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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsWhat Happened to Hudson?
Scrappy and innovative, Hudson was once America’s third biggest automaker. We look back on the history of Hudson and some of its classic cars.
Punching Above Its Weight
More than a hundred years on from the advent of the automobile age, it is easy to forget those heady days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when everyone and his brother with a moderate fortune or some engineering know-how was starting their own car company. Like the Silicon Valley dot com craze of a century later, the US, Britain, and Continental Europe were brimming with hundreds of start-ups eager to capitalize on the revolution in transportation. While companies like Ford, Studebaker, and Willys-Overland shot to an early (and sizeable) lead, the market was still highly competitive.
It was out of this milieu that the Hudson Motor Car Company was founded in Detroit in 1909. A group of eight local businessmen, including Roy D. Chapin and Howard Coffin who had worked for Olds Motor Works, came together to form the new company. Much of the initial funding for the venture (and the company’s name) came from Detroit department store entrepreneur, Joseph L Hudson.
Early Success
The primary goal for Hudson was affordability. Their first car, the Hudson Twenty, debuted in 1910 and sold for $1,000 dollars. At the time, the price was competitive with Ford’s then new Model T, which sold for around $900. The combination of affordability and quality (a long-running hallmark of Hudson) was an instant success, with just over 4,500 sales that initial year. That figure made Hudson the 17th largest carmaker in the US in 1910.
Innovations
Hudson was an innovative company, introducing during 1910s and 20s many features still common to cars today. At a time when many cars more closely resembled horse-drawn carriages than modern cars, Hudson was one of a minority of carmakers that offered closed cabins. They also moved the steering column to the left side of the car and positioned hand leavers to the right. Hudson’s “Super Six” straight-six engine arrived in 1913 with the first ever balanced crankshaft which smoothed operation and allowed for a higher rev range.
Essex, Terraplane, Hudson 112
The Essex line, debuting in 1919, was intended to compete with Ford’s and Chevrolet’s cheaper offerings. As those larger companies scaled, they were increasingly able to offer vehicles at a lower price. For instance, the price of a Ford Model T was down to $500 in 1919. The Essex’s affordability play was a success and helped Hudson climb, by 1929, to third place among American car companies with 300,000 cars built that year.
Hudson transitioned the Essex brand into the new Terraplane line, even getting Amelia Earhart to help in promoting the launch of the new brand in 1932. The lower priced Terraplane brand helped keep Hudson afloat through the Great Depression, until it was folded back into the Hudson name with the Hudson 112 in 1938.
Straight Eight and Drive-Master
The V8 engine was in vogue in the 1930s, with powerful V8s from Ford and Cadillac acting as major sales drivers for those companies. Meanwhile, Hudson introduced their new straight-eight in 1930, replacing their Super-six. The Hudson eight-cylinder was slightly smaller than Ford’s 1932 Flathead V8, at 213.5 cu-in, but more powerful with 80 horsepower compared to the Ford’s 65 horsepower. However, Hudson’s cars were big. The company prided itself on offering large cars with roomy interiors. But that also meant their cars were heavy. The 32 Ford V8 was a svelte 2,200 lbs while most of Hudson’s lineup was averaging over 3,000 lbs. Today, many attribute Hudson’s comparative lack of market share in the 1930s and 40s to not having a V8 in their cars.
Even without a V8, Hudson did continue to innovate through the 1930s and 40s. Their “rhythmic ride” long leaf spring suspension from 1936 offered a smoother ride compared to most cars at the time. The further improvement of a fully independent front suspension arrived in 1940. In response to GM’s Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, Hudson developed their own in 1942. The Drive-Master transmission could operate as a full manual, automatic, or a manual with an automatic clutch. The Drive-Master was offered on Hudson vehicles through 1950, but when GM began allowing other manufacturers to buy their Hydra-Matic transmissions, Hudson made the switch.
Post War Highs and Lows
Like other US automakers, Hudson converted to making vehicles and other components for the war effort during WWII. Hudson produced airplane parts, engines, munitions, and even the Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon.
Hudson’s first major design after the war was their new “step-down” bodies. The step-down recessed the car’s floor pan, lowering the center of gravity (and thereby improving handling) and increasing rigidity. Not only did handling improve, but safety did as well as it put the frame rails outside of the passenger compartment. The design would also prove advantageous for Hudson’s racing cars as the frame rail also enclosed the rear wheel well, protecting it in the racing rough and tumble as car’s jockeyed for position.
This brings us to the most famous of Hudson’s vehicles, the Hornet. Debuting in 1951, the Hudson Hornet was a great looking car. A smooth, aerodynamic design, robust body, and big chrome grille had the Hornet fitting right in with the latest trendy designs from the Big Three. The Hornet also proved to be an excellent stock car. It dominated NASCAR from 1951 through 54 and saw success in AAA Contest Board races, the NHRA trials, and early Southern 500 races.
Merger with Nash-Kelvinator
All those Sunday wins did not produce enough Monday sales to keep Hudson competitive with Detroit’s ever burgeoning Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler). Heated competition between those companies was putting increasing pressure on smaller carmakers like Hudson during the early 1950s. Major year-by-year changes for Big Three models came to be expected by fickle car buyers. Something next to impossible for a smaller company like Hudson to keep pace with.
With the company on the brink, executives looked to another struggling automaker, Nash-Kelvinator, to help them remain competitive. At the time, May 1954 merger between Hudson and Nash-Kelvinator was the largest in US history and formed the new American Motors Corporation aka AMC.
Production was moved from Detroit to the Nash plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The company went about phasing out production of Hudson models for the more popular and profitable Rambler and Metropolitan. But because the Hudson name was still indicative of quality in the minds of car buyers, AMC rebadged Ramblers and Metropolitans as Hudsons. By the mid-1950s, it was clear the Nash and Hudson brands had lost their shine with the public. In 1957, AMC President George Romney officially killed off both brands.
Hudson’s story, however, is not one of failing to beat Detroit’s behemoths at their own game. Instead, Hudson’s legacy is one of innovation with many beautiful, fast, and compelling cars created over five decades. Plus, though Hudson died off, the legendary Hornet name has lived on. Appearing first as the compact AMC Hornet back in the 1970s and now as the new Dodge Hornet crossover.
Loved the Hudsons of the 50;s,
Nice words. Thanks.
My father had a 51 and a 54. They were built like tanks.
I’ve had many Hudsons over the years. My last a 47 Commodore 8 convertible, my daughter a 51 Hornet.. Their splash feed lube system was a DISASTER and poured babbit crank shaft bearings they stuck with it till the early 50s! The Mighty Hornet with the 308/6 had a tendency to crack the motors in the valve chambers. So many mistakes and the people have either forgotten their quality problems or choose not to remember.