Advertisement for the 1954 Hudson Hornet

The Hudson Hornet was an automobile produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1951 and 1954. The Hornet was also built by American Motors Corporation in Kenosha, Wisconsin and marketed under the Hudson brand between 1955 and 1957. Image File history File links HudsonHorAdvert54. ... Image File history File links HudsonHorAdvert54. ... Hudson Logo Hudson Six-40, 1914 1917 Hudson Phaeton The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1957. ... Nickname: Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Location in Wayne County, Michigan Coordinates: Country United States State Michigan County Wayne County Settled 1701 Incorporation 1806 Government  - Type Strong Mayor-Council  - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Area  - City  143. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Nickname: K-town Keno Kenowhere Location of Kenosha within Wisconsin Coordinates: Country United States State Wisconsin Counties Kenosha Settled 1836 Government  - Mayor John M. Antaramian Population  - City 96,845  - Density  3,795. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

1951-1954

The Hornet was introduced for the 1951 model year and was based upon Hudson's "Stepdown" design, which was introduced for the 1948 model year with the Commodore. These cars were available in two and four-door sedan, convertible coupe and hardtop coupe. The Stepdown was a design which merged body and frame into one structure. The Stepdown's floor pan was recessed in between the car's frame rails instead of the entire chassis being perched on top of the frame. Thus, a person stepped down into a Hudson.

Hudson Hornet 1951

The Hornet was powered by Hudson's H-145 high compression 308ci in-line L-head (flathead) six engine with a two-barrel carburetor producing 145 hp at 3800rpm. In 1952, the "Twin-H" version of the engine was introduced with dual one-barrel carburetors which produced 170 hp. The engine could be tuned to produce 210 hp if equipped with the factory 7-X modifications, introduced later. During 1952 and 1953, the Hornet received minor cosmetic enhancements, and still closely resembled the Commodore of 1948. For the 1954 model year, the Hornet received a major redesign, which was quite the undertaking because the Stepdown's design, which had the frame wrapped around the entire passenger compartment, dictated the car's shape, and thus a major retooling was required. The 1954 Hornet also received an updated interior. Although the redesign put the Hornet on par with its contemporaries in terms of looks and style, the update came too late to boost sales. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Hornet model year production saw 43,656 units in 1951, 35,921 units in 1952 and 27,208 units in 1953. In its final year before the Hudson merger with Nash-Kelvinator, 24,833 Hornets were produced.

NASCAR Fame

Winner Marshall Teague beside his Fabulous Hudson Hornet racecar at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1952, courtesy Florida Photographic Collection

During 1952 Hornets driven by Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas and Tim Flock won 27 NASCAR races driving for the Hudson team. In AAA racing, Teague drove a stock Hornet that he called the Fabulous Hudson Hornet to 14 wins during the season. This brought the Hornet's season record to 40 wins in 48 events, a winning percentage of 83%, a remarkable feat for a six-cylinder car. Image File history File links C015983. ... Image File history File links C015983. ... Marshall Teague (February 17, 1922 - February 11, 1959) was an American race car driver. ... Winner Marshall Teague beside his Fabulous Hudson Hornet racecar at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1952, courtesy Florida Photographic Collection The Fabulous Hudson Hornet was a famous NASCAR Grand National (now NEXTEL Cup) and AAA stockcar driven by Marshall Teague. ... Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set. ... Marshall Teague (February 17, 1922 - February 11, 1959) was an American race car driver. ... Herbert Watson Thomas (April 6, 1923–August 9, 2000) was a NASCAR pioneer who was one of the series most successful drivers in the 1950s. ... Tim Flock was one of NASCARs early pioneers. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... Winner Marshall Teague beside his Fabulous Hudson Hornet racecar at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1952, courtesy Florida Photographic Collection The Fabulous Hudson Hornet was a famous NASCAR Grand National (now NEXTEL Cup) and AAA stockcar driven by Marshall Teague. ...

