Mike WA your Hudson car

Our last post got shut down, can you devulge more on the hudson??? Is it a 308 twin H or Hollywood convertibe??

ME TOO!Mike, i would love to hear about it, or see it. I had a 1952 Hudson Wasp, with a 6 cyl flathead engine, they had printed on the air cleaner Twin H. The guy I sold it to, put it on the dirt oval at Pittsfield Il.Now that's remembering, a looooong way back!

Just got a Jeep Compass for my wife, really nice vehicle. But the dealer has a 1948 Packard he took in on trade. Two tone gray metallic, and looks just about like it came out of the showroom. Now that's a car. Big old flathead straight eight about 8 feet long and a hood to match. Maybe when I make my second million I'll talk him out of it.

I remember working in a Humble filling station (Exxon today) when I was a kid for 50 cents an hour. Had a couple of Hudsons come in. Really smooth running, sleek cars. As I recall you had to step down into them. The floorboards were lower than the door sill.

Then one day a guy came in with a Packard 2 door hard top and had a tire problem. I jacked the rear up and fixed the tire. I then let it down and the rear stayed in the air a good bit and the front was much lower than it was when I started.

I was scratching my head and looking at it when I happen to see the owner standing in the door (like he always did) having a big laugh. He called me over and told me that it had a air bag torsion system whereby you could do this and that with the suspension. Phew. I thought I had really done something wrong.

On the owner in the door, once upon a time I went to get a customer on the tricycle Harley we had.....the one with the box on the back like the Metropolitan Police had in large cities.

I didn't see anything wrong with it. I went to his motel, got off, motioned him on the box behind where I sat, got on and away we went. Both enjoyed it......but the boss went ballistic and as I was driving in the place, his index finger was pointing at me in a "get your #$% over here" motion and he had a real bad look on his face.

Needless to say, I kept my job but took the p/u after that.

Mark

Ohmygosh! I saw the word Hudson and just had to check it out. Ralph, did your Wasp have two carburetors? I knew a man who had one and I was thinking it had two carbs. Nice little car.
I hadn't thought of this in a long time, but in 1957 I had just finished school, got a job and was looking for a car. Found a used car lot that had two Hudson Hornets, both needed a little TLC, priced at something like $500. And I let my Dad talk me out of buying them.

Would any of you be interested in a Comodore 8 or Super 8? Not sure which it is, have not seen it in while. Complete car, owner would sell very reasonable. Not my car but can put you in contact with owner.

Yes Shadetree Ret. It had two single barrel carbs, and an oval air cleaner to cover them. I was an 18 yr old farm boy, and didn't take care of it. I cut a corner too close coming out of a parking lot, hit a tall concrete curbing, and put the fan thru the radiator. front end looked ok, but foated back enough to ruin the radiator. It was a very powerful auto for those days, and only 5 yrs old when I got it. Yellow bottom, and dk green roof, 2 door. The man who ran the Texico station in Milton Il. (Lee Hess), bought it from me, put a new radiator, and fan on it, and used it at Pittsfield Raceway. They liked those Buick's and Hudsons on the dirt tracks, in those days. 1957

Its a '48 coupe, customized in the early '50's- sectioned 4 inches, frenched headlights, '51 Hornet 308 twin H engine, etc. Have pics on my office computer, but not here- will post some when I'm there later this morning.

I'd love to see the pics as well...

The first family car I can remember well--Dad was a car dealer, so prior to this we didn't keep any one car for very long--was a '52 Wasp Hollywood 2-door hardtop. Dad was a Hudson dealer in a small town, and he was friends with the major dealer in Louisville. When the fledgling AMC dropped the Hudson name after the '57 model year, Hudson prices dropped like a rock, too. So in '58 Dad bought this 6-year-old Wasp hardtop from the Louisville dealer for $250...and there wasn't a single flaw in it!

That was our family car until 1964, when Dad bought a '62 International Travelall station wagon. [He said that, when HE bought a station wagon that SOB better have some material in it; 250,000 miles later, I think he got what he paid for.]

Email me at mmittge at compprime dot com with contact info and location, and I'll put it on the Hudson board.

Here ya go. Color combo and all looks pretty dated, but just as in tractors, custom cars "are only original once." I have been threatened with grievous bodily harm if I repaint it. But that thing would sure look better in candy black cherry. . .

Main modification was that the car was "sectioned"- that is, a 4 inch horizontal slice taken out of the car, which makes it sit 4 inches lower. A very complicated procedure, especially in the days of hacksaws, acetylene torches and body lead. Downside- top and steering wheel are 4 inches lower in relation to the seat, making for a tight fit, esp. for a more robust gentleman such as myself; and hood is 4 inches lower in relation to the engine- so they had to put a hump in the hood so the carburetors would clear.

Final photo is the builder and his family, "back in the day" (would have been about 1954 or 55). It had a '55 Ford grill then, but a later owner put in the present one, which is from a '59 Chrysler Imperial.

I always thought that sectioning a car looked like a whole lot of work, but it does give the car a very different look from stock. Your Hudson looks like whoever did it did a great job.

Hudsons were not light cars to begin with. And as you mentioned, a lot of lead was used to smooth joints. Any idea of how much the completed car weighs. Some of the "lead sleds" were amazingly heavy.

If the steering wheel position is too much of a problem to you as is, you might want to consider putting in an aftermarket column from the street rod industry. I would guess that with a custom column and a couple of universal joints, that you could make the car a lot handier to drive. But then it would not be "as originally customized" either.

The Hornet 308 was a powerful engine for its time. I am really glad to see one in your Custom Hudson. Is it a stick transmission or was a later Hydromatic added?

Really neat car! Cherish it.