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My Hudson Story by Gary Pippel
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It all began with a beautiful 1937 Nash Ambassador, model #3782, a 2 door coupe that came off the line with a 2 tone gray color and bright chrome plated hubcaps. It was a beautiful automobile with a wheelbase of 125 inches. A far cry from driving hand me down Model A’s that he had re-built in the back yard for years. This car was bathed in chrome. The large vertical grille, the headlamp rims and of course the bumpers all had chrome.
This car was a sporty car. It had small side windows in the sail panel that curved away and down to the beltline. It was so much different than the cars before it and this car came off the line at $855. It also had 2 extra seats in the back that swung out making it a 5 seater. Even back then he had thoughts of marrying his girlfriend and someday having children. These 2 seats were a plus because the car gave one a feeling that it was sporty but had those extra seats for a family. And what placed this car above many others was the rear deck mounted spare tire. That and the swing away seats guaranteed the owner of having a sporty car and a family car all in one.
Times were good for this man. He had met the woman of his love in high school. It was between wars. He had a job and was about to graduate from high school. The government was working hard to get the economy going again from the Great Depression and the economy was starving. His rubber bands, rivets and miscellaneous sheet metal and engines that had been re-built 1 too many times finally gave out. Out there was this like new Nash and a deal was struck.
This car looked beautiful in the driveway. He took many pictures of it to prove it. It was driven all over the Midwest and he maintained this car just like the Model A’s of before. By this time this Nash was getting old a new war was on the horizon and any and all assembly lines across America were instructed by the president to start making war goods. There were no more cars available. And the thousands of men that left their homeland and went away to fight the war, many cars were hidden in barns, thus this is why we use the term “BARN FINDS” today. The men that stayed home were fortunate to have what they had so maintenance became an every day conversation. And for the young readers there were no Jiffy-Lubes to go to for an oil change. For the most part oil changes exhaust systems were attended to at home.
With the end of the war in sight this young man and his wife decided to start a family. Times were good again so on January 1, 1945 they had a son. Boy was he glad that the Nash had a swing away seat in the back and a spare tire mounted on the rear deck. That perfect coupe would continue to be his pride and joy for a few more years. I say a few more years because the car was starting to show some signs of wear. The heater no longer was putting out the heat that was required in the rust belt. The wiring was shorting out and when his wife went to pick him up at the factory the car started to smoke. The baby was in the back swing away seat and the miles on this Nash were limited. A little wiring and she was good as new again until she started smoking again.
It was now around 1950 and his little boy was 5 years old and there was now son, #2. Even though the Nash had 2 swing away seats and the heater was barely working and the wiring was smoking it was time to let her go. At the factory all the men were talking about this new beauty that was winning all the races at the Nascar circuits. And she was a Hudson. This baby was low, long, smooth and ready to fight. This was the first year with a fresh and modern design since the war. Hudson marketed it as the “Step-Down Design.” There just happen to be a used 1948 Commodore on the lot and he had to have her. She was a 2 door bathed in #RM Maroon and the interior was in a common gray cloth. I have to say that his #1 son, even though he was only 5 at the time was influential in the purchase. His wife set the guidelines on what could be spent and financed but the rest was up to driver.
This happened to be the time when their doctor told his in-laws that the rust belt was not a good place for people that had allergies. There was a new community 2000 miles away that would be perfect for them. That was Phoenix Arizona. It only a couple years after that move, that the family drove that Hudson out there. Yep – all the way on the now famous Route 66. New brakes and tires were installed, a collapsible bed specially designed for the back floorboard so his sons could sleep during naptime. The trip was successful and other than brushes for the generator and a slight adjustment on the carburetor, for higher elevations she never lost a beat.
Now you say as long as you are out this far and you have the time why not try your hand at the famous ‘PIKES PEAK?” After all this man is from the rust belt. He has only heard and seen pictures of Pikes Peak. And – yes he remembers The Hudson Motor Company testing that famous design on the Pikes Peak climb. If they can do it why can’t a regular person? And that is exactly what he did. After a few days with the in-laws he was ready to leave anyway. A small detour from Phoenix brought him to the beautiful Rocky Mountains and the famous Pike Peak Mountain in Colorado. He made sure the family the family was fed, an extra bag of water on the bumper guard, crankcase topped off and proper air in the tires and off he went. The trip was uneventful. She never missed a beat and drove past many Chevy’s, Plymouths and Fords that had over heated but not this Hudson. In fact he remembers following a couple other Hudson’s and they never puffed any smoke out of their tail pipes either.
