Hudson Motor Car Company
1909-1954
Hudson Motor Car Company was one of the most respected of car companies right from the beginning, both for the build quality, and for performance that was unmatched in their price range.
<--- This is a 1912 advertisement for the quiet Hudson.
In 1903, E. R. Thomas began producing cars in Buffalo, New York. That year, while still a test driver for Olds, Roy D. Chapin sold out his share in the Automobile Equipment Company and invested in the Thomas venture. Also on the technical team was engineering star Howard Coffin.
Chapin left Olds in 1906 to form E. R. Thomas-Detroit to manufacture Thomas cars in Detroit.
In 1909, Chalmers bought into the now-struggling venture and renamed it Chalmers-Detroit. Later, when Maxwell and Chalmers combined, a lawsuit resulted. Coffin and Chapin, who had whipped up a design for a new, faster, smaller car, sold out their shares in E. R. Thomas-Detroit. Hugh Chalmers joined up with Coffin, Chapin, Frederick Bezner, and James Brady, each putting up $1500 toward the venture. Roy D. Chapin convinced department-store magnate Joseph L. Hudson to back his new idea, to the tune of $90,000, and one consequence was that the name of the new company was the Hudson Motor Car Company.
Hudson was a leading maker in sales from the beginning, and for a long time was a very viable concern.
Changing conditions and failure to modernize eventually forced a merger to cut production costs, and in 1954, Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator Incorporated to create the now legendary
American Motors Corporation.
A 1920 Hudson Racing Ad
Here is a car-spotter's guide from 1938...
1937 Hudson Terraplane ad
from The Illustrated London News March 12, 1937.
The final Hudson design, the "Stepdown". This Hornet convertible is from 1954, the year Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to produce American Motors Corporation.
