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How The Hudson HORNET Lost Its Sting
The Hudson Motor Car Company produced its first car in July of 1909. The company was started by J. L. Hudson, the founder of Hudson’s department store, who provided the capital and gave permission for the car to be named after him. In early 1909 8 Detroit businessmen formed the company to build a car that would sell for under $l,000. 1909 sales were over 4,000 and up to that time the most ever sold by any carmaker in its first year of production. Over its lifetime the Hudson had a number of other firsts. Among them were dual brakes and dashboard warning lights for the oil pressure and generator. Likely the first that contributed the most was the balanced crankshaft, which allowed the engine to rev higher giving it more horsepower than similar size engines, as well as being smoother. This is most likely why their 6 cylinder was so successful even racing against the V-8’s. They couldn’t afford to develop a V-8 so all the research and development money for engines was spent to make the inline 6 equal to and many times superior to the V-8s it raced against. The Hudson Motor Car Company peaked in 1929 when it produced 300,000 cars and was the 3rd largest U.S. car maker that year behind Ford and Chevrolet. It was always billed as a family car even after they got into racing in 1951. In 1936 the company did a lot of revamping to make it even more appealing as a family car. The suspension was completely redone giving it a smoother safer ride. They also claimed the largest interior and luggage space of any popular car. The 1936 engines were also powerful for their time with the horsepower ranging from 93 horsepower up to 124 horsepower in the 8 cylinder that had been introduced in 1932 and discontinued in the early 1950’s. Very few Hudson’s were sold with the 8 cylinder due to the popularity of the 6 cylinder.
In 1948 Hudson came out with their “step-down” which lasted through the 1954 model year. This made the car even safer with greater passenger comfort but most importantly to the racing fame that would come shortly, it gave it a lower center of gravity with better handling and a lower profile. Although air flow was not as important then as it is now, I’m sure that was another of the factors that made the Hudson Hornet such a winning car at NASCAR.
In 1949 Oldsmobile had come out with its V-8 with 303 CI’s and 135HP and dominated NASCAR stock car racing in 1949 and 1950. As a side note back then the cars were really stock cars just as they could be bought from the show room floor. In 1951 Hudson bored out its 262 Cubic Inch 6 cylinder to 308 CI’s and combined with the strong, light-weight body the newly named Hudson Hornet went to the race track and served notice that there was a new kid on the block and he was a tough one. In 1951 the Hornet won 13 out of 34 NASCAR races. In 1952 they had a dual carburetor set up that gave it 160HP plus the dealers had an engine called the 7X that put out 210HP. With these new improvements the Hornet was able to win an almost unbelievable 27 ourt 34 races. 1953 was another good year as they won 22 out of 37, but by 1954 the wins were starting to come a little harder and they only won 17 out of 34. One of the reason was the other cars were getting more conpetitive as the manufacturers started to realize that NASCAR was here to stay and was a great way to increase sales. The slogan of “Win on Sunday and sell on Monday” was becoming a reality and the big car makers started supporting racing teams. Sadly all the car makers were making plenty of sales on Monday when they won on Sunday except for Hudson. As a matter of fact the production from 1951 to 1954, when they won 80 races out of 142, fell an almost unbelievable 50%. The Hornet sold OK but none of the rest of line hardly sold at all. By 1954 the handwriting was on the wall as the Hornet just couldn’t compete with the other car makers due to the lack of capital to even come out with a V-8 which would have been almost mandatory for the 1955 racing season. As the other car makers were getting ready to debut their basically all new 1955 models, Hudson knew it was over and threw in the towel by merging with Nash and forming American Motors Corporation just to try to survive. Sadly the glory years of the Hudson Hornet was enough to keep them alive and in 1957 the brand disappeared for good.
I can remember in the late 1950’s and 1960’s a lot of hot rodders were looking for Hornets because they were almost unbeatable in the “H” stock class at the NHRA drag strips. Even today I would imagine they would give a good account of themselves even if the sting is pretty well gone from the Hornet and you hardly ever see one, even at a car show or auction. I imagine the smart collectors are keeping them in their collections because of their uniqueness, the incredible racing success in the early 1950’s and the fact that they were a very historic car. The Hornet was one the big reasons that NASCAR racing is so popular today.
If you are lucky enough to find a Hornet today, please restore it to its original state or get in touch with the Hudson Owners Club and find someone who will. Remember restore ‘em don’t crush ‘em. The author: Don Levy has a 60 year love affair with all classic cars, muscle cars & hotrods. He lived through the times that he writes about & witnessed the evolution of the classic and muscle cars first hand. His website at http://classic-car-hunter.com has over a thousand classic cars & trucks, muscle cars, hotrods, street rods & classic car parts for sale along with classified ads to list your car or parts for sale.
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Contributor's Note
Check out the virtual car show and sale if you are thinking about buying or selling a car or parts. Go to
http://classic-car-hunter.com
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