I hope someone steps in and finishes this 1929 Hudson Super Six and returns it to the road quickly. The seller tells us they purchased it from a family friend after it had been stored for 30 years and almost has it ready to drive. It’s listed for sale here on eBay at no reserve and has only been bid up to $7,500 at this point. The Hudson awaits your purchase in Broussard, Louisiana.
I’m guessing this is the seller right after pulling the car from the barn. You’ll see that a little bit of spicing up has been done to the body with contrasting paint and a coachline added. The seller states that they purchased the car to act as a backup vehicle for their entry into the Great Race but since they have had to withdraw it’s time to sell the Hudson.
This picture is how the Hudson appears today. The seller has done a lot of the mechanical checking and reconditioning that would have been needed for the rally:
- New 6v battery
- Pulled the pan, cleaned screens and changed the oil
- Pulled rod and main caps to check babbit condition and clearances
- Rebuilt oil pump
- Rebuilt carburetor
- Rebuilt vacuum canister
- New plugs
- New electronic ignition conversion
- New copper oil and fuel lines
- New inner tubes (tires ok/useable but not new)
- Rebuilt the radiator fan assembly
- Flushed radiator and engine block
- Changed cork clutch fluid in the flywheel
- Changed transmission fluid
- Got radiator shutters functioning
- Got all lights working
The Hudson features mostly original green paint and has only just under 34,000 miles. While I was researching this post I was surprised to find several owners of this generation Hudson Super Six stating that the car was comfortable to drive in modern traffic and could even cruise at up to 70 miles per hour, with good stopping power from the four-wheel mechanical drum brakes.
The interior is also said to be all original and looks in slightly worn but just right for driving condition.
I was stunned by the ornate dashboard and found one source that claimed it was German silver (which is actually an alloy of copper, zinc and tin). Whatever it’s made of, I think it’s beautiful!
The engine is a somewhat unusual “F-head” design, where the inlet valves are conventional overhead valves in the cylinder head and the exhaust valves are in the engine block. Back when it was new the 288 cubic inch inline-six was rated at 92 horsepower. Now we’re told it starts, but has difficulty continuing to run due to the electronic ignition conversion needing de-bugging. Doesn’t this seem pretty inexpensive for an almost-running, solid car of this type? Let us know what you think!
Maybe they still have the parts to convert back to points/condenser ignition. Then when the big EMF hits the country, you’ll be tooling along in your Hudson while everyone else tries to figure out why nothing electronic functions.
I think you mean EMP, short for electromagnetic pulse. I used that rationale to get my wife to approve buying a 1964 New Yorker a long time ago. Just say “Hey, when that crazy guy sets a nuke off our car will still run.”
Great reply!
I took my drivers test in one just like this…except it was blue.
Gee Weasel, what year was that?
This is quite the car and it’s pretty amazing it’s in mostly original condition. If you’re into “motoring” as opposed to “driving,” then this is the car for you. Never drove a car this old though one day I’d like to. I’m curious what it will sell for though. It’s probably not as valuable as it used to be because the guys who liked these cars are long gone. I just hope it’s kept as is and not hot-rodded; that would be a shame.
German silver or nickel silver is an alloy of chiefly copper, zinc and nickel. No tin content.
Motoring? Driving? If you’ve never driven a car from this era then how can you know, or even imagine, how grand it can be? The guys who liked these cars are long gone because younger drivers have never driven one. However, many younger folk are hooked after driving a Model A in one of our museum classes. The license plate bracket on my 2015 ride says “I’d rather be driving a real car”. Some lucky person is going to buy this treasure and hopefully enjoy years of driving in style.
What a cool car. I would love to have something like this as a family car. Kudos to the owner for getting it ready but not hot rodding it. If the great race doesn’t work for the next owner, the Anthill Mob can use it in the Wacky Races. I also hope the next owner keeps it original. It looks downright rugged on those tires.
I used to watch that show too.
A Hudson Super Six took the Joads to California in The Grapes Of Wrath.
Thought it was a Dodge?
Love this car… Someday I am going to bring something of this vintage home.
These are fast cars. Police and sheriff’s departments used them. I believe the local sheriff in the Walton’s television program drove one of these?
35 MPHs is bout right (road conditions then – near hundred yrs ago), 70? not me…
That’s the sweet spot for our model a (15 mil made 80,000 left together another 200K ‘around’?) ie where motor, tranny, etc likes to rest on these flat asphalt rds round here…
I have a 1927 Hudson Model O sedan that I bought in 1960! As the Packard guys say, “Ask the man that owns one”. The engine is virtually identical the the ’29. The F head Super Six was used 1927-1929. The owner is 100% accurate saying these will cruise all day at current highway speeds. Once you have the wheels balanced and the steering geometry set correctly they are a joy to drive, smooth and fast. Passing a modern car on a four lane highway at 70 mph is a real hoot. Braking is also excellent with three shoe brakes on all four wheels that cover most of the drum surface.
The new owner of this Hudson will have a fun car for any tour or rally.
I owned one for twenty five years and it was a truly great machine. A few quirks some good some bad. There’s no dipstick instead a large pearl that floats on a device in the oilpan and rides in a clear tube. Also the gas guage converts to an oil guage at the press of a button. The bad, a device to heat intake air corodes part of the intake which is a pressed in pipe easily replaced but a pain in the ass if not watched. Minor water pump vibrations cause the pump to leak so you must keep an eye on the packing gland and keep a pan underneath to catch coolant. The Marvel E type carburetor is not what I would call great. No venturi but three little pipes that slober gasoline into the airflow and the floats hate new gasoline as it destroys the float quickly, substitute a Briggs and Stratton brass float. 4 suicide doors, are nice. Mine had wire wheels and sold a couple of years back for $14,000 a nicely sorted and restored machine.
There is a 29 Hudson on Craigslist in British Columbia for $12,500 that is a twin to this one except it has less yellow in the stripe along the mid sides. It was parked in heated storage for the past 59 years and is being sold because they are losing storage.