The Hudson Motor Car Company, incorporated in February 1909, was named for J.L. Hudson, founder of the venerable Hudson's department store chain, which first opened in Detroit back in 1881. Hudson's niece was married to one of the fledgling automaker's founders, Roscoe Jackson, who persuaded his wife's uncle to put up a substantial portion of the new company's starting capital. Jackson and his partners, Roy Chapin, Howard Coffin, and Charles Denham, were former Oldsmobile executives, who launched their own company to build a car in the $1,000 price class. This was a great deal of money in 1909 -- several hundred dollars more than a contemporary Oldsmobile -- but it was still within the reach of middle-class buyers.

Hudson launched its first car, the Hudson Twenty, later that year. The new company was quite successful, particularly after it introduced its famous Super Six, a six-cylinder car that enjoyed a lively racing career. Sales really took off with the introduction of a new low-price model, the four-cylinder Essex, in 1919. Essex is most famous today for the 1922 Essex Coach, built for Hudson by Briggs. This was the first popularly priced closed sedan on the American market, by 1924 selling for a few dollars less than the open touring car. Up until that point, closed cars were too expensive for many buyers, but the Essex Coach led a sea change in the market. By 1929, open cars accounted for only about 10% of U.S. auto sales.

Thanks to the success of the Essex, Hudson reached number three in domestic sales by the late twenties, hitting an all-time high of over 300,000 sales in calendar year 1929. It was successful enough to propel chairman Roy Chapin to an appointment as President Herbert Hoover's Secretary of Commerce.

As with many automakers, Hudson was hard hit by the Crash. Its 1930 sales plummeted to just under 114,000 sales, then to under 57,000 the following year. Even with the introduction of a new low-price brand, Terraplane, to replace Essex, Hudson struggled. Chapin returned in early 1933, managing to boost sales back over the 100,000 mark by 1935. The cost was high; Chapin died of a heart attack in February 1936, only 56 years old. His successor was the conservative A.E. Barit, who had risen through the Hudson ranks as an accountant.

Hudson sales dropped again in 1938, perhaps because of the elimination of the Terraplane brand, but Barit managed to keep the company moderately profitable, and to pay off long-term debt incurred under Chapin. Still, the company lost money again in 1941, and its fortunes didn't improve dramatically until America's entry into World War 2. The war brought Hudson a number of lucrative government contracts, which allowed the company to face the postwar years with more optimism. Still, Hudson's profits remained far below their twenties peak.

In September 1931, Hudson hired its first in-house styling chief, Frank Spring. Automotive stylists of the thirties and forties tended to be colorful figures, and Spring was no exception. He and his wife Clara were fitness and health enthusiasts, and they were vegetarians well before it became fashionable. Spring practiced yoga and studied Asian philosophy, although he was an engineer by training, and had a deep love of machinery, particularly motorcycles.

Spring and his assistant, Arthur ("Kib") Kibiger were the principal impetus behind what later became known as the "Step-Down" Hudsons. Like the designers of other automakers, their primary focus during the war years was on military work, but they continued to develop automotive designs in their spare time, generally without any strict timetable or production plans. The result was a series of "Project 5" designs, some of which had quite radical configurations, including both front-wheel-drive and rear-engine variations.

Spring and his staff shared a strong interest in the advanced European cars of the thirties. Stylist Bob Andrews recalled that Spring had a big wooden box full of brochures for prewar European models. One of the designers' favorites was the Czechoslovakian Tatra T87, a remarkable streamlined, rear-engine car, powered by an air-cooled OHC V8. With its aerodynamic shape, monocoque construction, independent suspension, and magnesium-alloy engine, the Tatra was extremely advanced for its era. (Click here for an episode of Jay Leno's Garage talking about the T87.) Many of Kibiger's Project 5 cars were directly inspired by the Tatra, including a prototype with a mid-mounted, air-cooled flat six.


