As 1954 dawned, Hudson was running out of road as an independent company. Later that year it would merge with Nash-Kelvinator and form American Motors Corporation. It was a difficult time for car manufactures, Willys and Kaiser Motors had recently performed a marriage of necessity and Packard was slowly getting painted into a corner, wondering what their next move would be. Hudson had, nevertheless, been pretty successful with their Hornet model. Introduced in 1951, this 1954 example is the first of their squared-off, or maybe more squared-off, designs. Listed as a survivor, this Hornet is located in Addison, Illinois and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $19,900. There is a make an offer option too.
The Hudson Hornet was built around an aerodynamic body shell and a “step-down” design that used depressed floor pans inside of a perimeter frame, as opposed to a body sitting on top of the frame. It created a real low-rider look, a roomy interior, and a refined ride. In 1954, Hudson offered three different Hornet models, a two-door sedan, a two-door club coupe, and a four-door sedan. Owing to this example’s slanted rear roofline, it appears to be a club coupe. In its last year of step-down design, Hudson rolled about 24K Hornets off of their Detroit assembly line.
The seller describes his Hornet as follows: “This Hudson Looks To Be All Original With Exception Of Its Long Ago Repaint and Having The Interior Redone At Some Point! The Entirety Of The Hudson Is 95% Rust Free. The Only Rust Are A Few Minor Bubbles Shown In The Video & Two Small Soft Spots Underneath. It Retains All Original Body Panels & Is All Steel“. There is a lot of looseness around the word “original” and I probably drift on it too. That said, a car cannot look to be original when it has been repainted and the interior has been completely redone (more on the interior later). And I’m not too sure that an “all original” status really matters. I’ll admit, this Hudson looks pretty fair but the finish is worn and there are multiple places where the paint appears to have flaked off. The chrome and trim do present reasonably well and this Hornet does not look like it has been the victim of a crash, mistreatment, or some other automotive mayhem. The underside checks out too, for the most part, though it does, according to the seller, have two soft spots. Here is a video that will give you a more complete, overall picture of this Hudson.
Under the hood is Hudson’s famous 308 CI, Twin-H-Power, inline, six-cylinder engine, and this Hornet has the twin carburetor, 170 HP version – very nice! The engine is connected to a GM sourced Hydramatic automatic transmission and, according to the seller, this Hudson, “runs and drives great“. Hudson had quite a bit of success on the race track with this Twin-H engine and the Hornet aero design. Between 1952 and 1954, Hudson scored 66 NASCAR victories. BTW, it looks like those distinctive air cleaners have been refinished and the seller admits as much.
Regarding my earlier reference to the interior, it looks great though the seller believes it was redone in the ’70s. And that’s good to know but again, draws away from the originality claim. The stainless dash trim and large gauge cluster are very typical for this era and are art-like in their bearing. The upholstery chosen for the door panels and seats may or may not be of the original pattern and material but they’re appropriate for this car. The carpet appears to have been replaced too. And yes, there is an original radio installed.
Looking around online, there are a few Hornets from this era available and the asking price, in this case, seems reasonable. This car’s biggest demerit is its finish and it is passable as is but will need eventually need attention. The nice thing about a Hudson is that in spite of it being a fallen-flag marque, it’s still a fairly common car with knowledge and parts that are within reach. This is a pretty decent collectible vehicle, originality or not. I guess the question is, how much interest do you think there is, today, for a car like a ’54 Hudson Hornet?
Would this be considered a ‘fastback’?
Saying “All Original With Exception Of Its Long Ago Repaint and Having The Interior Redone” is like saying ‘My gal is perfect the way God made her, except for the dyed hair and breast implants.’
Steve,
I’ll take a pair….
And your point is? Folks spend a lot of money for Restomods.
Let me spell it out for you. My point is it is NOT all original. Capiche?
Shoot, mine had to have new headlights installed and realigned too.
Mine had droopy headlights and a messed up grille….I’d rather walk…LOL
and thank god for that :)
https://youtu.be/GlMelKS0DWY
Hudson called this body style Brougham. Essentially a two-door sedan. The Club Coupe was entirely different.
Note the images on the right from the 1954 Hudson sales brochure, it’s either a Club Coupe or a Club Sedan.
JO
wow dad had one like it for years even about the same color like it
These were great cars, the “step-down” interior was a low-rider from the factory. I don’t remember many as a kid, and certainly none in my HS years, I don’t think the “Twin-H” was as popular an option as one thinks. Like every Mopar had a hemi, or every Chevelle was a 454, every Hudson coming down the pike today has a Twin H. Maybe someone can inform me, I just don’t remember many. Hudson was a quality car, a shame they went down.
