| Hudson Motor Car Company |
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| companies established in 1909 | |
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| defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the united states | |
| motor vehicle manufacturers based in michigan | |
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The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson brand Automobile s 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 . The company had a number of 'firsts' for the auto industry. These included the '' Automobile Self Starter '', dual Brake s, the use of dashboard oil-pressure and generator warning lights, and the first balanced Crankshaft , which allowed the Hudson Straight-6 engine 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 reservoir which was activated when the pedal travelled beyond the normal reach of the primary system, so was automatically called into play; a mechanical emergency brake was also used. Hudson's 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 and Chevrolet . {Link without Title} Essex & Terraplane In 1919 Hudson introduced the Essex brand line of automobiles; the line originally was Hudson's line for budget minded auto 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 line of cars was folded back into the Hudson brand name. 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. This took the place of the floor-mounted shift lever, but was activated by similar clutch actions. 1936-1942 In 1936, Hudson revamped its cars thoroughly, 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 let them use 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. Hudson ceased auto production from 1942 until 1945 in order to manufacture war materials during World War II , including aircraft parts and naval engines. 1946 - 1954 After the war, Hudson initially did quite well. In 1948 the company luanched 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 unto a floor that was surrounded by the perimeter of the car's frame. The result was not only a safer car, but greater passenger comfort as well, and 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 six-cylinder engine technology made the company's 1951-1954 Hornet a Auto Racing Champion, dominating NASCAR in 1951, 1952 and 1953. Later, these cars met with some success in Drag Racing , where their high Power-to-weight Ratio worked to their advantage. 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. 1954-1957 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. 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, fielding 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 360 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. 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. Sharp-eyed Hudson fans will note the triangular grille guard and 1957-like fender "gunsights". And the fast-selling 1958 Rambler Customs all wore 1957 Hudson-styled front-fender trim. In 1970 American Motors revived the familiar Hudson model name of "Hornet" in the for its new series of compact cars. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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