A Tatra T87. The streamlined, V8-powered T87, designed by Doctor Hans Ledwinka and built from 1936 to 1950, influenced several postwar cars, including the Step-Down Hudsons and the Tucker. Its high-speed handling had such a diabolical reputation that during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Nazi officers were eventually forbidden to drive them! The 1936 Tatra T97, which was conceptually similar, but powered by a flat-four engine, was a strong influence on the Volkswagen Beetle, so much so that Tatra sued Volkswagen designer Ferdinand Porsche. After the war, VW and Tatra eventually settled out of court for 3 million DM (about $715,000).  (Photo © 2006 Brian Lenk; used by permission)

While the more radical ideas were ruled out for production on cost grounds, Spring and Kibiger pushed strongly for Hudson's postwar cars to use unit construction. Although Lancia had first developed unibody construction for automobiles in 1919, it was slow to catch on, particularly in America. Chrysler and Ford had dabbled with semi-unitary designs (essentially standard frames with a bridge-and-truss arrangement of vertical members) with the Airflow and Lincoln Zephyr, but most other American cars still used cheaper body-on-frame construction. Eliminating the separate frame and distributing structural loads throughout the body had many potential advantages, but it was also expensive and complex.

At Ford or Chrysler, Spring's push for unibody construction would have been roundly ignored, but he and his designers had good relationships with Hudson's engineers, including chief body engineer Carl Cenzer. Cenzer had become heavily involved with aircraft engineering during the war, which exposed him to the latest advances in monocoque construction. Spring and Kibiger persuaded him that unitized automobiles were the wave of the future, and Cenzer in turn helped to convince chief engineer Millard Toncray. Toncray, Cenzer, and Spring eventually got A.E. Barit to go along with the plan, although not without considerable reservations.

The unibody Hudsons, which Barit ultimately approved for the 1948 model year, were primarily the work of Kibiger and stylists Bob Andrews and Bill Kirby; Hudson's styling staff was never very large. Aside from the Tatra T87, their principal stylistic inspiration was the 1942 Buick, whose sleek fastback design Spring had particularly liked. Spring told the designers that their goal was to produce a car that looked better than the Buick.

The design process caused Hudson management no end of anxiety. They had no idea what GM, Ford, and Chrysler might be planning for the postwar year, which put them in a bind. If their new cars were too conservative, they might appear immediately dated (as happened to Packard after the war), but if they were too advanced, the public might find them outlandish (as happened to Studebaker in 1947).

As the new car took shape, Frank Spring was under considerable pressure to tone it down. Andrews and Kirby, nervous that their work would end up being for nothing, came up with an unusual stratagem. Andrews drew a sketch of an imaginary, highly streamlined Buick, which he put up on his taboret where he knew Spring would see it. When Spring noticed it, Andrews told him that it was a sketch of the new Buick, obtained from a friend at GM. Andrews hoped the "Buick" sketch would strengthen Spring's resolve, which it did -- too much for Andrews' comfort. Spring immediately took the sketch to Barit, who called an emergency meeting of the board. The board called Andrews in and asked him to explain again where the sketch had come from. Terrified, he hesitantly repeated the lie he'd told Spring. Fortunately for Andrews, the board believed him, but for the rest of the design program, the fake Buick became a nervous inside joke between him and Kirby.

Nerve-wracking as it had been, the deception worked, and the streamlined design continued relatively unmolested. According to historians Michael Lamm and Dave Holls, Frank Spring came into the studio one day and announced, "Well, boys, I have good news for you. Management and I have decided that, as of today, we've passed the Buick."

The design that Andrews and crew developed was just over 60 inches (1,533 mm) high, the lowest in America at the time, and some five inches (127 mm) lower than some of its contemporaries. With its high beltline and low roof, it looked like it had been "chopped" by the new California custom shops. It also looked thoroughly aerodynamic, which it was, to a point. According to wind tunnel tests conducted by Hudson's rival Nash, it had nearly 20% less drag than contemporary notchback sedans, although it wasn't significantly better than other fastbacks, despite its lower frontal area. (It was also inferior to the Nash Ambassador, which was actually designed using wind-tunnel testing.) A.E. Barit insisted it was too low, but the press and public reaction were generally favorable.


