Hudson Motor Car Company
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Hudson Six-40, 1914 |
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1917 Hudson Phaeton |
The
Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson brand
automobiles in
Detroit, Michigan, from
1909 to
1957.
The name "Hudson" came from
J.L. Hudson, a Detroit department store entrepreneur and founder of
Hudson's Department Store, who provided the necessary capital. One of the chief "car men" of the early company was Roy Chapin, Sr, a young executive who had worked with Ransom E. Olds. (Chapin's son, Roy Jr, would later be president of Hudson-Nash descendant American Motors Corp. in the 1960's.)
The company had a number of firsts for the auto industry, these included dual
brakes, the use of a steering-column mounted transmission shift lever (1939), the use of dashboard oil-pressure and generator warning lights, and the first balanced
crankshaft, which allowed the Hudson
straight-6 engine, dubbed the "Super Six" (1916), to work at a higher rotational speed while remaining smooth, developing more power than lower-revving engines. Most Hudsons until 1957 had straight-6 engines. The dual brake system used a secondary mechanical system which activated the rear brakes when the pedal travelled beyond the normal reach of the primary system; a mechanical emergency brake was also used. Hudsons also used an oil bath and cork clutch mechanism which proved to be as durable as it was smooth.
At its peak in
1929, 300,000 cars were produced in one year (Hudson and Essex combined), including contributions from Hudson's other factories in
Belgium and
England. Hudson was the third largest U.S. car maker that year, after
Ford Motor Company and
Chevrolet.[
1]
Essex & Terraplane
In
1919 Hudson introduced the
Essex brand line of automobiles; the line was originally for budget minded buyers, designed to compete with
Ford and
Chevrolet, as opposed to the more up-scale Hudson line. The Essex found great success by offering one of the first affordable cars with an enclosed passenger compartment.
In 1932 Hudson bagan the process of phasing out its Essex nameplate for the modern
Terraplane brand name. For 1932 and 1933 the restyled cars were named Essex-Terraplane; from 1934 then as Terraplane, until 1938 when the name returned to Hudson. Hudson also began assembling cars in Canada, contracting Canada Top and Body to build the cars in their Tilbury, Ontario, plant.
An optional accessory on some 1933 Terraplane models was a steering column-mounted electric gear shift lever, known as the
Electric Hand, manufactured by the Bendix Corporation. This took the place of the floor-mounted shift lever, but was activated by similar clutch actions.
In 1936, Hudson revamped its cars, introducing a new "radial safety control" / "rhythmic ride" suspension which suspended the live
front axle from two steel bars, as well as from leaf springs. Doing this allowed the use of longer, softer
leaf springs ("rhythmic ride"), and prevented bumps and braking from moving the car off course. The 1936 Hudsons were also considerably larger inside than competitive cars - Hudson claimed a 145 cubic foot interior, comparing it to 121 feet in the "largest of other popular cars." (According to
EPA measurements, the cavernous
Chrysler LHS only reached 126 cubic feet.) With the optional bulging trunk lid, the Hudsons could store 21 cubic feet of luggage (the LHS, 19), though that might have been an optimistic measurement. The 1936 engines were powerful for the time, from 93 to 124 hp. The 1939 models introduced the first use of a column-mounted gearshift leverby an American mass-produced car. This freed front-seat passenger space and remained the industry standard through the 1960's, when "bucket seats" came into vogue.
Hudson ceased auto production from
1942 until
1945 in order to manufacture war materials during
World War II, including aircraft parts and naval engines, and anti-aircraft guns. The Hudson "Invader" engine powered many of the landing craft used on the D-Day, June 6th, 1944 invasion of Normandy.
In 1948 the company launched their "step-down" bodies, which lasted through the
1954 model year. The term step-down referred to Hudson's placement of the passenger compartment down into the perimeter of the frame; riders stepped down into a floor that was surrounded by the perimeter of the car's frame. The result was not only a safer car, and greater passenger comfort as well, but, through a lower center of gravity, an extremely well-handling car. In time almost all automakers would embrace it as a means of building bodies. Automotive writer and authority
Richard Langworth has written glowingly of the early step-down models stating that "they're one of greatest" autos of the era in articles for Consumer Guide and Collectible Automobile.
Hudson's strong, light-weight bodies, combined with its high-torque six-cylinder engine technology made the company's 1951-1954
Hornet an
auto racing Champion, dominating
NASCAR in 1951, 1952, 1953, & 1954. Some NASCAR records set by Hudson in the 1950's (
eg consecutive wins in one racing season) still stand even today. Later, these cars met with some success in
drag racing, where their high
power-to-weight ratio worked to their advantage. Hudsons enjoyed success both in NHRA (National Hot Rod Assoc.) trials and local dirt track events well into the 1960's. (Today, Hudsons continue to set top-speed records in their class at the Bonneville, Utah Salt Flats.)
