@@What.its.like.Cool! I got a MAJOR hint when someone in the live chat said Steely Dan. I forgot WYR: 1948 Hudson and 1948 Packard (you all know why). Thank you as always ~ Chuck
They remind me of sitting in a vintage speed boat!!! Even the pre-war Hudsons had a unique feel behind the wheel due to their windshield and deep dash!
Hi Jay!: I have to agree with you, the step-down Hudsons were pretty great cars! Too bad they are kind of getting lost to history. The styling was great, the engines were at least very good, of not technologically advanced, and the riding and driving comfort of these cars was well known in the day, if not now. I truly wish Hudson had been able to afford to morph the step down chassis into a real unit-body chassis, so they would have been able to change the styling on them more. If they could have done this around 1954. I think it would have given them a chance to stay independent, maybe. They DID attempt to put some of the styling ideas from the Italia on a 4 door step down chassis, but, to me i don't think it would have been too successful. Believe it or not, the same Aunt that had the Chrysler T&C, also had one of these early step down Hudsons. They wrecked it on the bridge between Chesterfield, and Anderson, Indiana. Evidently no one was seriously injured. A testament to the safety of these cars, back in the day.
Awesome information and insight glad you dig this episode this is a car that I eventually want to own I might do an episode of my top 10 50s cars that I would love to own one day Some of the entries may surprise you but I think at the very very top of the list is a 1957 or 58 Studebaker golden hawk that has a car that if I ever got one I don’t think I would ever sell it they are getting so rare and they’re not ridiculously priced for what it is it’s a supercharged V-8 car that they didn’t make that many of I think between the both years the Goldenhawk is less than 5000 don’t quote me on that though the number I think is right around that.. Limited production car plus time so there isn’t that many left because there wasn’t that many made but you could still get them for under 50 grand which is a total bargain I think
Just an added note, back in the 20's, Hudson had some great engineers that started counter - balancing the crankshafts on their 6 cyl. engines. Those cars and the Hudson's up through the 50's ruled the racetracks because of the greater efficiency of the engines. This plus the step - down design of the body made Hudson a killer on the NASCAR tracks.
The Hudson 8 was an old fashioned engine due to its Splash Lube Rods. Those engines don't fare well in modern driving speeds. The Super 6 and Hornet 6 are solid engines. You should do a talk on Hudsons home grown semi Automatic Transmission "Drive Master" .
I love these! My dad was Service Manager for a Hudson dealership then in Minneapolis! I was 11 years old then. We saw all those great Hudsons race at the Minnesota state fairs. They ran circles around most of the other race cars! BTW, i have a diecast model of that car you are showing. Same color too!
The change from '47 to '48 is indeed dramatic! Hudsons are cars that I knew little about until recently. My dad owned Chevrolets and Pontiacs from the early 20s to '72 when he bought a Chrysler. He never mentioned Hudsons when I was a kid. The likeness to a Zeppelin is right-on. It must be an acquired taste; I prefer the styling of the '47. My dad had a '51 Pontiac Chieftan with rear wheel covers; I hated changing a rear flat or putting on chains.
Glad you dig this video this channel I hope is bringing to light some of the cars that have gotten lost the time I personally love the orphan car brands and I try my best to feature cars that don’t often see the light of day or are being forgotten frankly because I would love to see these cars at car shows the goal is to inspire people to buy cars that are different.. But not just buy them drive them and make it so other people can appreciate it and get more people inspired so that we see the reverse happening my biggest fear is this stuff is all going to go away and not be remembered these cars were machines we don’t really drive machines anymore we drive appliances because it’s convenient
That is just like the one we had till I was 5yrs old. Fond memories of that car. For road trips, My uncle made a bench that went between the seats, & my Mom put a crib mattress back there for us to ride on, although my brother was up in that back window area quite a lot! I know the hydraulic clutch gave problems & was the reason my Dad finally traded it in on a 56 Chevy.