The Hudson Pacemaker, introduced in 1950, had a 5 inch (127 mm) shorter wheelbase than the big cars, and stretched about 6 inches (154 mm) shorter overall. It's still a big car: 201.5 inches (5,118 mm) on a 119.8-inch (3,045-mm) wheelbase, weighing around 3,700 lb (1,678 kg). The external "Karvisor" windshield visor, a $21.95 accessory, is effective, but it begins to vibrate worryingly at higher speeds.

The 1948 Hudsons are best described as unitized, rather than unitary. Unlike Lancias (or later unibody cars), the Hudson did have a frame, a massive item with four longitudinal and eight transverse members, some as much as 6.8 in (173 mm) deep. (You can see detailed illustrations of the Hudson's body structure in the patent application that the company filed in 1948; click here.)

Hudson called this "Monobilt construction," although "overbuilt" would have been equally apt. From a structural standpoint, it was overkill; the perimeter frame would probably have been beefy enough to support itself even without the vertical members, and the entire structure was much thicker than it had to be. The cars ended up some 600 pounds (272 kg) heavier than their design target, and the extra bulk was readily apparent: they looked even more massive than they were. Bob Andrews recalled that Hudson engineers were very reluctant to make anything lighter. Their hesitation was understandable, because this type of construction was new territory for Hudson. The use of computers to model structural loads was still at least 20 years in the future at that point, and with cash still short, the company didn't have a lot of money for trial and error.

Although the new models were heavier than planned, they were still lighter than most of their body-on-frame rivals, by as much as 300 pounds (136 kg). They were also much stronger. Hudson claimed that Monobilt construction was twice as stiff as a conventional body-on-frame structure, which was a conservative estimate. Hudsons were almost certainly the safest cars in America, particularly in rollover accidents.

The Hudson's construction had two unusual features that earned it the "Step-Down Styling" moniker. First, the side rails of the frame were set as wide as possible, so much so that the side rails lay outside the rear wheels. Second, the floor was sunk below the top of the frame members, allowing ample headroom, despite the low roof. When getting into a Hudson, you stepped over the sill and down into the interior, an operation that could be cumbersome for the uninitiated or short of leg. Interior space was cavernous, thanks also to a two-piece driveshaft that didn't intrude much into the cabin. Hudson advertised the widest seats in the industry, and the Step-Down cars had genuine six-passenger capacity -- or even more, if you didn't mind crowding.


Although the Hudson does have small fender skirts, the outer rail of the perimeter frame is outboard of the rear wheel. The widely spaced frame allows more interior room, but it makes tire changing a hassle. Getting at the rear suspension is a chore.

The Step-Down cars had exceptional ride and handling for their era. To reduce the transmission of road shocks into the interior, both front and rear suspensions were carried on bolt-on subframes. Hudson used "aircraft-type" tubular shock absorbers, still far from universal at the time, and even British testers praised their effective damping (not usually a strong point for American cars, even today). In combination with the long wheelbase and solid body structure, Hudsons rode very well. Better still, they were surprisingly nimble. Hudson used anti-roll bars at both the front and rear, and the Step-Down cars had a wide track and a remarkably low center of gravity. Although the steering was quite slow, there was little body lean, and the big cars cornered as ably as any made in America.

The new Hudsons had reasonable straight-line performance, as well. Hudson introduced an entirely new engine for the 1948 cars, a 262 cu. in. (4.3 L) flathead straight six. It was the first Hudson engine with a pressurized oiling system; previous engines had used simple splash lubrication. It was an exceedingly durable engine, with a high chromium content in the iron blocks, smooth and reasonably quiet. It was rated a modest 121 hp (90 kW), although Hudson rated its engines with all accessories in place, rather stripped on a test stand, so it was not as far behind the 135 hp (98 kW) of Chrysler's straight eight as it appeared on paper. The upper-series Commodore could have a straight eight, as well, rated at 128 hp (96 kW), but this was a splash-lubricated engine of rather elderly design, dating back to 1932. It was actually smaller than the six, at 254 cu. in. (4.2 L). In May 1949, The Autocar clocked a Hudson Commodore 8 at 17.5 seconds 0-60 mph (0-97 kph), with a top speed of 91 mph (147 kph); six-cylinder cars were only a little slower. This was good performance for the time, a bit behind a V8 Ford, but well ahead of a Buick with Dynaflow.

