1960 Watson Aquila

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Hey! I had to personally make an account to leave this comment. The work you have done is amazing and I hope you keep it up. It’s just amazing!

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1960 Watson Arcadia

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1959 Watson Ariesa Coupe

More pictures

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