As already mentioned, the Deluxe 2600 V8 Pullman was an experiment. Its 4000ccm “Iron Pig” engine was not developed for being built only a few hundred times. When WW2 was over, CMT was able to release its new “Village”-Models in early spring of 1946 which based on the Deluxe 2600 with numerous tweaks under the sheetmetal. In war times, there was neither much time nor resources for developing a completely new vehicle.
The Deliveroo Passenger was a sucess until then, but you just can not deny the transportation-vehicle-base. A more distinguished station wagon was the Village Universal, for those who did not need the Deliveroo’s versatility. It offered slightly better performance and fuel consumption while being much more pleasant to drive. But comfort, safety and prestige were not raised in comparison to the Deliveroo Passenger - CMT had to keep its price in mind.
It fared well up to 1955, when sales finally showed the car had outdated. It was not such sucess as the Deliveroo Passenger, mainly because the Village Universal had more competitors.
Village lineup included a category-busting “Flatbed” variant. Up to the B-pillar it was a normal, maybe not too well-equipped sedan, but after that there is a dent-resistant steel bed. Many decades before Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero, CMT offered the first half-car, half-truck. But it was not a sucess, at least there was no loss with it.
In the following year, V8 Pullman was already ready to be dropped. Based on the improved Village-platform, the 4000ccm Iron Pig did it’s job from now on in the “Sedan de Luxe”. V8 Pullman were produced until late 1948 and sold at production costs - to acquire price-sensitive premium customers and as a reaction to the fact that the Sedan de Luxe was not a lot more expensive to build. In fact, the new top-of-the-line model was a lot of bang for the buck! The Sedan de Luxe was a little less pracitcal, but besides that, it did everything miles better, because the older Deluxe 2600 was, planned as a premium family-commuter, just not designed for the high-end market. The Sedan de Luxe did no serious harm to the Big Three, but it amortized its huge development expenses and helped the CMT image a lot. It reached real 200kph - a world record for a luxury sedan! Some movie stars bought it for that reason and did more for the brand’s image than any advert would have done. In total, the Village - and mainly the V8 model - was a sucess.
In the next post, we will make the step into the 1950s - stay tuned. 