We could refer to this car as an H cubed! Most have heard of a Hudson Hornet but a “Hollywood” model designation is a new one on me. Besides the fact that this Hudson is a 1956 model, it could be a rolling billboard for that long-ago year by virtue of its tri-tone exterior and liberal application of shiny bits – it’s a looker! Found in St. Louis, Missouri, this triple H is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $9,100, reserve not yet met.
By ’56, Hudson was fresh off of its 1954 merger with Nash, thusly creating American Motors. The famous Zepplin-shaped Hornet was redesigned for ’55 with a decidedly non-Hindenburg bearing and then vanished after ’57. At that point the Hudson name was no longer used, having been replaced by American Motors and Rambler. The full-tilt Hollywood hardtop (better make that 4 H’s) was introduced in ’55 and continued through ’57 for a total count of about 5,700 copies.
Nothing is said about this Hudson’s past so whether it is a survivor or a resto example is unknown. The odometer reads 63K miles but there’s no claim to that recording. The images do the talking and this Hornet looks great in its oh-so-fifties way. There is no indication of rust, crash damage, or missing trim, and the paint depth of all three shades is outstanding – probably indicative of a redo. The continental kit is a subjective feature, one that I would prefer to jettison, but I’m sure it has its fans. Note the size of the grille! Fortunately, it doesn’t appear to have suffered any parallel parking interaction over its many years of existence.
Hornet power comes about via a 175 HP, “Twin-H”, 308 CI, in-line six-cylinder engine – that’s a lot of six! We’re told that this Hornet has a tidy engine compartment, which is self-evident, but there’s no word regarding its operating prowess. A Hydramatic automatic transmission gets the power to the rear wheels. Unfortunately, that Hydramatic gearbox is not equipped with an overdrive ratio as the differential ratio is 4.10:1. That must make for noisy highway encounters!
The interior, I find, is quite a bit blander than the exterior. It appears to be in pretty fair shape, the upholstery, door panels and carpet show well, the entire mash-up is just not as noteworthy as the exterior. The standout feature is this car’s A/C system (remember Nash-Kelvinator and its refrigeration business), but unfortunately it’s non-working and missing some parts. Additionally, the horn, fuel and oil pressure gauges are on the fritz. It’s good to see that seatbelts have been added.
This is a pretty rare automotive encounter, made more so by the demise of the Hudson brand name after 1957. And the fact that it’s not the typically found Ford or Chevrolet from the era just adds to its allure, wouldn’t you agree?
These cars tend to be looked down upon by Hudson enthusiasts because they are really Nashes (usually called “Hashes”) – no more Step-Down design with superior handling. However, Hudson engines were retained for six-cylinder models.
(sigh) They’re not Nashes any more than Chevrolets aren’t Pontiacs, Dodges aren’t Plymouths, and so on for all the other false comparisons. Nothing interchanges except the rear doors, trunk lids, rims, and bumpers.
So mid/late ’50s gaudy – I LOVE IT! It’s in my favorite green too. A little disappointed in the blandness of the interior, but that might be saving it from being way too over the top. Too bad it’s the age old tale of no money or room.
Love the Hollywood stepdown and never cared much for these. That was until I was driving along and saw one in person. It was black and coral. Like you said the mid 50’s gaudy. I changed my mind. Now this one, have to agree again the green does it for me too. Writing this while wearing a green Hawaiian shirt. What could be more natural? Well maybe a bear in a Studebaker.
I like oddball cars and this fits the bill. But the seller’s website shows an asking price of $28K – for that kind of dough everything should be in working order IMO.
Stupid asking price. Who wants this except a very old codger such as myself. Not many of us left. Why not make it reasonably priced so someone younger who might actually love it could afford it? If we want to keep this “hobby” going, we need to make it affordable for a new generation. Greed will kill this hobby, if it hasn’t already done so. Face it, snotty nosed trust fund babies will never want this. They want 60 muscle cars, but not because they grew up with them or could truly understand them, only because it is what is presently popular. Once the draw goes to Japanese tuner cars, that is what they will want. Their motives are not pure, they smell pretty badly. Of course, 60 muscle cars (super cars for all of us old enough to know what they really were called) are a horrible long term investment and some of these idiots will lose a bunch, though I guess many will not care or even be all that effected. (or affected)
Looks as if I passed the torch, spot on, pal.
Every generation has its quirks
And
Every generation has its set of drugs
And
Every generation has its music
And
Every generation haunts the previous ones
I personally cant handle the knee hanging pants or the rap ho music
But
My generation certainly drove some people into a rage
As for the cars
The price goes with the demand
Seller can ask all he wants/ dreams and also choose to keep it cause no one will buy it until he adjusts to demand
YOLO
That big Twin H six is quite intriguing. A tip of the hat to the prior generation.
