The story
Origin
A group of businesspeople established the Hudson Motor Car Company. Several had experience in the developing industry and shared a desire to build their own automobile company. The name "Hudson" came from Joseph L. Hudson, a Detroit department store entrepreneur and founder of Hudson's department store. He provided the initial capital and allowed the company to be named after him.
A total of eight Detroit businessmen officially incorporated the company on 20 February 1909. With approximately $90,000 in primary capital provided by Hudson, who was named chairman, the goal was to produce an automobile that would sell for less than US$1,000 (equivalent to approximately $35,833 in 2025 funds).
One of the lead "car men" and an organizer of the company was Roy D. Chapin Sr., a young executive who had worked with Ransom E. Olds (Chapin's son, Roy Jr., would later be president of the Hudson-Nash descendant firm, American Motors Corporation in the 1960s). Others with automotive experience included Howard E. Coffin, an engineer; Fred Bezner, a purchasing agent; and James Brady, a mechanic and operations manager.
Advertising for the new car drew approximately 4,000 potential customers to send in $25 deposits. The new company leased a vacant factory on the corner of Mack Avenue and Beaufait Street on the East Side of Detroit. This building was built in 1906 for the Aerocar Company.
The company quickly started production, with the first car driven out of the small factory on 3 July 1909. The new Hudson "Twenty" was one of the first low-priced cars on the American market and became a success, with 4,508 sold in the first year. This was the best first year's production in the history of the automobile industry and put the newly formed company in 17th place industry-wide, "a remarkable achievement at a time" when there were hundreds of makes being marketed.
The increasing sales volume necessitated a larger factory. A new facility was built on a 22-acre (8.9 ha) parcel at Jefferson Avenue and Conner Avenue in Detroit's Fairview section that was diagonally across from the Chalmers Automobile plant. The land was the former farm of D.J. Campau. It was designed by the firm of renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn, with 223,500 square feet (20,760 m2), and opened on 29 October 1910. Production in 1911 increased to 6,486. In 1913, there were 47 engineers working in the vehicle development. For 1914, Hudsons for the American market were now left-hand drive.
1936–1942
In 1936, Hudson revamped its cars, 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 allowed the use of 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 cu ft (4.1 m3) interior, comparing it to the 121 cu ft (3.4 m3) in the "largest of other popular cars" of the time. With an optional bulging trunk lid, Hudson claimed the trunk could accommodate 21 cu ft (0.59 m3) of luggage. The 1936 engines were powerful for the time, from 93 to 124 hp (69 to 92 kW; 94 to 126 PS).
The 1939 models joined other American cars in the use of a column-mounted gearshift lever. This freed front-seat passenger space and remained the industry standard through the 1960s, when "bucket seats" came into vogue. Hudson became the first car manufacturer to use foam rubber in its seats. The Hudson Terraplane was dropped. For the 1940 models, Hudson introduced coil spring independent front suspension, aircraft-style shock absorbers mounted within the front springs, and true center-point steering on all its models, a major advance in performance among cars in this price range. The Super Six model was reintroduced as well. Despite all these changes, Hudson's sales for 1940 were lower than in 1939 and the company lost money again. The advent of military contracts the following year brought relief.
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The 1941 Hudsons retained the front-end styling of the 1940 models but the bodies were new with 5.5 inches added to their length giving more legroom. A new manual 3-speed synchromesh transmission was quieter with all helical gears. Wheelbases increased by 3 inches, with offerings of 116, 121, and 128 inches, and height was decreased with flatter roofs. Convertibles now had a power-operated top. Big Boy trucks now used the 128-inch wheelbase. In 1942, as a response to General Motors' Hydramatic automatic transmission, Hudson introduced its "Drive-Master" system. Drive-Master was a more sophisticated combination of the concepts used in the Electric Hand and the automatic clutch. It contained a vacuum-powered module on the transmission to switch between second and third gear and a vacuum-powered module to pull the clutch in and out. At the touch of a button, Drive-Master offered the driver a choice of three modes of operation: ordinary, manual shifting and clutching; manual shifting with automatic clutching; and automatic shifting with automatic clutching. All this was accomplished by a large and complicated mechanism located under the hood. They worked well, and in fully automatic mode served as a good semi-automatic transmission. When coupled with an automatic overdrive, Drive-Master became known as Super-Matic. Re-engineering of the frame rear end to use lower springs reduced car height by 1.5 in (38 mm). Sheet metal "spats" on the lower body now covered the running boards and new wider front and rear fenders accommodated this.
