 |
 Home Community Members options Forums Search Web |
|
|
|
|
| My Hudson Story by Gary Pippel |
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. |
|
|
|
| |
|
Main Menu
Latest: 
New Today: 1
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 540
Members: 0
Visitors: 36
Total: 36
1: 