This car is awesome! I admit though I was hoping the interior color scheme would be as impressive- and interesting as the exterior’s.
True story – the interior is exceedingly bland, in fact vis-avis the fabulous exterior, it is a total turnoff.
My favorite year of Hash.
I’d even live with the continental kit.
Plus the Hudson 6 ?
There is definitely a place reserved in my dream garage. Right next to a “60 Comet.
You would think the seller would have found a wheel cover for the spare.
They may have one, but if they left one on there, rest assured some joker would steal it.
Who orders a car with a flamboyant, three-tone exterior and puts a sea of beige inside? It’s like someone forgot to check a box and the car got the “default” interior at the factory.
Exactly, CC Fisher. My mom bought a 1964 Ford Fairlane ,New, ordered it in October 1963.
She loved the Teal color and ordered it, thinking the interior would be teal. When the car came in she was very disappointed. The car itself was teal, but the interior was light brown.
Lesson learned to specify!
American Motors tried their darndest to make a Nash look like a Hudson. They weren’t too successful.
You’ll get some argument on that because almost nothing interchanges.
The Hollywood models were more special on the bathtub stepdown cars. They had unique chrome and rooflines and added a kind of “cool” that was not usually found when driving a Hudson in the era of tri-5 Chevs and 300 Chryslers. When the movies finally got around to making the sequel to “Chinatown” Jack Nicholson’s character in “Big Jake” drove a Hollywood. Great car, forgettable movie. As a footnote, we learned that without 7X parts, you could re-jet the carbs and add a 262 head for added compression and power. This car is essentially a 1952 mechanically with a 1955 body.
Actually it’s a ‘52 Hudson engine in a ‘52 Nash body.
The only thing I would change on this would be the ownership
Sadly overlooked in the day because of the bad publicity on the then-constant losses by the new AMC, the ’55-’57 senior AMC cars have found many new fans.
The ’56 Hudsons were styled by Richard Arbib.
I remember my childhood pastor had Hudson/Nash/American Motor cars. This had a rather unique door handle. You had to squeeze it up and pull. Most other cars, push the button in the handle or pull it out to open. Just wondering if the seats recline like the other Nash/Hudson vehicles?
Those don’t interchange, either.
The continental kit was standard on many of the top-line Nashes and Hudsons of this period.
Wow! 308 c.i flathead six. That’s more than 51 1/3 c.i. per cylinder. add 4:10 rear gears and automatic I’d guess about 8 or 9 mpg. I’d definitely try to find a higher rear gear ratio setup. Those a/c parts are probably unobtainable. Might want to change most or all of the system. Appearance wise it’s sweet as Pecan pie. Not likely you’ll see another one in the near future. I think a neighbor had one back in the fifties. Probably the last time I saw one in person though. Best to all.
God Bless America
You are about right. Friend had that same setup in his Hudson Big Boy and got around 8 to 10mpg. My 40 Super Six with the 212 would get about 25mpg. Remember being in a Hornet with the standard 308 going down the road about 75mph just as easy as you could imagine. Hudson built some really nice cars.
Just to jazz up a nice car, I would put a hubcap on that rear-mounted spare or a tire cover over it. Right now, it looks ugly with that bare wheel showing.
Standard equipment on the outboard spare was a dog-dish hubcap as used on the Wasp models.
As a child my seat was drivers side rear while my younger brother sat behind Mom. M grandfather had bought a ‘56 Hudson Hornet Special in the tri-tone blue. He passed it down to Mom & Dad and it was ours until the early 60’s when Dad bought a ‘62 Impala SS with a 327. The Hornet had a blue tweed pattern interior. This one? Way to many Benjamin’s.
These have a 4 speed hydramatic and will cruise along easily at 70 mph on the highway. I have the Hudson Rambler with the same trans and it has a smaller engine and does just fine.
I wonder back in the day if it was common for these exterior spare tires to be stolen from these type of cars, jeeps, etc.
& is there a lock available?
Imagine going shopping & coming out of a store to see your spare tire is gone.
Spare-tire locks clamped around one of the two lugnuts holding the outside spare to the bracket, Without one, a thief needed only to have a lugwrench and pop off the decorative hubcap.
Incidentally, the factory-correct hubcap supplied on the spare was the “dog-dish” type, standard on Wasp Super and Custom models, though Hornet Custom full-wheel covers occasionally were mounted without great criticism from purists.
No, back in those days common theft was not a problem. It became a problem with the Civil Rights legislation of the early 1960´s, if you get my drift.
I found one of these in a shed at a salvage yard in N Georgia many years ago while hunting parts for something. I bought it, and scheduled to return in a couple of days with a trailer. Owner pulled it out into the yard, and when I showed up to claim it, I found it had been strategically positioned underneath a school bus by someone who hadn’t got the message.
Oh well, nice to see one here.