At the top of the mountain was a rest area for the drivers to brag a little, the cars to cool off after a grinding ride, unlike they had ever seen before and the mom’s to prepare a spread of sandwiches, chips and some water. Yes – water because you are picnicking at 10000 feet. And of course the kids, like his, wanted to run around on virgin land. That is until one of them almost passed out and the got, well, shall I say sick. The end of that running came to an abrupt end. It was explained to them that on top of this mountain oxygen was pretty thin.
So now how do we get down from this huge mountain? The driver had it all planned out. He pulled his handy Standard Oil map out and followed the directions. Right across this Royal Gorge Bridge that was suspended by wires and down the mountain that Hudson went. The only problem was the brakes. Those brakes were designed to work on flat areas like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago, not this tall mountain called Pikes Peak. Sure enough the driver knew exactly how to get down this huge hill. A brand new synchromesh 3-speed transmission from Hudson was the answer. Use those lower gears and tap the brakes like there is an egg between the pedal and his foot and he would get down this thing without going over the cliff. And sure enough, when he was passing those other Chevy’s, Plymouths and Fords that were on the side again, smoking at all 4 corners he knew how to do it. Although it was taxing it was a dream come true for this driver. Now it was onward and forward to the rust belt.
Unfortunately this trip out west was taxing on the Commodore. Firstly it was a used car with no documentation, tube and tire combination that produced excessive heat and in the hot temperatures of July, those tires would never make it through the upcoming winter. And should it be mentioned here that the trip up the mountain did wear the clutch plate a little. And we would be amiss if we didn’t mention the brake shoes. When the professional drivers for Hudson Motors made it they had plenty of spare parts that were never mentioned.
This Commodore made it through the winter with a new set of brakes, a tune up, a carburetor adjustment because she was back on the ground and a new set of snow tires. This was not the easiest of winters for her though. It was hard winter and she spent a many a night in the garage out back with its hood up and the driver changing out every thing from plugs, condensers, points and anything else that got in his way.
Spring was coming and the driver made it clear that although he didn’t want to see his in-laws again he would lose. He further made it clear that if he would be taking another trip it would not be in that car. Fortunately for him, the ole Commodore was paid off and he was set free to purchase another car. So off he and his, then, eight year old son drove off with a clean and polished and worn out Commodore and where did they end up? Of course the local Hudson Motor dealership, located on the corners of Kishwaukee, May and Oak streets. The building is triangular shaped and even at eight no one could ever forget that ole building. She was an old building. Built before the wars but she had those Hudsons. The show room was right at the corner and in those days a typical showroom could house one, maybe 2 cars. The early fifties were not good times. The country had rallied back from the post war era and assembly lines were producing consumer items again. Detroit was again producing cars not tanks and the markets dictated more and modern cars. However, not everyone could afford new cars and there were not many old cars left. To satisfy the market they introduced entry level cars and cars that had the old chrome. Hudson came out with a model called the Pacemaker. Although it was not laden with chrome it was similar to those old Commodores. This driver had 2 boys now and was not working the overtime hours that he had grown accustom to. That Pacemaker fit the bill. This store happened to have a choice. A Southern Blue one, #J-97 and a Gulf Green one, Q-115. The green was eccentric but the blue one was just perfect. As mentioned before, it was an entry level Hudson so before delivery could be made, a heater and radio had to be installed. “Yes sir, we will install a Hudson radio and a heater.” “And yes we can make your payments to what your wife gave you. $50.00 dollars a month and a loan duration of 36 months.”
Now you talk about beauty, this was it. No it did not have the chrome that the Commodore had but this blue shined like no other car in the neighborhood. There was one exception. A neighbor was a mechanic at a local Studabaker store and on an occasion he would bring a customer’s car home at night so he could test-drive it. Would you ever allow that today? Those days were different. Everybody trusted everybody else. In a small community word would get out quickly if someone took advantage of someone else.