Oh man that’s awesome thank you so much for sharing some of those memories with us I’m glad to bring those memories back to you just buy featuring this car.. =)
They're all great cars, and my vote and bias is towards Hudson because we have a workbench from the Hudson factory that Uncle Julius and my dad rescued from destruction years ago.. Hudson made its mark early on as racing machines, and I'm not surprised they won the stock car races, it's in their DNA! Thanks again Jay for another great look from all angles at this classic original car; I'm beginning to actually like the bathtub look for it's pure streamlined body shape, they really were & are cool vehicles! 😎 Many thanks!!🎉
When I bought my 1948 Chevy, same year as this Hudson, I was surprised by how the floor actually went UP from the sill plate, in contrast to how it dropped down on (then, 1970s) modern cars, which began with this Hudson. Must have been a revelation when these came out.
Hi Jay. I love these Hudson's too. On overriders vs bumperettes, I prefer overriders for what you show here. A bumperette to me is what is on the rear of a Ford Model A, that is, a 1/4 width bumper on each side, as opposed to a full width continuous bumper. Cheers.
Oh one other thing that made the Hudson 262 6 so unique is it used 6 intake ports where almost all other inline 6 engines used only 3 intake ports! Look at their very advanced intake manifold design compared to say a Chrysler, Pontiac or Oldsmobile flat head 6's.
There is a few drawbacks to the Hudson they require some periodic maintenance I was reading in the owners manual that you’re supposed to change the oil every 500 miles on that car plus the clutch takes special clutch fluid that you have to drain and change periodically as well one day I’m going to do an episode on maintenance but I’m still finding out stuff that you have to do with Classic Cars that you don’t normally have to do one modern cars not ready for that episode yet lol Great choices
Once again, a smaller car company making huge advancements in design and engineering, to be rolled over by the big 3. Gorgeous piece of artwork! WYR: 1) Hudson! 2) Hudson!
First! Love the Hudsons. My dad had a post-war Hudson, not sure of the year but it was the boxy variety. Then he had a Hornet and a Wasp but, again I'm not sure of which came first or the exact years. He loved them and now I know dad was ahead of the average guy when it came to appreciation of cars!
Interesting fact the 1947 dates back to the 1936 body and chassis. Hudson did a fantastic job updating it not only in styling but also in suspension and steering updates, specifically independent front suspension and counterpoint steering in the 1940 model. The 1936 also was the first year of the back-up cable braking system.
@@What.its.like. You're welcome love spreading the knowledge of Hudson and all the cars they built. If you want the the best bible of Hudson get the Crestline book by Don Butler, has everything, in it and I mean everything, every model not only made by Hudson itself, but the AMC years and the Railtons. It's a bit pricey but 100 percent worth it.
I love the distinctive styling of these automobiles! The dash and steering wheel are really cool imo! It's a close call in the first scenario, I like these, but the Mercury is super appealing to me! In second, I'd definitely pick this one, even though they are all beautiful auto designs IMO! 😎
Awesome choices the dash and this is a bit weird it’s sort of in the middle of the car the hornet brings it back over to right in front of the driver it’s funny though because people make a big deal out of it now like Tesla was the first want to do that when they wasn’t or Toyota with the Prius nothing is new to recycle technology
I never liked "1950s" designs but this car is just beautiful from every angle. It almost looks like a Citroen DS which it clearly predates by seven years.
@@What.its.like. Yeah, I like the mid-60s to early 80s as far as designs, although I know the quality was awful. But then again, I'm the guy who still thinks the Pacer looks cool, lol.
Interesting how Packard and Hudson had the same idea for a "Modern Car Design" in the same year. My Dad had a 1948 Packard like the one shown, but in dark navy blue.
Awesome I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the biggest fan of the elephant Packard but it is growing on me to the point where Packard hasn’t made a bad looking car just some of them look better than others
My dad, an incurable "hobby flipper" had one of these, in Robin's egg blue. They rode like nothing else in their day; I omce took it diagonally across a stubble-field at 60 mph in an unplanned evasion situation; the thing just floated over the rough, rock-steady. You missed displaying the rear centre arm rest - it's like the size of a 3rd seat! One down-side to the step-down models was that rear wheel changes were hell. That fender-skirt hid the outboard frame-rails that allowed minimal access to wheel, lugnuts and hubcap, and made gettting the wheel on & off between hub and rail an intricate needle-threading PITA; still, one of my favorate cars, ever.
