(first posted 8/15/2012) Maybe I should start a new series: Psychedelic Outtakes. This is about the fourth or fifth time my camera has suddenly flipped out on me, but at least it picked a good subject this time. This Hudson Hornet convertible is pretty far out, man, even in unaltered vision. Dig this, but then get ready to crash, and see it in the stark sunlight of reality.
This mildly-customized Hornet is a pretty regular customer at this shop; last fall we took a look at its engine’s innards. But this time, let’s take in some of its gaudy exterior and interior details. The step-down Hudson (full CC here) tends to remembered mostly in its fastback sedan form, which makes the convertible “feel” very different then the sedans. One of the more memorable butts in autodom.
Me thinks Hudson was trying a bit too hard to compensate in the ends of its aging body, that was pretty seriously out of date by 1953 or so. Reminds me of Mae West, in her later years. Is this the Mae West of cars; seductive despite being out of date?
Rhinestones; or the reflective equivalent. How’d you like something like that on the back of your Subaru?
Which end has more chrome, by raw material? And, no, that’s not a “stock” paint scheme, along with the wheels and a few other details.
Now that’s a sight. I can imagine a few reflections driving this with the top down. Ray Bans to the rescue.
Dual-Range Hydra-matic. Yes, that does rather fit the character of this big boat more than a manual. The lack of a Park pawl is a bit disconcerting. When’s the last time you used the parking brake in an automatic?
For those that missed it last time, or can’t ever get enough of a big (308 cubic inch) flathead six, here’s it is, minus one of its air cleaners. It was in for some new motor mounts. Can’t likely order those from J.C. Whintney.
Uh oh; something mighty boxy seems to entering the Hornet’s rear end. I’m Sure Mae would approve.
Beautiful car really no other way to describe it
Wow! this is gorgeous!
I’m also digging the yellow,purple roofed business across the street. 🙂 Is that a 1964 Chevy convertible on the lift as well?
PS- first picture begs the question: Where’s Lawrence Jones been lately?
When’s the last time you used the parking brake in an automatic?
Five years ago, on the last drive in my Corvair before I sold it.
And I must say, it took me a few years before I stopped setting the parking brake every time I put an automatic-equipped car into “Park.” 🙂
Never could figure out if the lack of a parking pawl was to save money, or if it was a lack of space.
I think it was a space and configuration issue relating to fitting otherwise relatively standard Powerglide bits into a Corvair transaxle. Conversely, a PG Corvair is one of the few automatic cars that can be push started.
I use the parking brake out of habit, auto or manual 🙂
I haven’t used the parking brake in more than 30 years, since my parking brake froze solid one time after I drove over slush-covered streets and the weather turned cold afterwards while the car was parked for a couple of days. The only way I got the car to move was to get under it with a hair dryer to thaw the mechanism.
I drive a delivery car for Autozone in Kentucky. A basic 4 door Ford Fiesta, Automatic hatchback. kind of a cheap crappy car. (the inside door handle broke off in my hand! The car is 2 years old, with under 30k miles!) I use the parking brake if parked on a steeply ramped parking lot of a business. Hate to try to explain to the boss why the car slipped out of gear. I know, highly unlikely, but still..
Nice Hudson.
I think I’m one of the few people who uses the parking brake with an automatic. The Focus and Mustang have pull up brakes where as the T-bird has a foot pedal. The pull up brakes are easy to use an apply and the T-bird has an automatic parking brake release (vacuum operated).
B, double o, t-y, oh my. (A 90s reference for the gen-xers out there.) Love everything about it.
That’s a great colour combo for that car. Love it!
And I always use the handbrake. Much better than putting strain on a gearbox.
I remember that my aunt’s 55 Oldsmobile had no Park position but Reverse functioned as Park with the engine turned off – so she always yanked the lever into Reverse and shut off the engine when we stopped. Paul, I’ve only been in Eugene once but I remember it as pretty flat so I guess you’re not using the parking brake much? Here in SoCal there are plenty of mountainous and hilly areas where you need to use it; hence, I do so all the time.
