Why the Hudson Hornet so Underrated?

While there are plenty of people who like Hudsons, there aren't many Hudson hot rods. I know the chassis construction of the step-down makes it a little harder to modify. Maybe that is a factor?

 

Well, depends on the term hotrod, but let's not go there, since the Twin-H was one of the hottest cars around in the early '50s before the V-8 "Horsepower Race" got rolling.

No, a step-down Hudson will probably never have a Duece grill hung on it. But by HAMB definition, they do make GREAT customs, in various configs. But, they came with such a low profile that a lot of Hud freaks don't even feel a top-chop is needed.

 

I have the engine spec's saved at work on how to take the Hudson big-6 and B&S it out to something like 556" or so??

Now, you take the big-boy 4-Dr and section the body say 3" to 4"s and what a ride it would be.

Then looking over to the big '49 Packard 4-Dr, drop in a Packard V-8 and go.

And fwiw, the Packard V-8 has a 5" bore spacing so can be made BIG!! Only other one is the big Cad's, the 500" series family!

And the 534" MEL h-d big truck Ford is like 5.3" bore spacing, but it weigh's in at 1,100 pounds.

pdq67

 

I'm grateful to Pixar for the CARS movie on several levels. With Worldwide ticket sales of over $400,000,000 they introduced "the fabulous Hudson Hornet" in a very positive light to millions of folks that otherwise would simply never have known about Hudson at all.

 

Jay Ward with Pixar is a HAMBer and had some influence over the accuracy of the cars and details. Doing a search will turn up a really could journal entry about it.

 

Anyone from Richmond, IN area know of a Hudson Hardtop with an Olds Motor in it? Couldn't be another one that someone else screwed up like I did from around the Dayton, Ohio area. Richmond is 40 miles from Dayton. T. Kitchen

 

I cant remember if the one in the junkyard was a 2 or 4 door,that yard was cleaned out in the late 90s and probably got crushed and what color was yours as this one was a light yellow or white.

 

I as a lucky kid, if there were races within 3 or 400 miles aroung us. We were there. One of the tracks had a Hudson show up and rulled the field. Previous races were a big competition between a 37 Ford coupe with a flathead and a straight six 30's bodied Chevy. The Hudson lapped them both. It was quite an exciting event as a young kid, my Dad was giddy with excitement as if we were at Indy. One of the most Gorgeous 4-door bodies to exist in my opinion. Hudson Custom, your rides is 100% bad ass, thanx to everyone who contributed the cool pix. Got my respect. ~sololobo~

 

look
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=353304

 

I don't think that they are or were underrated at all but just weren't as popular back in the day. One of the local garage owners raced them in the50's and 60's and I think a bit in the 70's with his grandsons. Many of the old timers in Eastern Washington probably know the name Jack Passenger from the local circle tracks and his string of Hudsons.

I think that for the most part they are more popular with the restorer types than the custom car or hot rod guys, at least that seems to be the case in this area. There are a lot of pretty decent restored Hudsons floating around but only a couple that are customs.

 

I just found this on ebay, and can't belive it. This was my uncles car, it now is owned by
my cusin, I tought he would NEVER sell the car.

Heres a link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Othe...9827569?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item27b7f231f1

This is an amazing car!

 

Needless to say I love Hudson Automobiles. That's why I own three. I have to add that the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club and its members are wonderful. I've been a member for over 34 years.

 

i'm a huge fan of them, i love the trucks the most, hudson made some of the best looking trucks in the world.

 

I'm a big fan of the Hudsons and there great achievements in the early Grand National Series (NASCAR). I had to own one and now I do there is nothing I enjoy more than cruising in it. Way ahead of there time is an understatement.Photo from last weekend. By the way yes I know it's a Super Wasp not a Hornet. Beggars can't be choosers.The Model A is my wife's, Olds Powered.

 

A Hudson Hornet coupe with Twin-H has to be considered the first American Muscle Car.
I terrible shot of my '54 Hornet Gasser I built in '66.

 

Have no idea where I got this photo. I did not take it myself. Found it in my album today and scanned it to share with all y'all.

This is Jack Clifford's '54 Hornet coupe apparently in the pits at an unknown drag strip but most likely southern California in the mid-1960s.