Hudsons had always had a number of unusual features, many of which were carried over to the Step-Down cars. One, a Hudson trademark since 1936, was the "Duo-Automatic" brake system, a mechanical backup for the brake hydraulics. If the brake servo failed, the last few inches of pedal travel would still mechanically engage the rear brakes. Another novelty was a cork-faced wet (oil-bath) clutch, something most automakers had abandoned in favor of the simpler dry-plate clutch. A less-praiseworthy feature was the use of red warning lights in place of oil pressure and voltage gauges, something Hudson had been doing since the early thirties. At the time, many American manufacturers still provided full instrumentation, although most would follow Hudson's lead by the end of the following decade.

Hudson did not yet have a true automatic transmission, but for about $100, buyers could select Drive-Master, a semi-automatic version of the manual three-speed with overdrive. Drive-Master had three modes: normal shifting, clutchless manual shifting (with vacuum-powered automatic clutch operation), or fully automatic shifting between second and high gears. A substantial number of customers ordered it, although as with many such systems, its reliability left something to be desired.

Hudsons had never been inexpensive cars, and Monobilt construction was far from cheap to build. When the Step-Down cars appeared in 1948, the basic Super Six models were more than $450 more expensive than their 1947 predecessors, while the Commodore Eight was up over $540. That put Hudson firmly in Buick and Chrysler territory -- what today we would call the near-luxury segment. The Step-Down models were well-equipped to compete there in most respects. The Super Six had more power than Buick's smaller straight-eight, and nearly as much as Chrysler's. The Step-Downs had excellent build quality and a high standard of trim, and of course they handled better than any direct rival.


Even without the add-on window shades, rear visibility is not a strong point for Step-Down Hudsons. The outside mirror (still an optional accessory at the time) is not really big enough, and the inside rear-view mirror's usefulness is compromised by the small rear window, whose curvature causes considerable distortion.

Hudson also benefited from the booming automotive market that followed the end of World War 2. Civilian automotive production had ended in February 1942, and did not resume until after V-J Day in 1945. Unlike war-ravaged Europe and Japan, America had emerged from the conflict largely unscathed. Civilian defense workers had earned substantial wages during the war, but rationing and shortages meant there was little to buy until the war was over. Many weary prewar cars were ready for the scrap heap, and as soon as the automakers' production lines reopened, customers started queuing up to buy. Dealers were soon selling all the cars they could get their hands, on at full sticker price and more.

In this climate, the Step-Down Hudsons sold well. Hudson sold 117,200 cars in 1948, and nearly 160,000 of the unchanged '49s, enough for the company to post a $13.2 million profit. It was still not the heady days of the late twenties, but it was a definite improvement over the prewar years.

A.E. Barit knew that the seller's market wouldn't last; it was cooling rapidly by 1949. The first 1950 Hudson models were a new lower-price line called Pacemaker, with a shorter wheelbase and a smaller 232 cu. in. (3.8 L) six with 112 hp (84 kW). The Pacemaker line was priced under $2,000, still far more than a Ford or Chevy, but now competitive with an Oldsmobile Eighty Eight. The Pacemaker was no match for the Rocket Eighty-Eight in performance, but it was still respectable; in February 1950, Motor Trend clocked one at 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 15.4 seconds, with a top speed of 88 mph (142 kph). Hudson also cut prices on all other series by $100-$150, but the cheaper Pacemaker and Pacemaker Deluxe accounted for about half of Hudson's sales in 1951.

In 1949, General Motors began offering its Hydra-Matic automatic transmission to other manufacturers. Hudson, Nash, and even Lincoln opted for Hydra-Matic, which by that point was a well-proven and reasonably efficient transmission. It became available on the Hudson line in 1951, and quickly became very popular, replacing the old Drive-Master unit.

