The fully functional show car was intended as replacement for the Nash-Healey, but AMC no longer included a sports car in its lineup by 1956. 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. The book listing the 75 noteworthy American automobiles that made news from 1895 to 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 Willys Aero, only the Rambler survived long enough to establish a real place in automotive history. Moreover, the compact-sized Nash Rambler automobile evolved into a business strategy for American Motors as the company firmly associated itself with small cars in the U.S. marketplace. In the 1960s, the automaker "prospered on the back of the Nash Rambler, the compact that recalled the name of the vehicle Thomas B. Jeffrey built in 1902 at the Kenosha, Wisconsin factory that continued to be AMC's main production plant." The Nash Rambler succeeded where others "tried to entice US consumers looking for practical, economical automobiles" during an era "when all Detroit had to offer were pricey, ostentatious behemoths." The Big Three domestic automakers exited the entry-level car market to foreign makes starting in the early 1950s. Nash was the only American manufacturer to get the compact formula right by offering Rambler "well equipped and priced sensibly"; "styling that was fresh, distinctive, and attractive"; and for "the original Rambler’s run in 1950–55 was that there was a full line of Ramblers in many body styles, including a jaunty convertible." According to automotive historian Bill Vance, the Nash Ramblers "are not much remembered, but they did provide reliable, economical and sturdy service." "Nash's reputation for building eminently sensible vehicles means that their products are often overlooked by the modern-day enthusiast."