 

I have a 52 die cast but I can still remember my dad
trading a 50 Packard for a new 51 Hornet, I can remember
how that car sounded going from Grapevine Tx to Sherman, I was
10 at the time... never owned one but always wanted to.

 

this is my wasp:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

and my hornet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQzAmRcFME8

 

Here's my neglected 53 Hornet. I've been reading the HAMB for the last few days and got inspired to de-tarp it, pull it forward a few feet, clean off the driveway, and do some other preps for (HOPEFULLY) working on it some in 2013.

I've had this one since about 1985. Towed it on its own wheels ~500 miles back from central Florida. By 1990 it was about 90% mechanically restored and ~50% cosmetically restored. I drove it daily for several years. Then about 1995 gas got expensive, and I drove it less and less. As I drove it less, it gradually got where it ran worse and worse. After sitting like that several years, in about 2000 I dug into it a little. I pulled the head and found out one of the carbs plugged up, resulting in a burned valve. I oiled the cylinders and left it that way (under my carport) for a week and came back to find the cylinders flash-rusted. AARRRGGGHHH!!! It's sat under a tarp in my back yard ever since. Now the engine's frozen solid, so it's going to take some serious work to get it back in shape.

The car is a perfect candidate for a resto-rod. Fingers crossed that I can get that on track in 2013...

 

Sincerely AWESOME '53, man. Don't beat yourself up; you kept this sweet Hornet in BEAUTIFUL, resto or customizing shape! As I said earlier in the thread, Huds are often mistaken for chopped Mercs. So, many Hudsonados maintain that the step-down doesn't even NEED a chop. With the usual stuff, plus the right wheels and tires, this would be practically an automatic, instant custom! I wish I could switch places with ya, bro!

 

Here's mine, I have no plans on chopping it but I will be lowering it some.

 

Don't see the point in Chopping a Stepdown . That's the point of the original design ...The stock appearance and the narrow glass side line has the look already ...I did lower my Hornet ,rides great and killer look.....

 

I was a mechanic for an owner of an Oval Racer Hudson with a built up 308 inline flat head six. Even after the introduction of some famously fast V-8's his car still won many first place Heat, Semi-Final and Final trophies. It was still running and winning in 1959 in the southern California area.
Normbc9

 

great looking wheel for sure...

 

Because, if done right, they look amazing with a little off the top. Stepdowns don't need much to clean up the lines. They ARE pretty low from the factory, but a 2 inch chop makes them look just RIGHT!





Mine's got a 2 inch chop, and Dave's is 2.5 inches if I remember correctly...

 

The first time I ever saw a Hudson coupe in person I was maybe 16 or so, at a pre-73 car show with my dad around 1983. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I said "what is THAT?" Dad told me it was a Hudson and the very first thing I said was it looks better than all the custom Mercs. Then I asked him why there weren't more of them because they were the sh&t and he said they just weren't considered cool when he was a kid but he had no idea why and he knew they were badass cars (his words) but just considered dorky. sometimes public opinion is just hard to figure out, I guess. I would have been blown away when those things came out in 1948 and I can't imagine why everyone else didn't as well?

 

Unbelievable but they did not go over with the public when introduced in 1948. Everyone else (except Studebaker and Kaiser) was peddling warmed over prewar cars, compared to a 48 Ford they looked like a space rocket. Even Cadillac looked like a horse and buggy compared to the new Hudson. But they did not sell.

 

Not true. What screwed the Hudson Motor Car Company was the damn Hudson Jet! They spent HUGE $$$ developing that car, and it was just a two-year flop. Great car, but the wrong business decision. That money could've been used to build a V-8 AND a new Six. There were drawings for cars into the 1960 model year back in 1954.

Did you know the Ford 300 ci straight Six was designed by Hudson engineers to replace the 308??? Once the mereger with Nash occurred in 1954, the designers took their design with them to Ford after they quit the new AMC. This became the 300 Six later on.

 

Hey there, Patrick and Rusty. GREAT input from COMMITTED Hudson lovers, guys! I'd surely LOVE to see those later Hudson concept drawings that ACTUALLY were envisioned by Hudson stylists! Can you help here?

 

Possibly. There are a couple of serious Hudson guys in PA that have some of this info, I'll see if I can't get more specifics. I had heard about that at the HET Nationals in 2002 when it was held in Wichita, KS.