In 1951, Hudson introduced the most famous of its "Step-Down" models: the Hornet. The Hornet used the long-wheelbase body of the Super Six and Commodore, but it had a bored-and-stroked version of the big six, stretched to 308 cu. in. (5.1 L). It had 145 hp (108 kW), brightening performance considerably. A manual-shift Hornet was capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in less than 14 seconds, with a top speed of around 97 mph (156), very respectable for the time. Hydra-Matic models were only about a second slower, and nearly as fast all out.


A 1951 Pacemaker Custom two-door sedan like this one cost $2,102 to start. It was one of the least-expensive Hudsons, but it was $53 more than an Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight and only $25 less than a Buick Special, so it was hardly cheap. The Pacemaker sold well in 1950 and 1951, but by 1952, it was overshadowed by the new Wasp, which combined the Pacemaker's short-wheelbase chassis with the bigger 262 cu. in. (4.3 L) engine from the Super Six and Commodore. The triangular grill bars, incidentally, were new for 1951, one of the Step-Down cars' few minor styling changes.

The Step-Down Hudsons' handling was already well known, and a few had even found their way into NASCAR competition. Stock car racers of the time were still just highly tuned standard cars, and the Hudson's cornering ability gave it a decided advantage over many competitors. (It was also far safer, which drivers greatly appreciated; roll cages were still years away.) With the big engine, the Hornet was a natural for the track.

In February 1951, Marshall Teague, a service station owner from Daytona Beach, Florida, won the NASCAR Daytona 500 behind the wheel of a Hudson Hornet with an engine he had "blueprinted" himself. Many competitors were faster, but the Hornet could maintain more speed through the corners. Shortly after this victory, Teague went to Hudson headquarters in Detroit in search of factory support. Hudson eventually gave Teague three new Hornets (two racers and a tow car) and assigned a young engineer, Vince Piggins, to help him tune them. Hudson agreed to pay Teague a $1,000-a-month stipend for as long as he competed with their cars, in addition to any prize money he won.

Hudsons took a total of 13 NASCAR races in the 1951 Grand National season, and Teague himself won five of them. Herb Thomas, who had previously driven an Olds Eighty-Eight, joined the team in August, and won five more. Hudson came in third in the Manufacturer's Championship for that year, behind Oldsmobile and Plymouth.

Teague and Vince Piggins soon developed a series of "Severe Duty" parts for the Hornet, all bound for the track. Most notable of these was a hotter racing version of the big six. Called "7-X," it was bored and relieved, with a high-compression head, big valves, hotter cam, and "Twin H-Power" -- two carburetors on a unique dual-runner intake manifold. It made about 210 hp (157 kW), a substantial increase on the standard six. With the 7-X engine, the "Fabulous Hudson Hornets" brutalized their NASCAR competition in 1952, scoring a total of 27 victories. (By comparison, Olds and Plymouth managed only six between them.) Teague subsequently left NASCAR for AAA (the predecessor of the modern CART), where the Hornet racked up an additional 22 wins. For 1953, Hornets scored 22 NASCAR and 24 CART victories, setting a new record.

NASCAR rules required Twin H-Power to be sold to the public to be legal for competition, and so the twin-carburetor setup became optional on Hornets in late 1951. It cost $85.60, and bumped power to 160 hp (119 kW). "Miracle H-Power," as Hudson advertising called it, did not help the Hornet's prodigious fuel consumption, and it complicated routine maintenance, but it was very popular. For 1953, a hotter cam and higher compression ratio raised the Hornet's standard engine to 160 hp (119 kW), 170 (127 kW) with Twin H-Power. The 7-X engine was also available as a dealer-installed option in 1953 and 1954.


Twin H-Power was first offered as a parts-counter kit in November 1951. It became a factory option on Hornets in mid-January 1952, and was also offered for the compact Jet in 1953 and 1954. On Hornets, it was good for an extra 15 horsepower (11 kW). It was not available on Pacemakers, but since the Pacemaker's 232 cu. in. (3.8 L) six was essentially the Hornet's engine with a smaller bore and stroke, adding it was not difficult.

Hudson's racing success didn't help its overall business, which dropped quickly after 1950. Hudson lost money again in 1951, and made a profit in 1952 only because of its defense contracts. Sales plummeted that year to only 70,000 units.