Whenever a car company is bought by another manufacturer you can kiss it goodbye.
Ram trucks? Jeep? I know a minority!
Agreed, that,s a beautiful automobile.
I hope lots of people get to see a Hudson in person from whomever is the purchaser.
This is another one if I had the room, I wish was in my garage. I’d take it in a heart beat.
I had 2 of these.A ’53 I bought from a guy in New York – it was as rotten as a pear underneath – and a ’51 which came from California,which wasn’t!
Great cars. I had a 54 super jet, the first attempt at a compact car by an American manufacturer. It had the 66-cyl with dual carbs ( twin H-power)
I had the car in my early teens and raced around a dirt track in the field behind my house. Learned how to skid on dirt and snow. Eventually broke an A-frame bouncing over ruts. A friend converted the car to scrap a few years later and got the value of the steel from the junkyard. Loved that car and had lots of fun with it.
I had a Jet and the A-frame broke. I thought it was me.
This car, in my opinion, would look great Repainted as a Hudson Hornet “Black Widow”, with either Chrome reversed wheels, Rader mags, or American Torque Thrusts.
Another FLIPPER…
The more a Flipper says, the more they are distracting from the truth.
The Hornet was also available as a 2 door hard top called the Hornet Hollywood.
Hudsons are fascinating to me in that they got so much power out of a flathead in line 6 when others went to OHV V8s. I hear they were popular amongst moonshiners and racers.
Back in the day, someone put a Hornet engine in a Hudson Jet and raced in stock car races. Did fairly well. Great historical car here.
This model is one of the rarest of the stepdown Hudsons. The Hornet Special was only offered in 1954 and the 2 door brougham(two door sedan) was only available in Hornet form for that year in this model configuration. The reality was that they were clearing the shelves in anticipation of a merger with Nash. . The body is a basic Wasp body with a LWB front end. Weirder things happened on these models as well. Some cars had gravel shields that were chromed on one side and stainless on the other.Some had friction lock vent windows and some others had crank vent windows. A rare bird..Very desirable car. If you ever want a stepdown ,this is one of the rarest Hornets made. They run like scalded dogs. Ask me how I know. LOL
Pretty sure this would be called a 2dr sedan 2dr club coupe if memory serves the coupe had a shorter passenger cabin and a longer trunk. As for the power these motors could take large bore and stroke increase which is.what the racers and moonshiners usually did
just another Flipper
I Have a Oldsmobile Club Coupe I bought in 1963 from the original owner after I graduated from High School. We still have it and it is in our terms Original. The drive train and balance of car are as they came off the assembly line. The following was redone out of necessity. 1. All the chrome has been rechromed and the air cleaner and clock housing were plated. 2. The paint has been redone in base and clear coat. 3. The interior seats and carpet are refreshed. This it it, can’t tell from factory fresh other than paint and upholstery pattern.
TO THE POINT: Any one who is hung up on ‘original’ has never done a hands on restoration, we have done 6 so far. The fun is, try to replace ‘original’ brocade upholstery, the dull enamel paint only the military likes and miscellaneous mechanical parts. True you can easily build a box Chevy or ’50’s Ford out of a catalogue but a real original restore has to have some parts redone out of experience because they are just not available, please get hands on experience before defining classic car terms, just a thought DS Wenatchee WA Apple Capitol of the World
I don’t know how much such a car is really worth, but putting that aside, this would make a great DRIVER. Do a bit of careful work on the rust spots, but don’t over do that since the car is presentable at the local car shows just like it is. But mainly drive it, enjoy it and have fun. Not everything has to become a pebble Beach restoration project. :-) Terry J
My buddy Dave Bonbright has the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” that they used to model the “Doc Hudson” car from for the original’s; “Cars”movie voiced by Paul Newman..worth checking out on “Jay Leno’s Garage”…Wow
This would make a luxurious daily driver, but gas is $3.29/gallon.
I am going to guess this car was put up for sale because Jay Leno just did a video on his last week. The attention will surely raise the value.
Anytime I see a Flat Head Motor I want to turbocharge and intercool it.
Hudson Hornet just seem like the right car to start with, based on racing successes in the 50’s.
In 1960 when I was 16, I bought a 1954 Hudson Hornet, 4 door sedan. As I remember, I paid $120 Canadian. 100% original. I loved it. A year later I left for the Navy and I sold the car for $92.50! I heard that the new owner was in a wreck with it! Sad. I also had a 1949 Ford that “needed work”. Oh God if I had those cars today!!