I find myself more and more drawn to fallen flags such as this 1952 Hudson Commodore Six club coupe. It’s always thought-provoking to think back to a time when so many auto manufacturers dominated the U.S. market and then slowly, things began to consolidate around what became the “Big Three”, which today is more like the Detroit Two and a Third. With that thought, let’s take a look at long gone Hudson and see what they were offering their bigger competitors in ’52. This Commodore is located in Salinas, California and is available, here on craigslist for $12,000. Thanks to T.J. for this tip!

Hudson wasn’t long for this world, as a complete independent, in ’52 as their lash-up with Nash in 1954 would create American Motors and by the end of the ’57 model year there would be no more Hudson labeled models. In ’52, Hudson was still trying though – they offered five different models, including the Hornet, Commodore 8, Commodore 6, the Wasp, and the budget-minded Pacemaker. For the sake of some sales comparisons, Hudson came in fourteenth place in ’52 with about 70K total units moved. Their soon-to-be merger partner, Nash, showed up in tenth place with double the sales volume at 154K copies. Number one Chevrolet found 818K new or repeat customers, over ten times Hudon’s volume.

The seller claims that this Club Coupe is one of only 500 assembled and that could well be the case. According to “Wild About Cars Online“, 1,472 total Commodore Six sedans were knocked together in ’52 so that would mean 972 four-door sedans in addition to the claimed 500 coupes – completely plausible. The “step-down” architecture was still in play in ’52 and the lines of this Commodore are unmistakably “Hudson”. The seller mentions that this car spent 5o years with one family and has been garaged but needs to be restored. The body appears to be straight and sound, even the finish, which looks like Toro Red still presents well. Unfortunately, the front bumper, grille, and headlight bezels have lost their chrome luster and are now painted silver.

There are no images of the 127 gross HP, 262 CI, flathead, in-line, six-cylinder engine but it should look like the above image. Regardless, this one is a non-runner though the engine does turn over. Backing up the six is a GM four-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission.

The interior is intact though, as the seller, suggests, the upholstery and carpet could use a further cleaning and apparently the headliner needs help too. Assuming that the upholstery is original, it is what Hudson called “Six-tone Bedford Cord” upholstery trimmed with “Dura-fab”. The instrument panel in this Commodore is “busy” but it’s in complete and clean form, festooned with a lot of chrome-plated detail. The original Hudson radio is still in place but a later vintage cassette deck has been affixed to the bottom edge of the dash.

So, why didn’t Hudson perform better on the sales, and survivability front? Hard to say but deep pockets usually have a lot to do with it. Ford and Chevrolet were battling it out in the early ’50s and the resulting downward pricing pressure, something Ford and GM could absorb over the long run, made it harder for smaller competitors to offer the same level of features and engineering expertise at a matched price. Hudson’s reliance on flathead engines probably didn’t help the cause either. Anyway, this Commodore Six looks like a sound project for a back-to-stock restore – it’s complete and hopefully the engine can be rejuvenated without a major undertaking. The challenge will be finding a new owner who has the interest level to take it on, right?