In 1951,  Barit opted to develop a new compact model, the Jet, which he hoped would make Hudson more competitive against the "Low-Priced Three." We hope to cover the Jet more thoroughly in a future article, but suffice to say that Hudson sunk some $16 million -- the last of the company's cash reserves -- into its development, which proved to be a fatal mistake. The Jet had its virtues, but it sold poorly. Total 1953 sales were only 21,000, far less than Hudson had anticipated.

The big cars weren't selling any better by then. Hudson dropped the Super Six for 1952 in favor of a new Wasp model (essentially a Pacemaker with the Super Six's big engine), and discontinued the Pacemaker and Commodore for 1953, but it made little difference. Total sales for 1953, including the Jet, were only 66,143.

Despite the Hornet's sterling NASCAR career, the simple fact was that the big Hudsons no longer looked sleek and modern, simply old. One of the problems with Monobilt construction was that the shape of the body could not be significantly altered without an extensive redesign of the unitized structure -- something the company simply could not afford. The public had also wearied of fastback styling in general; GM discontinued its fastbacks by 1952. The fact that the Hudson was inspired by the '42 Buick meant that its design themes were now ten years old. Spring's team managed a modest facelift for 1954, but it wasn't enough.

An even bigger problem was the engines. By 1953, most of the Hornet's direct competitors had modern overhead-valve V8s, with more power than even the Hornet's Twin H-Power engine. The big flathead six was antiquated, and Hudson did not even have any serious plans for developing a V8 to replace it.

There were other obstacles, as well. In August 1953, a catastrophic fire destroyed GM's Hydra-Matic plant in Livonia, Michigan, interrupting Hudson's supply of automatic transmissions. Hudson also suffered a series of wildcat strikes, steel shortages, and problems related to its military contracts. The situation was becoming grim.

George Mason of Nash had seen the writing on the wall for the small independent automakers back when the war ended. He had approached Barit twice about the prospects of a merger -- which Mason had hoped would ultimately include Packard and Studebaker, as well -- but Barit had declined. By the end of 1953, however, the Hudson board could see that they no longer had much choice. In January 1954, the board approved the merger with Nash, forming the American Motors Corporation. Barit received a seat on the new board of directors, but he was demoted to a loosely defined management consultant role; Nash's George Mason and George Romney were clearly in charge. Hudson formally became a division of AMC effective May 1.

It was the beginning of the end. The 1954 model year would be the last for the Step-Down cars and the Jet. For 1955, the Wasp and Hornet were replaced by hastily restyled versions of the Nash Statesman and Ambassador, with a ghastly new grille. The Jet was dropped in favor of Hudson-badged Ramblers and Metropolitans. Hudson's flathead sixes survived a while longer, but their engineering was otherwise pure Nash. The contemporary Nashes also had unitary construction, but with none of the Step-Down Hudsons' solidity or handling prowess. Hudson fans unkindly dubbed these post-merger Hudsons "Hashes."

To confuse the mechanical pedigree even further, some 1955 and 1956 Hudsons got Packard's 352 cu. in. (5.8 L) V8 and Twin Ultramatic transmission, the result of an ill-fated reciprocal deal between AMC and Studebaker-Packard. AMC's own V8, a Nash design begun before the merger, became available late in the 1956 model year.


The post-merger Hudsons' styling is best described as overwrought. It was an expensive car for its era, too. A Hornet Custom sedan like this one had a base price of $3,011, $800 more than a Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe. Sales were dismal. (Photo © 2009 Mike Sawyer; used by permission)

George Mason died in October 1954, putting executive vice president George Romney in charge of AMC. Romney soon decided that the company's future was in the compact Rambler, in part because American -- still losing money at an alarming rate -- simply couldn't afford multiple product lines. At a highly contentious board meeting in November 1956, he opted to discontinue both Hudson and Nash at the end of the 1957 model year, re-badging the remaining models as Ramblers. A.E. Barit resigned in protest in December, to no avail.

Fewer than 4,000 Hudsons were sold in 1957, all of them Hornets. The Hudson sixes were gone, and all cars now carried AMC's new 327 cu. in. (5.6 L) V8, with 255 hp (190 kW). The final Hudson rolled off the production line on June 25, 1957.

