{"id":2803,"date":"2008-07-30T21:33:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-31T01:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2008\/07\/hudsons-head-for-hudson\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:00:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:00:58","slug":"hudsons-head-for-hudson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2008\/07\/hudsons-head-for-hudson\/","title":{"rendered":"Hudsons Head for Hudson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1920<\/a><\/p>\n

Hudson, Massachusetts<\/a>, that is. For the second time in sixteen years, the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club<\/a> converged on New England for a national meet, although convention headquarters<\/a> were in the neighboring town of Marlborough<\/a>. Hosted by HET’s New England Chapter<\/a>, all of last week was a Hudsonfest, with tours<\/a> and seminars, memorabilia<\/a> displays<\/a> and meetings of the various Special Interest Groups for 55<\/a>-56-57 Hudsons, the “Jet Set<\/a>” and modified cars<\/a>. Also on the meet agenda was the annual meeting of the very active HET Historical Society<\/a> and the general meeting of the HET Club itself.<\/p>\n

Much of the week, though, was devoted to the cars themselves. A good cross section of Hudson-badged vehicles attended. The oldest I saw was meet co-chair Carl Weber’s 1915 6-54<\/a>, with the distinction of the largest engine<\/a> of any Hudson, 421 cubic inches, the newest an American Motors-built 1957 Hornet<\/a>. In between were most variations on Hudson and both its companion makes, Essex and Terraplane. There was one example of the early four-cylinder Essex<\/a>, and several of the later six cylinder models. In 1929, Essex<\/a> was the third-best-selling car in America, after Ford and Chevrolet. In 1932, Hudson introduced the low-priced Terraplane<\/a>, which replaced Essex the next year. The Terraplane was in turn succeeded by the entry-level Hudson 112<\/a> in 1939. From the 1930s into postwar times, Hudson also built pickups<\/a>, a few of which were on show. Some of the favorite Hudsons of all time were the “Step-down” models, built from 1948-49<\/a> to 1954<\/a>. Hudson’s dual-carb<\/a> Twin H-Power<\/a> outperformed many V8s of the day.<\/p>\n

Feature of the meet was the Hudson 8, an engine built from 1930 to 1952. Carl Weber’s 1930 Super 8<\/a> roadster<\/a> was a very early example of the genre, and a nice 1937<\/a> showed off its coveted translucent red ornament<\/a>. Of particular interest to me were the 1927 Essex<\/a> boat-tail speedster<\/a>, a rare model built in ’27 and ’29 only, and Jerre Hoffman’s 1916 Six-40<\/a>, forerunner to the famous Super Six<\/a>. My favorite, though, was a 1920 Model O 4-passenger coupe<\/a>, a rare body style, that looked like it had just come out of a time warp<\/a>. Last registered in 1932<\/a>, it has the early Super Six engine<\/a> and all period correct accessories<\/a>. At the other end of the spectrum was a Hudson<\/a> Metropolitan<\/a>, a frequently-overlooked variant from the end days of the marque.<\/p>\n

The HET Club is friendly to Hudsons that have been modified or rodded. Some of these are a bit radical<\/a>, others subtly customized<\/a> with odd manifestations of Twin H-Power<\/a>. A nicely-done example was this “Twin H” pickup<\/a> with genuine carburetion<\/a> on a Step-down era 262 cubic inch<\/a> engine.<\/p>\n

A healthy flea market<\/a> offered parts<\/a> for all eras of the marque, as well as many restorable<\/a> and driveable<\/a> cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Hudson Club is non-judgmental. There is no judging of cars at meets, members being encouranged to drive and enjoy their cars whatever their cosmetic state. As a result, club gatherings attract cars that are works in progress<\/a>, or some, like this 1935 sedan<\/a>, that haven’t progressed in more than forty years<\/a>. Hudsonites, as the faithful call themselves, like to drive their cars. Supporting that claim was my count of about 100 Hudsons shown on Friday, but fewer<\/a> than 25 trailers in the lot<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hudson, Massachusetts, that is. For the second time in sixteen years, the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club converged on New England for a national meet, although convention headquarters were in the neighboring town of Marlborough. Hosted by HET’s New England Chapter, all of last week was a Hudsonfest, with tours and seminars, memorabilia displays and meetings….<\/span>
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