1946–1953
Production resumed after the war and included a 128 in (3,251 mm) wheelbase three-quarter-ton pickup truck.
In 1948, the company launched its "step-down" bodies, which lasted through the 1954 model year. The term step-down referred to Hudson's placement of the passenger compartment down inside the perimeter of the frame; riders stepped down onto a floor that was surrounded by the perimeter of the car's frame. The result was not only a safer car, and greater passenger comfort as well, but, through a lower center of gravity, a good handling car. In time almost all U.S. automakers would embrace it as a means of building bodies. Automotive author Richard Langworth described the step-down models as the greatest autos of the era in articles for Consumer Guide and Collectible Automobile.
For the 1951 model year, the 6-cylinder engine received a new block with thicker walls and other improvements to boost horsepower by almost 18% and torque by 28.5% making Hudson a hot performer again. The GM-supplied 4-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission was now optional in Hornets and Commodore Custom 6s and 8s.
Hudson's strong, light-weight bodies, combined with its high-torque inline six-cylinder engine technology, made the company's 1951–54 Hornet an auto racing champion, dominating NASCAR in 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954.
Herb Thomas won the 1951 and 1954 Southern 500s and Dick Rathmann won in 1952. Some NASCAR records set by Hudson in the 1950s (e.g. consecutive wins in one racing season) still stand even today. Hudson cars also did very well in races sanctioned by the AAA Contest Board from 1952 until 1954 with Marshall Teague winning the 1952 AAA Stock Car Championship and Frank Mundy in 1953. Often Hudsons finished in most of the top positions in races. Later, these cars met with some success in drag racing, where their high power-to-weight ratio worked to their advantage. Hudsons enjoyed success both in NHRA trials and local dirt track events.
As the post-war marketplace shifted from a seller's to a buyer's market the smaller U.S. automakers, such as Hudson and Nash, found it increasingly difficult to compete with the Big Three (Ford, GM and Chrysler) during the 1950s. A sales war between Ford and General Motors conducted during 1953 and 1954 had left little business for the much smaller "independent" automakers trying to compete against the standard models offered by the domestic Big Three. The Big Three initiated annual styling changes, so that their cars looked fresh every year, whereas the smaller manufacturers could only afford gradual changes. The unit-body construction used by Hudson was difficult and expensive to change. Although Hudsons dominated racing during this period, their feats did little to affect showroom traffic despite incorporating their NASCAR success into a marketing campaign known as "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday". Sales fell each year from 1951 until 1954, and only Korean War military contracts kept the company solvent. The Hudson Motor Car Company reported a loss of $10,411,060 in 1953 as compared with a profit of $8,307,847 in 1952.
After the company's high-priced Jet compact car line failed to capture buyers in its second straight year, Hudson CEO A.E. Barit engaged with George W. Mason, CEO of Nash-Kelvinator (makers of Nash and Rambler) to discuss the possibility of a merger with Nash. Mason already had the vision of merging the four independent automakers (Nash, Hudson, Packard, and Studebaker) into one company to compete with the Big Three, having floated the idea as early as 1946 with Packard to no avail. Mason had previously discussed the idea with Barit in 1952. On 14 January 1954 an agreement was reached and Nash and Hudson executives took the first steps to bring the two companies together.
1955: Integration and new engine
Although the merger of Nash and Hudson operations occurred in 1954, work in the styling department rapidly quickly accelerated. Designs for a 1955 Hudson were progressing while suddenly the efforts were changed to build on a common automobile platform by converting the Nash Ambassador into a Hudson-design. The new head of American Motors, George Mason wanted a new Hudson to be introduced for the 1955 model year. A studio for Hudson was established on the second floor of the AMC headquarters on Plymouth Road in Detroit. Stylists put in many overtime hours to meet Mason's schedule.
For the 1955 model year, Hudson and Nash senior models were made using a technique long utilized by the "Big Three" automakers to achieve economies of scale. This shared body shell incorporated styling themes influenced by a trio of prominent designers: Pinin Farina, Edmund E. Anderson (who established separate design studios for Nash, Hudson, and Rambler within AMC), and Hudson's Frank Spring. Most significantly, the Nash platform did not have the pioneering "Step-Down" design, making the new 1955 Hudsons more upright and taller than the old.