Thanks again Jay hope you had a great thanksgiving. Love these Hudson’s and I agree they do get overlooked, can you just imagine walking into a showroom in September 1948 expecting to see something like the 47 , wow I’m sure people were taken aback by the dramatic change 👍. I’ve always looked at the Hudson’s as being of a higher quality than the Oldsmobile’s, mercury’s etc and closer to Lincoln and Cadillac in build and material quality, not flashy just good old quality with the real wood everywhere and the fabric used on interiors, maybe because I remember the one being used in driving miss daisy lol. In the first wyr my choice is the Hudson and in the second wyr I would choose the Packard and then alternate between them daily for comparison, speaking of I wish you would bring the comparison videos back they were very interesting and I could always picture a contemporary shopper doing similar comparisons, thanks again and keep them coming buddy
Glad you did this episode thank you so much for sharing all that information and insight it would’ve been a stellar thing to see if I was born way too late I have a friend who’s in the Classic Car business who has a retro dealership almost his dream is to have a big Classic Car dealership but he loves Dodge from the 70s
It's a very sleek looking car, and with the peak torque happening at a low RPM it must have felt powerful in normal driving. The flowing roofline had to make it aerodynamic too. I've seen many 49- 51 customized Mercs, but this equals them in nearly every way right from the factory. Perhaps this inspired that look? I can see this with just frenched headlights and a custom grille needed to have a fantastic car. The styling details are perfectly balanced with just the right amount of chrome in the right places, and I'm a sucker for illuminated hood or trunk badges. So WYR has to be the Hudson. The Olds looks frumpy and dated with the non-integrated fenders like the Merc, which has too much chrome. WYR2 the Packard needed slightly wider headlight spacing and both it and the Nash have too much and too wide chrome up front, so Hudson wins again. The details about the Hudson frame and engine are not widely known about these days and I too once thought these were unibody cars. "Bumperettes" seems to be the usual name for the added pieces, and you can find that word in advertising for them across most brands. In Europe (and possibly Australia) they're usually called "overriders" which again can be documented in adverstising for those cars. If I has access to Classic Auto Mall I'd spend every spare waking hour there drooling. Thanks to them for giving you access to film these classics and oddities.
I'd argue that the "led sled" look started with the Kaiser in '46. They weren't as low as the '48 Hudson, but they had that wide, sleek, slab side design without the bulging fenders and they were the first entirely new post war design, where the established manufacturers were still using their '41/'42 models. Another fun fact about Kaiser, is they tried a front wheel drive system in '46, but I don't think it ever made it into production. Anyway, I would rather... go with the Hudsons in both cases, although that Packard is pretty darn good looking too.
Awesome choices great argument about Kaiser that might be a great episode actually which company started the lead sled movement.. thank you so much for that insight =)
I count four "bumperettes and/or overriders" ! (You correct this later on in the video). I've just realized today that some of the songs that give me an earworm are not the Name That Tune songs from your vids but rather the music being played in the background at classic Auto Mall ! Love me some Steely Dan.
11:57 Triangles were a long time component of Hudson designs, including their logo, those tail lamps and gas filler door. For the 1949 models, practically every American car stole the styling of the front fenders and headlight placement, and many the hood styling, from the 48 Hudson, or maybe from the 48 Cadillac, and kept it for years. Chevy, Ford, Plymouth, Mercury, Dodge. WYR -1- 48 Hudson -2- 48 Packard.
My picks would be the Hudson and Packard. Although it was once common for 4 doors to have rear vent windows, this Hudson has it in a different place by having it aft of the door instead of on the door. Not the only car to have it there as early 50's Buicks had it there too Those vent windows on Hudson still appear to be bigger than most.
The First Hornet was A Converted 51 Commodore 262 Six that was boosted to A wide block 308. The 254 Commodore Splasher Eight and Super Eight was milled down to A Bullet Proof 202 Six and adding An Oil Pump and Insert Bearings, for The Compact 53-54 Hudson Jet.
Hudson x 2, with the Packard a runner up in round two. Your leg would get a real workout braking this almost two ton behemoth. And the back seat…it’s got a different zip code than the front!
