Hudson hornet

A buddy and I picked up a 54 Hudson Hornet today. License plate says 59, so it's been off the road over 50 years! It was burried in the back lot of a shops outdoor storage area for a while but is surprisingly complete. Plans are to flip it or part it. We both have way to many personal projects. Thought you guys would get a kick out of the Doc Hudson.

The car was behind a couple rows of cars so the shop guys moved 2 that were sort of in front of the Hudson. "Hey john, can you back the truck in that slot?" Me "Ummmm.... ya I guess so?". ... "Be really carefull, OK" With the open trailer on my truck there is no way to see the trailer except in the side mirrors, turning around to look is useless.

So with straps we pull the car out on pavement and with some work we get the car on the trailer, and haul our prize away.

From the photos it looks too good to part out.

I loves me some Hudson

That is awesome.

Score! So what's the plan?

Curmudgeon wrote: Score! So what's the plan?

While we both think it's a cool car and could conger up diabolical plans of twin turbo 572 swaps etc. we have to make it go away. I listed it in the 20?? classifieds. Neither of us has the time or space for another project.

Hemmings.

man I wish I had the space for that, I secretly want one of these, oops, did I say that out loud?

Please don't part that thing out. Please....

We have no choice but to part it and sell the rest as scrap if we don't sell it quickly. It's worth more in parts and we just don't have anywhere to keep it for more than a few days. I listed it on CL within a couple hours of parking it and hopefully it'll be sold quickly. It was getting dark when I took the pics so I didn't get any with it off the trailer or interior, engine etc. There's parts in the trunk so the rear wheel skirts and stuff are probably in there. Will get more pics tomorrow.

Unless it's a "Twin H" car (look for dual carbs and air cleaners), the parts ain't really worth much, and they take time to sell, such as ebaying all of the trim, etc. The Twin H cars are really the only ones that fetch any real collector value, and you can't even get arrested in a 4 door. Hudson collectors are a strange and frugal bunch. I should know, I've owned a '51 Hornet and a '54 Super Wasp.

One thing to note, they were one of the first mass produced unibody cars, and if the pans are rusted in the right/wrong places, they can literally break in half.

Aeromoto, thanks for the info! Interesting history on the unibody, will have a look at the pans. Doubt it's one of the desirable models. The story we got was that there was a more valuable model at the shop and this one was to be used as a parts donor for the 2 dr. until the owner passed away and the project was shelved before getting started. The other one was shipped to Venezuela we were told.

If the car isn't sold complete then as you mentioned Ebaying all the parts will be the way we go. We can store the parts and slowly sell them but we can't keep the whole car sitting around. Are there any Hudson groups or forums?

Contact these guys: http://www.ypsiautoheritage.org/

That's beautiful, if the body is salvageable please don't part it out! In a worst case scenario you could do like another GRM comunity member did with an early fifties Chevy and drop the body on to a newer frame from a modern car. I think that was JHaas, the car was in the $2008, or maybe 09, challenge.

Another +1 to please, please don't part it.

Kudos on the reverse job there too. I would have moved the shiny red BMW, I am not that good!

FL is so far

That should be easy to sell in one piece...

I saw one at a vintage race at Sears Point- full on chrome bumpers and everything. They were dragging the rear bumper through the corners, sparking as they went. Can I get some body roll?

HappyAndy wrote: That's beautiful, if the body is salvageable please don't part it out! In a worst case scenario you could do like another GRM comunity member did with an early fifties Chevy and drop the body on to a newer frame from a modern car. I think that was JHaas, the car was in the $2008, or maybe 09, challenge.

No, no, no.

As I said in another thread recently, the unibody chassis of the Hornet is it's best feature. It's what made it the winningest car in NASCAR history. Putting it on another chassis would be throwing away it's best part.

How much for it complete?

SVreX wrote: How much for it complete?

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/54-hudson-hornet/43221/page1/

In reply to SVreX: I did say "worst case scenario" and, "if not salvageable". Just pointing that out.

So what makes the unibody of the HH so special? Obviously it would be lighter than other cars of its period, but is there more to it than that?

They had a dropped floorpan and a chassis with a lower center of gravity. The pan was recessed between the car's frame rails instead of sitting on top of the frame. They called it a "stepped down" chassis, because you stepped down into it. It handled extremely well, dominating Nascar for 3 years, in spite of having a V-6, compared to the V-8's it was competing against.

Wiki said: Nascar fame: Hudson was the first automobile manufacturer to get involved in stock car racing.[10] The Hornet "dominated stock car racing in the early-1950s, when stock car racers actually raced stock cars."[6] During 1952, Marshall Teague finished the 1952 AAA season with a 1000-point lead over his closest rival, winning 12 of the 13 scheduled events.[9] Hornets driven by NASCAR aces Herb Thomas, Dick Rathmann, Al Keller, Frank Mundyand, and Tim Flock won 27 NASCAR races driving for the Hudson team.[9] In the AAA racing circuit, Teague drove a stock Hornet that he called the Fabulous Hudson Hornet to 14 wins during the season. This brought the Hornet's season record to 40 wins in 48 events, a winning percentage of 83%.[10] Overall, Hudson won 27 of the 34 NASCAR Grand National races in 1952, followed by 22 wins of 37 in 1953, and capturing 17 of the 37 races in 1954 — "an incredible accomplishment, especially from a car that had some legitimate luxury credentials."[6] The original Fabulous Hudson Hornet can be found today fully restored in Ypsilanti, Michigan at the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, a facility that was formerly home to Miller Motors, the last Hudson dealership in the world.[16] [edit]

they have a reputation. a reputation for being virtually indestructible. there was a saying that went something like ...where a car needed a rivet, a Hornet had 3...

according to my dad he saw a HH beat a 409 Impala at a stoplight once. Don't know how relevant that is...just FWIW

just my 2 cents...Megasquirt and turbo the original engine

SVreX wrote: dominating Nascar for 3 years, in spite of having a V-6, compared to the V-8's it was competing against.

mmm...i think it was an I6

Took some more pics today and indeed the fender skirts were in the trunk. Even the wire driven windshield wiper system is still there. Fold down rear seat?