Hudson's 100th Birthday

1954 Hudson Hornet

HUDSON’S 100TH BIRTHDAY
Gone But Not Forgotten
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com

Bill Chapin and I have something in common. We’re both hosting our family reunions this weekend. His, though, is way more auspicious than mine. Bill is the grandson of Roy Chapin, who co founded the Hudson Car Company in 1909 along with the department store mogul Mr. Hudson. And he is the son of Roy Chapin, Jr. who presided over American Motors Corporation, which included Hudson, Kelvinator and other industrial entities, during its hay day. This week Bill is presiding over, not only about 75 Chapins, but another couple thousand Hudson, Essex and Terraplane enthusiasts who have gathered here in suburban Detroit to celebrate Hudson’s 100th anniversary.

The first Hudson was built for sale in July of 1909, though it was called a 1910 model. A variety of body styles were sold and in the second year of production Hudson was the seventh largest automaker in the US – quite an achievement in those early days of the auto business. The last Hudson was built in October of 1954 as the company was finding it could no longer stay afloat independently. The cars and trucks built during that nearly half century speak volumes about the people, the places and the culture that made this country, and the US auto industry, great.

Storied names in the Hudson family of cars and trucks include Terraplane, Essex, Dover, Railton, Jet, Hornet, and Wasp. Some folks quipped in the fifties that you had to be careful going to a Hudson dealership because you might get stung by a wasp or a hornet.

Here are just a few of the cars I found in the parking lot:

The unusual 1930 Dover Mail Truck, built on an Essex chassis, was one of the first of the short-lived commercial vehicles built by Hudson.

A 1938 Super Terraplane convertible built especially for some rich guy in Zimbabwe, South Africa. This rough but ready, unrestored, open-air four seater sported a custom body with distinct Hudson queues.

A bright red 1953 Hudson Jet convertible - essentially a sporty Hornet on a shortened chassis. This Jet convertible is reputed to be one-of-a-kind as they planned to market the car but canceled it after this one was built.

And how about those wonderful, right-hand drive British Railtons, built on a British Hudson chassis? Dave Lanning of Florida brought his beautiful, four-place Railton roadster that he drives regularly. This is not a ‘trailer-queen,’ he insists. Railtons are rare and unusual since they were all custom bodied with no two alike. And, few made it to the US. Dave, a purely American fellow, fell in love with the Railton after seeing a picture of one with all four wheels off the ground in a British race. (See Southern Florida Classic Car Club of America newsletter for the full story.) Also in his garage back in Florida is a rare 1931 Hudson Boattail Speedster.

Another rare species, the spectacular Hudson Italia – actually two of them – were on display. A big, ugly, faded-yellow X161 one-of-a-kind, four-door prototype built on a full-size Hornet chassis hung out in the shade right next to the lovely, yellow two-door Italia, built on the compact (for the day) Hudson Jet platform. How the ugly one morphed into the sexy little thing is hard to fathom. Only 26 Italias were built and few survive.

Scattered among the restored and unrestored Hudson were a few customized and street rodded versions. My favorite belonged to Richard Darrin who kept his 1930 looking mostly stock but changed a lot of features underneath to make it roadworthy. His poor wife had broken her arm before a road trip so he created an armrest between the seats that looked like it belonged. He couldn’t find taillights so made some out of the original cowl lights. The luggage rack on the rear conflicted with the gas filler neck so he installed heavy-duty drawer sliders to move it out of the way then back into position. And it still looked like a pure Hudson.

Also in evidence were lots of unrestored cars. Some were being driven while awaiting restoration but one of the best, I thought, was a project car for sale – a rare 1916 Center Door Touring Sedan.

Famous cars on display include a sexy black roadster that was owned and driven by Roy Chapin his own self, a big, a massive, black ’48

Hudson Commodore 8 Derham Limousine owned by the widow Chapin, a ’53 Hornet reproduced by Jack Miller to replicate the NASCAR racers that dominated stock car racing for many years in the early 50s, and at least two Great Race competitors.

A few 1930s Hudson’s and Terraplanes sported beautiful hood ornaments. This one is from a sleek, black ’30 Hudson Super 6 limo.

Perhaps the prettiest (in the best feminine sense) Hudson was this soft-white, 1930 rumble seat coupe, powered by Hudson’s first V8 engine making 80 horsepower, owned by Chuck and Donna Bogaard who brought it all the way from Leighton, Iowa. Each time I passed this lovely coupe it was surrounded by admiring photographers.

Before leaving I was fortunate to find Hudson celebrity, Jack Miller, signing his most recent book. Jack still runs the only remaining Hudson dealership in the US in the Old Town area of Ypsilanti, Michigan. He’s not as physically spry as he once was but he is as sharp as ever and a bottomless repository of Hudson lore. His book, called Total Domination, published by Twin H-Publishing of Ypsilanti, is a treasure of Hudson’s amazing racing history of the early 50s with photographs and documents illustrating what was essentially Hudson’s swan song.