Haha great choices they should be mechanical brakes plus you can use the transmission to help you slow down lol I want to drive one of these so bad it’s like one of the top 1050s cars that I really want to drive even though this isn’t really a 50s car this is a 40’s car that goes into the 50s it’s still a car that I really want to drive I don’t care what engine or transmission
Is this the same model as they used in the movie "driving miss daisey". It is a nice looking car. I used to have a yard stick that was 55 inches. Advertised it would fit on the seat of a Hudson Torpedo. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.....
I always thought Packard should had bought Hudson and discontinued their cheaper lines and made Hudson their Medium priced line and Packard back to top end premium maker!
I think Packard should’ve merged with peerless and Pierce arrow they could’ve been the three peas under one roof Studebaker could have bought Hudson and they could’ve both ended up under AMC eventually
For WYR I'll take the Hudson, both scenarios. With Honorable Mention to the Packard. Much of the reason is that simple but distinctive grille. These cars deserve more appreciation.
WYR 1. Hudson, of course, I love Hudsons, (btw, did you make it to the Hudson museum in Ypsilanti this summer?) 2. Hudson again, though I did stumble a little when the Packard was pictured.
Awesome choices no I didn’t make it there.. there are so many great places that I have to hit next year or at least try to I would love to go to Classic Car and take the family out route 66 and an old station wagon but I don’t think that’s going to happen next year they’ll probably be the year after.. who knows
WYR: All of them. Why choose one or two when you can have six? NTT: Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry? Hudsons are amazing. Anyone who says otherwise has only ever driven a beamer.
I’m totally right there with you instead of designing a new small engine and small platform they should’ve built their own V-8 and face lifted to step down design one more time... I think they could’ve done so much with that design they could’ve gotten rid of all of the pillars and made it like a hard top design
Mono-build stepdown design is why the Hudson handled better than any car on the road in 1948. All the other cars were body on frame construction. The 50 Merc is a knock off Hudson. In a sense all modern cars are stepdowns in construction.
The Wasp replaced the Pacemaker. The wheel base was shorter than the super 6. The wheel base of the Pacemaker and Wasp was 119 inches. The Super and all others had a 124 inches. So the Wasp did not replace the Super. I believe that the Hornet replaced the Super. I have a book that gives all the specs on the Hudson's.
48 Hudson and another Hudson. Did you think the step down design was good ,bad or a gimmick ? Imagine what the Hudson would look like with a lowered air bag suspension. I liked that red Thunderbird convertible that was behind the Hudson , it has the 3 x 2 barrel carbs . Thx Jay.
Yeah that Thunderbird was sweet in the background I wanted to do a video on it but somebody was coming to look at it so I didn’t have enough time to do that if it’s there the next time I go I’m definitely gonna cover it because it was the roadster model those are super rare.. As far as being a step down Zach design being a gimmick I’m not sure if it was a gimmick to be 100% honest I mean if you think about it a lot of cars have stepped down design built into their cars Ford took it with the perimeter frame in the late 50s if we’re 100% honest
Specific to the window line - looks cool and gangster at first (think Chrysler 300 revival in the mid-2000s), but it didn't wear well as interiors became more glassy. Super modern in 48, very dated by 54. As noted, no money for a (real) restyle on unit body architecture - it a unit body btw. and they threw what money they did have away on the Jet. Sad end. Great car, and sumptious interiors on higher trims (which they had to be - because an an independent the retail price was higher than it really should have been) That is not a factory side view mirror. WYR: Hudson, both instances.
Does anyone here remember the Wasp and Hornet bodies being referred to as clamshell Hudsons? I think I remember hearing that name applied to them when I was a youngster 70 years ago or so but my memory isn't what it once was.
WYR1: Olds styling is seriously dated. Except for the hydraulic brakes, the Mercury chassis is little changed since the '32 Ford V8, so Hudson is the class of this choice. The Pregnant Elephant Packard (standard) Eight would be a good alternative, or the year-old Studebaker Commander design. WYR2: Packard, without a second thought. By the way, Didn't Packard drop the six after 1947?
Not a fan of the Hudson or any of the "choices". It does have an interesting steering wheel, imo the dash sucks on the 47 and 48. Still a good episode, different strokes.....
