Interesting article....
http://www.montrealgazette.com/cars/Hor ... story.html
he amalgamation of Hudson Motor Car Co. of Detroit and Nash Motor Co. of Kenosha, Wis. into American Motors Corp. in 1954 marked the end of real Hudsons. Although AMC marketed cars with Hudson nameplates until 1957, they were largely rebadged Nashes. The last, best, genuine Hudsons were built from 1948 to 1954.
Hudson history dated back to 1909 when four former Olds Motor Works employees created a car company. The $90,000 start-up funding came from Detroit department store magnate Joseph L. Hudson, so his name went on the cars. The company prospered immediately and, by mid-1910, 4,000 Hudsons had been produced. By 1929, annual production surpassed 300,000.
Hudson suffered during the Depression of the 1930s, but nameplates such as the popular-priced Essex and high-performance Terraplane helped it through.
During the Second World War, Hudson took a hiatus from car building to participate in war work -- on Aug. 30, 1945, less than four months after VE Day, it resumed building slightly altered pre-war designs. Hudson immediately capitalized on the pent-up demand for new cars created by the 1942-to-1945 production suspension.
Hudson's sensational new 1948 model appeared in December 1947, and its major impact was its low profile. At 1,534 millimetres high, it was almost 230 mm lower than the '47 Hudson and 51 mm lower than the new, trend-setting Studebaker. Its 1,956-mm width allowed wide seats both front and back, and the 3,150mmwheelbase-- 76 mm longer than the '47's -- provided plenty of stretch-out legroom.
The Hudson's low profile was achieved by placing the floor between the frame rails, part of the unit-construction architecture that tied the body and frame together into one integrated package. Hudson strongly advertised the safety and convenience of this "Step Down" design. The low centre of gravity made it a good-handling car and Hudson virtually ruled American Automobile Association (AAA) and NASCAR tracks for several years.
Although appearing to look fat and heavy by today's standards, the Hudson's styling was in keeping with the then-popular "inverted bathtub" look. Fenders were fully integrated into the body and the slab-sided appearance was relieved by a mid-body styling line flowing from front to rear.
Along with the '48's new look, the car got a new, sturdier, side-valve 4.3-litre "Super Six" engine with full-pressure lubrication. It developed 121 horsepower, compared with 128 for Hudson's slightly smaller 4.2L in-line eight, and there were suspicions the new six's power was deliberately underrated to save the eight-cylinder's reputation.
The Hudson had an interesting choice in gearboxes. In addition to its manual three-speed with optional overdrive, it offered a semi-automatic, vacuum-shifted Drive Master or the overdrive-equipped Super-matic in which gear shifts were accomplished by briefly releasing the accelerator. A fully automatic GM Hydra-Matric came in 1951.
The 1948 Hudson's sales were 117,200, 42,000 more than in 1947 and the company's best year since 1929. With few changes for 1949 -- Hudson's 40th anniversary -- sales climbed to 159,100.
But the environment was becoming more competitive. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler now had its full lines of new models and consumer pent-up demand was almost satiated. Hudson again carried its main line over into 1950 with few changes. The addition of the lower-priced Pacemaker helped hold model year sales to 121,408, but this was about 25% below that of 1949.
When Hudson introduced the Hornet for 1951, it would prove to be the most famous model of all. With a 5.0L, 145-hp version of the six, and more easily on tap with the factory's "severe usage" (i. e., racing) parts, the Hornet's powerful, sturdy engine and good handling made it the king of racing, posting 80 AAA and NASCAR victories from 1951 to 1955. Hudson's 1951 sales increased to 131,915.
Nineteen-fifty-two marked the beginning of the end for the automaker. Despite the introduction of the new Wasp model on the Pacemaker's shorter wheelbase -- but with a more powerful 4.3L six -- and the briefly offered Hudson Jet compact, sales fell to 70,000. In 1953, sales fell further to 66,000. Nash and Hudson came together to form AMC on May 1, 1954.
Hudson's decline was caused by severe competition from the Big Three, a shortage of money for new styling and the lack of a V8 to fully compete in the horsepower race. Fitting the big six with two-carburetor "Twin-H Power" wasn't enough.
The attrition that eventually swallowed all small independents would remove J. L. Hudson's name from the automotive scene in 1957, by which time the cars had become little more than disguised Nashes, derisively called "Hashes."
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