Despite the shared inner body shell with Nash, the 1955 Hudson models retained several distinctive elements to preserve their brand heritage. These included a unique front cowl designed initially by Frank Spring and his Hudson team for the aborted 1954 "step-down" platform, the traditional Hudson dashboard, and the brand's renowned "Triple Safe Brakes". Furthermore, they integrated Nash's highly regarded "Weather Eye" heating and ventilation system, now enhanced with a lower-cost Freon/compressor-type air conditioning unit supplied by Harrison Radiator Corporation.
A significant development for Hudson in 1955 was the first-time offering of a V8 engine. This was the Packard-designed and -built 320 cu in (5.2 L) V8, rated at 208 hp (155 kW). Cars equipped with the V8 had the option of Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission for an additional $494.
Beyond the senior models, Hudson dealers also began selling the smaller, more economical Rambler and Metropolitan models under the Hudson brand. These were identified as Hudson products through specific badging, including hood/grille emblems and horn buttons featuring the "H" logo. Hudson Ramblers also received "H" symbols on their fuel filler caps and, in 1956, on their hubcaps. A total of 4,357 Metropolitans were sold carrying the Hudson name in 1955.
1956: "V-line" styling
The 1956 model year saw a concerted effort to give the senior Hudsons a more distinct visual identity. The design was entrusted to Richard Arbib, who developed the polarizing "V-Line" styling motif. This design incorporated a combination of "V" themes throughout the car, intended to visually echo Hudson's triangular corporate logo. Despite this unique styling effort, sales for the Hudson brand fell below the 1955 figures, indicating a struggle to capture market share.
The 1956 Hudsons continued to offer the famed 308 cu in (5.05 L) "Hornet Six" engine. This inline-six was available with the optional high-compression cylinder head and the distinctive dual-carburetor manifold, famously known as "Twin-H Power". However, the "Twin-H Power" option would be discontinued at the end of the 1956 model year. The smaller Wasp model utilized the 202 cu in (3.3 L) L-head "Jet Six" engine, producing up to 130 hp [97 kW], and this sedan version proved to be Hudson's top seller for the year. Despite the styling challenges, the Hudson models, with their wider front track compared to their Nash counterparts, were generally regarded as having superior handling characteristics.
Internally, the ongoing consolidation and the perceived diminishing role of the Hudson brand led to dissent. In 1956, former Hudson president A.E. Barit resigned from the AMC Board in protest over the increasing likelihood that the Hudson marque would be phased out of production.
1957: Final year
The 1957 model year marked the final chapter for the Hudson brand. AMC further simplified the lineup, dropping the shorter-wheelbase Wasp line entirely. Only the more luxurious Hornet Custom and Hornet Super models were offered, featuring a slightly lowered profile and updated styling cues.
The last Hudson rolled off the Kenosha assembly line on 25 June 1957. However, at that time, there were proposals to continue the Hudson and Nash names into the 1958 model year on the Rambler chassis as deluxe, longer-wheelbase senior models. The combined Nash and Hudson production volume was insufficient to justify all-new design and tooling; therefore, the Rambler's platform was expected to be adopted by the longer cars. One major trade magazine said rumors of discontinuance were false. Reports were 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.
American Motors' president, George W. Romney, concluded that the only way to compete with the "Big Three" was to stake the future of AMC on a new smaller-sized car line. Neither Hudson nor Nash brand names had as much positive market recognition as the successful Rambler and their sales were lagging. With AMC's chief engineer, Meade Moore, Romney had completely phased out the Nash and Hudson brands at the end of 1957. The decision to retire the brands came so quickly that preproduction photographs of the eventual 1958 Rambler Ambassador show both Nash- and Hudson-badged versions. The Rambler brand was selected for further development and promotion while focusing exclusively on compact cars.
From 1958 onwards, the Rambler and Metropolitan models became independent marques in their own right, no longer identified as part of the Hudson or Nash lineages. While difficult for brand loyalists, this decision allowed AMC to fully concentrate its resources on the successful compact Rambler line, a strategy that would eventually lead to the automaker's resurgence in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hudson Motor Car Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4