Awesome find. I think if I had known about Hudsons when I bought my Merc I would have got a Hudson coupe instead.
Why ruin it by chopping it? The Hudsons have as close to a factory chop as they get! A Merc has to be chopped to look half as good as a Hudson - and the '49 Merc came out a full year AFTER the Hudson Stepdown cars...so who copied whom, eh?
Could ya post a pic of the front end? easy to tell 50 from 49 from front end.I have a 49 all stock. Mench
Yeah, Kenny, please post a pic of the front end. I had a '50 Super, os Mench or I should be able to nail down which year.
Wow, I went and looked at that thing and was like this thing is pretty gone. Guy was getting all kinds of calls. Now your gonna make me post up pics of the sad state it was in huh. When I opened the trunk and saw daylight I knew it was not going home with me. Props to ya for getting it running, there was not much sheetmetal that was not rusted through though unfortunately. Guy told me he got it outta the mountains, I was thinking more like an old dried up sump someplace with the moss growing outta the rocker panels. Pics if you want them bud, I will post them of where it was out back of that guys house.-Weeks
Weeks46: FOREBEAR for a second, buddy. I have been REAL puzzeld by how fast this expression caught on. PLEASE clue me in: WHAT THE HELL IS A RATROD? OR, IS THAT WHAT NEW-AGERS THINK HOTRODS SHOULD BE CALLED??? When I think "Rat," I automatically thin sbc. What the . . . ???
im not afraid of a little work you cant buy them in perfect cond and call it yours you have to put a little work in it
Yeah I saw the 4 door cadi you made into a 2 door. That Hudson is alot of work, hell the guys back east in the rust belt would say its gone and they know what rust is in comparison with us dry so-cal'ers.-Weeks
If I have to explain the terminology to you I think you may be in the wrong place. Why don't you ask on the main board or use the search function if you reallly want a response.-Weeks
Weeks, it's a simple question: What the heck is a so-called "ratrod," or is that what new-wavers want to call what was always called hotrods? I sure can't imagine a MAGAZINE coming out called "RatRod" LOL Soebody make it easy for me & answer this plain, straight-forward question -- then I'll go away & NEVER bring up the term again. I swear upon my 440 NewYorker!
A little bit of history. They did not call stripped down cars hot rods even back in the day (pre-WWII). Hot Rod was considered derogatory actually in a way because John Q public had gotten the idea that Hot Rodders were outlaws in a way. Early stripped down cars were refered to as HOP-UPS, GOW-JOBS, CUSTUMIZED JOBS, TACO WAGON, JUNK HEAPS, etc.... The idea that Wally Parks and others of the time had was to educate the public (Through the formation of the NHRA Hot-Rod Safety Safaris, look it up!) and inform the automotive world about how to safely enjoy this hobby. Whats ironic is that they chose to use the term HOT-ROD mainly to describe the cars which would be if today a group of people were formed to further the Rodding world along in a certain direction and decided to use the term RATROD as their moniker. Kinda scary in a way. The term RATROD surfaced out of the pages of HOT ROD magazine in the 90's as a term being used to describe The Shifters unfinished project cars that they drove on the streets and scrounged up parts for. Whats unfortunate is the media took the wording and ran with it to describe virtually any unfinished car and the public now seems to think even finished cars are RATRODS. Then you have gold chainers who get/got pissed off and started building ultra expensive RATRODS which we saw recently here where some fella took a brand new Brookville car and made it look like a RATROD. Very sad then he played a little prank and found Karma biting him. The term unfortunately has been made into a generalized catch all that will not disappear ever. I do not want any stupid response from anyone out there this is just my own consensus from years of reading the big and little pages of the good mags and talking with old timers. I am 24 so give me a little credit for at least even paying attention and wanting to learn the history thats disappearing daily. I more then likely left a lot out or neglected to say somethings but this is just a quick run down to answer JIMISHEMI's question. Oh btw when somebody says RatRod to me I act as though they said the c word to a woman. I just turn and walk away if I do not know the person or we are not having a conversation. Generally it tells me that I am wasting my breath and time. Some people get it, some don't.-Weeks
For God's sake, Weeks, THANKS for catching me up on that. I've been ANNOYED with this term (even some old guys -- over 60 -- were using it!). NOW, you have filled me in, and I will keep my promise NOT to bring up the damn subject again on the HAMB. A step further, I'll do what I do about the asshole who shot John Lennon. He's simply a noting with NO name. Thanks again, my friend, for taking the time to answer a simple (and innocent) question.
That Hudson's not gone, I think you're just pissed that you didn't buy it. You got a 3 paragraph definition with pictures of the phrase "sour grapes"?
I am not hating fellas I got money to buy things if I want, the amount of work the Hudson needs is too much for me to take on right now and I do not need to store another car. I am already doing a ground up build with my Model A and what the Hudson needs is the same done to it. Frame off build-up. Don't jump to conclusions. I went out there the first morning the ad ran and had 500$ and a trailer with me. Your also only showing half the story Kenny. The fact that the door hinges rusted through and the door was tossed inside the car made me leery upon arrival, then when all that was left of the steering wheel for the most part was the metal hoop attached to the steering column because of decay I decided to let someone else find their dream/treasure lol. Enjoy the car and I hope it turns out even better then the 4 door Cadi you turned into a 2 door did. Give me a little while and I will show you my visual upon arrival.-Weeks
Looks like there's a lot of "good" there, especially if the car is built as example with an Art Morrison chassis --- use a true parts car for small items, and rust repair.
Try finding a parts car for less then he paid for this one. 400$ It was a steal at that. I know what they are worth and what the parts go for. Yes there are alot of good items but like I said I left it for the next guy to enjoy,-Weeks
Right, but the world could use some unique and not-often-seen cars like this ol' gem. One less Tri-five and one more Hudson would suit me just fine, and I like '55-57 Chevrolets!
My sentiments exactly I will 2nd that. I like Hudsons more then Mercurys actually and it will be awesome to see how good Kenny can make it look.-Weeks
If that's what you think is so bad that "the guys back east in the rust belt would say its gone and they know what rust is in comparison with us dry so-cal'ers" then you have no idea what you're talking about. I'd want to see the frame rails in about four spots, but from what I can see, for the most part there's nothing that bad wrong with it to rule out building it. Clean it up and get some primer on it and most guys wouldn't even realize it's the same damned car.
I did look at the frame rails bud and they were pretty rusty from sitting in moisture. Look closely and see the moss growing through the Rockers. I mean the car is nothing like the Studebakers that were in another thread at their old test track collapsed and completely rusted out hulks if you want to use those as your benchmark, which would be rediculous but from what I have read from you I could see. Just because I do not own a junkyard like you or whatever you are always posting about crap cars you buy and sell I guess I am less qualified then you to say anything but I am not looking to build some piece of crap hack job either that is so heavy with bondo and other fillers that you do not need to even buy lowering blocks/spindles/or take out leaves to get that "cool" look. Primer is not a fix-all either it might be for you but I doubt that Kenny will just primer it from what I have seen him do before. You would have nothing to say if I had not said anything about your neck of the country. So be constructive or move on to another thread.-Weeks
For the guys that do the "what's it worth" posts and get angry when the topic of low-balling comes up, this is a great thread. I would have thrown out $750.00 and this dude got it for 400.00 bucks. Fantastic! Ever notice how the posters of the "what's it worth" threads never follow up and tell what the paid / sold it for?
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