1955-1957

In its final three model years, the Hornet became a product of the newly formed American Motors Corporation. Following the 1954, Hudson's Detroit manufacturing facility was closed and production of Hudson models was shifted to Nash's Wisconsin factory. All Hudsons would be based on the senior Nash models, but would have exclusive Hudson styling.

In 1955, Hudson emerged as a conservatively styled car. Sedans and hardtops were offered, but convertibles were not offered. For the first time ever, the Hornet could be ordered with a V8 engine. The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders. ...

For the 1956 model year, AMC executives decided to give the Hornet more character and the design for the vehicles was given over to designer Richard Arbib, who provided the Hornet and Wasp with one of the more unique looks in 1950s which he called "V-Line Styling". Taking the traditional Hudson tri-angle, Arbib applied its "V" form in every conceivable manner across the interior and exterior of the car. Combined with tri-tone paint combinations, the Hudson's look was unique and immediately noticeable. However the car's garish design failed to excite buyers and Hudson Hornet sales skidded to 8,152 units, off 4,978 units from 1956's 13,130. 1953 Hudson Wasp Hollywood Hardtop 1955 Hudson Wasp 1956 Hudson brochure shows the makes unique V-line styling that took its cues from the 1954 Hudson Italia and the 1931 Hudson Greater Eight The Hudson Wasp was an automobile produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between...

The solution to the V-Line styling was to apply more ornamentation to the cars, including fender "finettes" atop the rounded rear quarter panels for 1957 and consumers reacted by buying only 3,108 units.

Production of the Hornet ended on June 25th, 1957, shortly before the first few 1958 Hudson and Nash models, based on lengthened 1958 Rambler platforms, were to ship. The cars were rebadged as Ambassador by Rambler. it was one of the most wanted cars of its time.

In 1970, American Motors resurrected the Hornet name for their new compact which replaced the Rambler American. (See AMC Hornet) Logo used by AMC 1954-1969 Logo used by AMC and Jeep from 1970-1987. ... The original Rambler was an automobile produced of the Thomas B. Jeffery Company then by its successor, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and finally, by its successor, American Motors Corporation (all in Kenosha, Wisconsin). ... 1970 AMC Hornet coupe The AMC Hornet was a compact automobile made by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) beginning with the 1970 model year and continuing through the 1977 model year. ...

Trivia

Racecar built to resemble a Hudson Hornet

• The 2006 film, Cars, Paul Newman provides the voice of a Hornet named Doc Hudson who was the winner of three straight "Piston Cups" in the 50's. Subsequently, the price of Hornets on sites like eBay have risen considerably.

• The DVD Yank Tanks shows the owner of one in Cuba.

• Jim Warfeld owns and operates the Raven’s Grin Haunted Mansion in Mount Carroll, IL. He purchased a few wrecked Hudsons from a local junkyard and has used them as props in several locations around the grounds of the mansion. The unfortunate vehicles are placed in very undignified positions, and parts have been removed by collectors or vandals throughout the years, but these classic corpses are still unmistakable Hudsons.

• In the Comic Book, Cartoon TV Series, The Adventures of Tintin by Herge, a Green Hudson Hornet stars as Mr Baxter's Car in Destination Moon and Explorers On The Moon [towards the end].

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 485 pixelsFull resolution (1027 × 623 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 485 pixelsFull resolution (1027 × 623 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Cars is an Academy Award, BAFTA, and Saturn -nominated, Golden Globe-winning animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, presented by Walt Disney Pictures, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. ... This article is about the American actor. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into List of Cars characters. ... eBay headquarters in San Jose eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal) eBay Inc. ...

Resources

• Gunnell, John, Editor (1976). The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. American Motors Corporation. ISBN 978-0-87341-096-0. 
• Conde, John A. (1987). The American Motors Family Album. Kraus Publications. ISBN 1111573891.