I’m still stuck in the Wayback Machine, now contemplating a 1923 Essex two-door sedan, produced by Hudson. Unlike the 1924 Nash we just featured, this example is wearing an older restoration, and it runs and drives well. It’s available here on craigslist for $6900 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (visit the AACA Museum while you’re there – it’s just down the road). Rocco B sent us this tip – thanks!
Essex was founded as a standalone division of Hudson in 1918, aiming to carve out market share in the affordable portion of the price spectrum. Its first cars were tourers since they could be sold cheaply, but later, the company wrangled its way into the closed-coach niche, eventually undercutting the Model T’s price. The brand persisted into 1932, when it was replaced by the Terraplane. Like the Nash we just reviewed, the Essex offered more power than the 20 hp offered by Henry Ford’s ubiquitous T: the engine here is a three-main, 179 cu. in. F-head four-cylinder, good for about 55 hp. Braking is supplied by mechanical drums in the rear, while gear changes are courtesy of a non-synchro three-speed sliding gear transmission. The seller notes his car “has not run in three years”, but the fuel system has been rebuilt. A small oil leak is coming from “a rear seal”- if that’s the rear main, it’s like a rope seal.
The interior shows every bit of that “older restoration” the seller mentions: it’s spiffy in here! Cloth upholstery was typical, though later Essex offered leather. As is typical of cars of the era, the starting procedure involves hand controls on the steering wheel.
The Essex’s paint has seen better days. Note that tail lenses are mounted only on the left fender – sometimes a buyer could opt for another set at extra cost, but this brand was in the business of affordability, so options were few in the 1920s. The top is complicated, comprised of a steel frame, wood bows, batting, and a weatherproof fabric covering. Finding parts – should the need arise – will be a challenge for the new owner of this Essex. The club, while it exists, has little information posted – just a smattering of events. A handful of Essex cars have shown up for sale over the years, but most are of the six-cylinder variety. Prices range from mid-four-figures to over $20k for outstanding examples. Would you ever own a car from the 1920s or 1930s?
It runs and looks to be in great shape! What a cool car !
The price tells the tale on these old vehicles. $6900 for a beautiful car that would take little to make it roadworthy. Interest wanes, and that’s a crying shame.
I am very interested, but $$$. 😐
It’s sad how these cars have been crowded off the roads due to increasing speed limits, and these cars’ inability to keep up.
Soo . . . a doctor got “handsy” with the woman he was examining. She exclaimed, “Doctor, what happened to your ethics!”
He replied, with a lisp, “I traded it in for a Hudthon!”
A landmark car, that really popularized closed bodies. My Aunt Betty told me of how one of her old boyfriends had one, in high school or not long after. It would have been about a 20 year old car at the time.
My Granddad loved Hudsons and
bought them til they went belly up
in ’57. The last one he owned was a ’52 Hornet 4- door sedan with twin H power and a 3-speed
with O/D. And I do believe he owned a ’35 Terraplane sedan that he bought new. As for the Essex, the last one I saw was a “33 Essex roadster restomod built by Frankie Spittle from Charleston SC in a 1969 issue of
Rod & Custom Magazine and boy, what a car it was too! All stick outside with a 327 Chevy V-8 hooked to a T350 auto tranny. Even nearly 60 years on, whenever I see the word Essex, I
still think of that car. It impressed me so much that I bought a copy of the magazine just to have the pictures to use as
a pattern to make prints from even then. I think there might’ve been one running around our town as I saw it at an antique car
show at the Eastland mall in ’68
I think. Not sure if it was a ’23 or
’24 as my memory is not what it
used to be but it was a 4-door sedan painted green and black and it was in near mint condition.
And when the show was over, I recall that it was driven out under
it’s own power and driven home by it’s owner. I did a drawing of it
and my Mom glued it to a cutting board and put clear varnish on it.
Then, she took it to work with her and sold it for $10! I made extra
cash making them for other people my folks knew. Hey, I made enough money to buy and
fix up a ’59 Volvo PV 544 my freshman year in highschool. Makes me wonder if folks would still be interested in that kind of
thing these days.
Eastland Mall, in Harper Woods, Michigan ?
No Timothy, Eastland mall in Bloomington Illinois. I’m sure there were a lot of Eastland malls
around, but I think ours may have been one of the first ones built. Ours opened in 1967 and it was quite a big deal back then. I mean where else could you shop,
have lunch or dinner, and watch a
first run movie in the same place
and under one roof? When it opened, people from miles around came there just to see it!
And it had stores that our down
town area didn’t have. Places like
Al Baskin, Musicland, Tom McCann and many others. And the big draws were Sears, J C Penney, and Woolworth’s. And on
a sad note, I recall what it did to
our downtown area too. By 1972,
most of the department stores left. And when they did, our down town died with it. Kresge had just
opened a huge K-Mart store out east of town and the other retailers followed suit. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Every year, the mall would have it’s annual old car or street rid show which brought in the young
motorheads like me. And now, the malls are dying out as people
order from Amazon, Temu, or Door Dash. So what’s next? Who
knows. All I know is that I miss a
a place where you can see, buy, and do things all in one place. And once a year, you could see a
nicely restored car that you could
actually touch if the owner let you
do it. It was stuff like that got me
into the hobby and man do I miss
it!
Ken, the same thing happened in Monroe, Michigan, where I now live. The mall was built in the 80s and Downtown Monroe dried up. Now the mall is trying desperately to hang on.
Ken, the same thing happened in Monroe. The mall was built in the 80s and Downtown Monroe dried up. Now the mall is trying desperately to hang on.
Please don’t leave your wayback machine anytime soon. I enjoy it as a refreshing change from all the 50s/60s/70s Fomoco and GM products
Thanks, William! I have another oldie on tap – stay tuned, it’s a couple days away.
Just deliver the car to me and I will take good care of it. 😊