Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular, are great sources for old cars that have survived the ravages of time. The good weather, dry conditions, and car culture tends to keep more older cars on the road than elsewhere. So, I’ve developed the habit of searching through the LA craigslist somewhat regularly, mostly for fun, but also in hopes of finding interesting old cars to write about for Barn Finds. Today I was thrilled to spot this amazing 1922 Hudson Super Six Phaeton touring car for sale here on craigslist in the Westside/South Bay area of the city.
The pictures provided convey the overall condition of this car. According to the ad, the Hudson has been off the road for a long time, and wears tags from 1956.
There are not too many Hudsons on the road today; only 28,242 were manufactured in all body styles that year. In 1922, most cars were still open, and the phaeton was the largest open car that Hudson offered.
The 1922 Hudson Phaeton is really a beautiful car and even in this condition it is easy to imagine what it could look like, once restored.
It would be great to know more about this car’s history, who owned it and drove it for more than thirty years, and then why was it parked some sixty years ago. Where has it been hiding for all these years?
Hudsons of this vintage and body style are desirable collector cars, and while expensive to restore, this example looks to be well worth while to put back into driving condition. But what’s it worth as it sits?
I’m assuming there are some Hudson fans reading this and will be interested to hear what they think of this car.
Here are a few links to interesting websites I found while trying to learn more about this Hudson.
It’d take some doing but I think it’d be a great project for the talented or well heeled restorer. Looks like someone tried to make a pickup truck out of it with a Saws-all, too bad….
An incredible find indeed, but “Emails without offers will not be contacted!”??? Could someone really make an offer based on just these few pictures and no description? Restoration would be a huge undertaking. I hope there’s someone capable and willing to take it on. It would have to be a labor of love as restoration costs would be beyond the value of this car.
David — while it’s a stupid statement, it’s easy to work around by making a fairly high offer that the seller is obviously angling for, with the caveat that the offer is subject to buyer’s personal inspection, and once there, having had a chance to talk with the seller, explain that the car is in worse condition than expected. That opens the door to making a realistic offer, and the reasons for the new lower offer.
Another realitivley unappreciated brand. How many of these do you suppose were melted down to make Sherman tanks and bombs? The scrap drives of WW2 were the biggest destroyers of classic cars. It makes survivors even more interesting.
Definitely too bad about the hatchet-mod job on the rear. Not much left to work from on this car, but it could be a real treasure for someone restoring a similar model. Ditto on the lame emails without offers message. Who would write something to off-putting?
Some sellers are really unrealistic when it comes to the demands made on interested parties. I look at CL daily and the nut jobs, lame pics and general lack of information never cease to amaze me.
Part of the problem with CL is you get a lot of spam reactions on your listing, and people trying to weed them out which will repel also real buyers.
Idiots ruined the front bumper and broke the running light pulling it out of the yard they found it in. :(
weird how the front license plate is covered up in one photo but plainly visible in two other photos
I wondered about that too. Guessing some of these pics from original seller where it was “found” and others from current seller. That may also account for the missing bumper. So this might be a flip in progress.
I think the Okies did the cutting so they could fit their family and all of their belongings in and on the vehicle before heading out west.
Yes, and the 2nd & 3rd generation okies own half of Silicon valley now. Makes the rest of us look pretty dumb.
I don’t think they were thinking that far ahead!
Hard for me to see this one being restored. Probably best a parts car. I imagine there are one or two of these in need of some of the more hard to find parts so as to complete a restoration.
Cool car. Why do people block out the license plate numbers? On something this old do they think some scammer is going to go after their great grandparents?