American Motors never revived the Nash or Hudson names, but in 1969, in an apparent fit of nostalgia, chairman Roy Chapin Jr. (the son of the late founder), revived the Hornet name for AMC's new compact. The AMC Hornet sold respectably well through 1977, but it was a thoroughly ordinary compact. Other than unitary construction and a six-cylinder engine, it had little in common with its illustrious ancestor.

Hornets remain appealing collector's cars, in part because they were built like tanks, but Hudson is slowly fading from the collective memory. AMC is more than 20 years dead now, and even Hudson's department store is gone. The flagship store in Detroit closed in 1983, and in the past decade, the company re-branded its remaining stores first as Marshall Fields, then as Macy's.

The original "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" returned to the public eye in 2006, courtesy of Pixar. Director John Lasseter made the old NASCAR racer a character in the company's animated film Cars, voiced by actor Paul Newman. The film may keep Hudson from being completely forgotten, just as comedian Jack Benny's Maxwell endured for decades after the demise of the company and the car.

Automotive writers tend to conclude histories of defunct independents with 20/20 hindsight on what the company should have done. We'll spare you, because we don't it would have made much difference. Even if the company had invested in restyling the Step-Down cars or adding a V8 engine, Hudson simply didn't have the capital to keep pace with the Big Three. It's too bad, but it points out one of the sad contradictions of the automotive industry: the companies that can most afford to take risks like the unibody Hudsons are often the least willing to try, and vice versa.

As a final note, both Frank Spring, who'd been Hudson's chief designer, and Marshall Teague, who had made the Hornet a force to be reckoned with on the track, died in 1959, both in car crashes. Bob Andrews and Arthur Kibiger, who had been the principal designer of the Step-Down cars, left Hudson for Willys-Overland in 1947, where they helped Brook Stevens create the Jeepster. Andrews subsequently joined Studebaker, and then became one of Raymond Loewy's designers, working on the 1963 Studebaker Avanti. Vince Piggins, who had worked with Marshall Teague to develop the "Severe Duty" parts for Hudson racers, later joined Chevrolet, where he was responsible for Chevrolet's performance hardware, including the immortal Camaro Z/28.

# # #

Our account of the origins of the Step-Down Hudsons comes primarily from Bob Andrews' 1985 interview with Dave Crippen of the Benson Ford Research Center ("The Reminiscences of Robert F. Andrews," 2 August 1985, Automotive Oral History Project, http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Andrews_interview.htm (transcript), accessed 8 August 2009), with additional information from Michael Lamm and Dave Holls, A Century of Automotive Style: 100 Years of American Car Design (Stockton, CA: Lamm-Morada Publishing Co. Inc., 1997).

Information on the Hornet's racing career came from Roland Via, "Hudson Racing" (11 March 2008, Legends of NASCAR, http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Hudson.htm, accessed 16 August 2009), which also reprints Jack Nerad, "The Hudson Hornet - 'Win On Sunday, Sell on Monday'" (date unknown, Driving Today, http://www.drivingtoday.com/greatest_cars/hudson_hornet/index.html, accessed 30 August 2009). Some details on the Twin H-Power engines came from "Hudson Twin H-Power" by Mark J. McCourt (1 August 2008, Hemmings Motor News, http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2008/08/01/hmn_feature30.html, accessed 16 August 2009).

We also consulted the following road tests: "The Hudson Commodore 8 Club Coupé" (The Motor, 23 March 1949); Walter A. Woron, "Keeping Apace with the Hudson Pacemaker" (Motor Trend, February 1950); Walter A. Woron, "Motor Trials: Hudson Hornet Fastest Yet Tested...97.5 MPH" (Motor Trend, March 1951); Walt Woron, "Two Hudsons" (Motor Trend, August 1952); Barney Clark, "Road Test: Twin Hornet" (Auto Sport Review, May 1953); and "Hudson Road Test" (Motor Life, June 1957), all of which are reprinted in R.M. Clarke, ed., Hudson 1946-1957 Performance Portfolio (Cobham, Surrey: Brooklands Books, Ltd., 2004).

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