Like many other smaller North American auto manufacturers, Hudson found it increasingly difficult to compete with the Big Three (
Ford,
GM and
Chrysler) during the
1950s. Those large companies could afford constant development and styling changes, so that their cars looked fresh every year (even if less changed beneath the surface), whereas the smaller manufacturers could only afford gradual change. Hudson's once innovative "step-down" unit body construction, while sturdy and innovative, also made restyling complex and expensive. After the company's ill-fated Jet compact car line failed to capture buyers in its second straight year, Hudson was "acquired" by Nash Kelvinator (Makers of
Nash and
Rambler automobiles in 1954.
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1955 Hudson Wasp Custom Hollywood hardtop. |
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Hudson dealer catalog featuring the "V-line"-styled 1956 Hudson Hornet Custom Hollywood, designed by Richard Arbib. |
On
January 14,
1954, Hudson merged with
Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to become
American Motors. The Hudson factory in
Detroit,
Michigan was converted to military contract production at the end of the model year, and the remaining three years of Hudson production took place in
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
For 1955, both Hudson and Nash senior models were built on a common body shell using styling themes by
Pinin Farina,
Edmund Anderson and
Frank Spring. (Common-body shell production for competing makes of automobiles was a manufacturing technique used by the Big Three for decades.) Hudson dealers also sold Rambler and Metropolitan models under the Hudson brand, and Ramblers sold by Hudson dealers were badged as Hudson vehicles and received "H" symbols on fuel filler caps (and, in 1956, also on hubcaps).
For 1956, design of the senior Hudsons was given over to designer
Richard Arbib, which resulted in the "V-Line" styling motif, a combination of "V" motifs that carried Hudson's triangular corporate logo theme. Sales figures fell below 1955 figures. For 1957, Hudson dropped the shorter-wheelbased Wasp line, selling only the Hornet Custom and Super, which featured a lowered profile and slightly updated styling.
With a wider front track than Nash used, Hudson was the better handling car, and was powered by the famed 308 in³ Hornet Six with the optional high-compression cylinder head and dual-carburetor manifold ("Twin-H Power"). The Wasp used the 202 in³ L-head Jet Six engine and this model (in sedan version) was Hudson's top seller. For 1955, for the first time Hudson offered a V8 engine, a 320 in³ powerplant rated at 208 hp and built for Hudson and Nash by
Packard.
In 1955 and 1956, Rambler and Metropolitan models were sold under the Hudson brand, and Ramblers sold by Hudson dealers received "H" symbols on their fuel filler caps and also (in 1956 only) on the wheel covers.
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Studio styling mock-up of the proposed design for the 1958 Hudson Hornet. |
The last Hudson rolled off the Kenosha assembly line on
June 25,
1957. There were no ceremonies, because at that point there was still hope of continuing the Hudson and Nash names into the 1958 model year on the Rambler chassis as deluxe, longer-wheelbased senior models. One major trade magazine said that rumors of discontinuance were false and that the 1958 Hudsons and Nashes "would be big and smart".
Factory styling photographs show designs for a 1958 Hudson (and Nash) line based on a longer-wheelbase 1958 Rambler. Front-end prototype photos show separate Hudson and Nash styling themes.
AMC President
George W. Romney came to the conclusion that neither Hudson or Nash as brand names had as much positive market recognition as the successful
Rambler. The decision to retire the Hudson (and Nash) brand names came so quickly that preproduction photographs of the eventual 1958 Rambler Ambassador show both Nash and Hudson badged and trimmed versions of the car.
Eventually, however, the Hudson design was chosen for the 1958 Rambler Ambassador. Hudson fans will note the triangular grille guard and 1957-like fender "gunsights" and the fast-selling 1958 Rambler Customs wore 1957 Hudson-styled front-fender trim.
In 1970
American Motors Corporation (AMC) revived the "Hornet" model name for its new series of compact cars.
In 2006,
Pixar featured the
Fabulous Hudson Hornet as "
Doc Hudson," a retired racing car, in its animated feature
Cars (film).
*
List of automobile manufacturers*
Terraplane*
Essex*
Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club*
Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Historical Society*
Hudson group on msn.com*
The final Hudsons (1955-1957) *
Hudson page on allpar.com with 1936 details*
How J.L. Hudson changed the way we shop
