Duane Aspengren’s “Night Train”

You might know the name Kevan Sledge from the famous (infamous?) SoCal-based ‘Shifters’ car club, making headlines in the 90s as part of the resurgence of traditional hot rods and customs. These days, Kevan runs a shop in Northern California building some pretty stunning custom cars, focusing primarily on ’39-’40 Mercurys. He recently took possession of a sectioned ’49 Hudson called Night Train, that was actually featured in Hot Rod magazine twice in the 50s.

Back in 2010, HAMBers got news that the car was still around when another SoCal Shifter, Axle posted this:

“A family friend Ed Mueller and I drove up to Sacramento back in 1991 where he bought “Night Train” a sectioned 1949 Hudson that made Hot Rod magazine in 1953 and again in 1958. It is being finished up and will debut in January. Car was originally built by its owner Duane Aspengren. My friend recently found Duane’s family where they gave him many trophies from the San Diego Autorama back in the 50’s & early 60’s , a car club jacket, and a car club plaque. Everything will be displayed next to the car. Except for the first photo the rest have never been seen to the public. Ed Mueller contacted one of Petersen publishing’s retired Photo Journalists who did the ’58 photo shoot at Balboa Park in San Diego. The photographer (Bob Hardee) had 30 original negatives after all these years and i’m posting 5 of them as a taster. Enjoy.”

Kevan shared news of the recent acquisition, along with a little more history and this update:

“I recently became the new caretaker of Duane Aspengren’s “Night Train” 1949 Hudson! It was featured in Hot Rod magazine in 1953 as a mild custom then again in 1959 as a more radical custom. It won several car shows back in the day including the top custom award at the 1961 San Diego Autorama picked by George Barris. Duane sectioned the car 4 inches and channeled it another 4 inches. He installed a 49 Merc grille opening, 57 Corvette grille, Louvered hood, shaved the body, custom 49 Packard rear bumper, frenched 49 Merc taillights, frenched 53 merc headlights, custom dash with a ton of gauges, 56 Ford steering wheel, 57 Plymouth hubcaps, and tuck and roll upholstery. The car needs a few things cosmetically to make it look like it did in 1959 like the lower side stainless, mirrors, antenna, stock seats, and the front end raised up slightly, but it’s not too far off. I was told this car started a huge lowrider scene in San Diego in the early 60’s. Duane sold it sometime in the 60’s then it was owned by members of the Night Prowlers club for a while. At some point it made its way to NorCal and had a bit of history up here before being purchased and restored by Ed Muller in the 90’s.

Can’t wait to see this one back on the road…