After the break in period this Pacemaker was ready for the road, the Route 66 road. It was time to make the yearly trek to Phoenix. The homemade bed insert from the Commodore almost fit. A couple modifications and she was ready. The trip was uneventful but the owner quickly found out that the Pacemaker was as hard on tires as the Commodore. And what to do with that carburetor issue? It did not like the higher elevations either. The same mechanic in Phoenix was still in business so some quick adjustments and she was ready for the mountain driving too. As much as the owner wanted to make the Pikes Peak run time did not permit it this time and the power, it just was not there. This car just did not have the pep that the Commodore had. That was very disappointing but with 3 years on the note, he just adjusted. This car made 2 more trips out west before some major mechanical problems surfaced.
One beautiful summer weekend the driver took the family on a weekend trip to the famous Wisconsin Dells. It was a beautiful time of year in Wisconsin. There were plenty of lakes, good food and family attractions. It was on the way back from one such attraction that problems occurred. A few short blocks from the motel the engine started to over heat. Water, steam and a foul odor came from underneath the front of the car. Sure enough it was a head gasket. What was a head gasket? In simple terms it was a piece of tarpaper type material that is placed between the engine and head. Being late in the afternoon an auto supply store was still open and they just happen to have one that would fit. The driver rolled up his shirtsleeves and began tearing the top of the engine off and laying it with other parts on the sidewalk next to the car. A couple hours later it was already to go again. This writer remembers exactly when the driver told his wife that the car might make it back home. Conversation took place but the shorten version was that because of the severe overheating of the engine the area between cylinders 3 and 4 had cracked and there was no way that could be fixed.
The driver almost made it home but before it did another incident occurred. It happened again in the Wisconsin Dell area going down a steep hill. All traffic lights were green except one and that was the one the Pacemaker was approaching. And yes, there were no brakes. I might add here that this was before the days of a back up master cylinder system. The driver grabbed the emergency brake handle, that T-handle to the left of the steering column and pulled as hard as he could. Now steering between some pedestrians was a challenge but he finally come to a stop in the middle of the intersection. Needless to say the Pacemaker was doomed to go.
What now? By the mid-fifties Hudson Motor Car was experiencing some hard times. The recession of the 1958 did not help. As much as this young man wanted the driver to purchase one of those Hornet Hollywoods with the Twin H power motors the driver had pretty much lost interest, faith and loyalty to the brand. And one component that is in the interest of the buying public today is will the corporation be around for warranty works and parts when one needs them. It was at that time when the driver, my father, decided to leave his loyalty behind and weigh his options. By that time, his son, the author of this article was a car guy. As much as I loved those tri-year Chevys, those beautiful Buick Specials, with all of that chrome, scallops on the side that determined what color would go where was his choice. Dad had 3 or 4 Buicks, all chosen by me. As dad’s health began to fail the money was not there anymore and I had to choose what would be comfortable for mother to drive. Gasoline prices were going up so the Impala’s Spirit of America series, the Camaro Berlinetas, the Cavaliers were the models of choice.
All in all, it was those beautiful 2 door Hudsons that set the pace for this family. Sporty 2 door coupes that had style and good engines that set the pace for cars to come. In fact most of the cars that I have owned, driven and enjoyed were sporty 2 door coupes with style and performance. I just recently sold a 6th generation Monte Carlo and will bring a 27-year-old Corvette queen out of the garage and enjoy like dad enjoyed those old Hudsons. And my son also drives and enjoys 2 door sport cars. Wouldn’t Mr. J. L. Hudson, Mr. Hugh Chalmers, Mr. O.H. Mac Chormick, Mr. Roy D. Chapin, Mr. Howard E. Coffin, Mr. Frederick O. Bezner and Mr. R. B. Jackson be proud that in 2009 so many people would be enjoying cars that designed, assembled and marketed all of these years later? It is a tribute to them and although Hudsons are no longer built car companies of today still build the concepts that those men envisioned way back then? What a legacy.
Acknowledgements to the Aronsson Printing Company for printing the American Motors Family Album and its predecessor companies.
And my dedication to my father and mentor, Dan Pippel
Author – G. Pippel
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Posted by 51hornet Thursday, October 21, 2010 (01:03:38)
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