The Mae West comparison is perfect for this overdone version of the Hudson. I also like the colors. Back in the 50’s all Hudsons looked so old fashioned in this kid’s eyes. Of course I rarely, if ever, saw a convertible in small town midwest.
Nice to get another look at this convertible. And although it’s not stock, I like the two-toning. Even the Chevy rally wheels look good with the whitewalls.
Oh, and I usually use the parking brake on my automatic wagon. If I don’t set the brake, I usually get visions of it rolling down a hill and over a cliff. Or into the river.
I thought this essay was a continuation of our revisit to 1967! Regardless, in psychedelic visions of Through The Looking Glass or plain old digital, that is just one pretty automobile! Wonderful photographs, Paul! That paint literally glows in the bright sunlight.
I believe the Hornet was a top player in the early days of Nascar. In a sense, this would be akin to looking at a convertible version of a ’69 Hemi RoadRunner.
Wow, that vehicle is awesome! However, driving with the sun in your back and reflecting off all those chrome must have been a real pain.
I remember the first time I looked inside one of these step-down cars and saw that the steering column and shift lever were chromed. I’d never before seen that, even on Caddies, Lincolns, or Packards.
My ’58 Plymouth didn’t have nearly so much chrome on the instrument panel, but I found that the chrome it did have tended to reflect my shirt color.
Where did the Twin-H-Power badge go? AGB
Good noticing. This Hornet was upgraded to twin-H power by this shop, last fall.
Wow, what a car!!!
Yep, nothing else needs to be said really.
The transmission in that Hudson is a GM Hydra-Matic. Somewhere along the way, a few years later than this, a park position was added to the Hydra-Matic. What about other early automatics? Which ones came with park from the get-go? The original engineering objective was to automate the gear changing and clutching/declutching functions. There’s nothing about that which necessarily leads to including a park function.
Even the original Torqueflite did not have park.
One of my all time favourite car designs. Bathtub never looked this good, and with a V8-beating smooth six to boot. Enough said.
Wow, I missed this yesterday. Fabulous.
We were talking the other day about the oversized windshield header on the Miata convertible? Well, here is its Grandaddy.
On the parking brake thing, I use mine when I park on hills. I know that the early Torqueflites lacked a Park feature as well. In my 59 Fury, that was standard procedure – push the N button and yank on the brake. The Park lever was not added until the early 1960s. I know it was there by 63, but I’m not sure when it was added. Who needs a parking pawl in the transmission when there is a great big ol’ drum brake on the driveshaft?
I drive a automatic TP Cruiser and set my parking brake every time I park it.
Beautiful car. I like the 2-tone paint, and the wheels fit it nicely.
I use the parking brake in all our vehicles regularly.
I’m a regular parking brake user too.
We had one guy where I worked who always used the parking brake on Moby Dodge, the great white D-150, and this in a completely level shipyard. Unfortunately this was only a reflex action on his part so he didn’t step on it very hard, with the result that the next driver would hop into the truck, fire it up, back away from the building, drop it into drive, and wonder why the truck wouldn’t move. It wasn’t very many miles before that parking brake wore out.
Can’t remember the last time I set the parking brake. Anyhow, that Hudson is beautiful. My town has a huge car show in early August. It’s usually the only one I go to, only as a spectator, not showing any cars. I could never understand people parking their cars at 8 AM and sitting there all day, since the show actually starts at 4 PM. Well, to each his own.
In this years show, a Hudson 2 door of the featured vintage was parked. I distinctly recall the large speedometer and clock on the dash. This car was 2 tone yellowish beige and darker brown, with reddish brown leather (?) seats. Just a great car. What struck me odd was an old picnic basket and a man’s straw boater hat were in the back seat. I’m sure those items were just for show, but it was a unique sight. Most cars contain ball caps, umbrellas, and other modern items. Those antique items sure put a nice finishing touch on a beautiful car. Like being whisked away to 60 years ago.
I would pay extra for a camera with that feature (man). I think the Mae West analogy on the rear end was perfect too. I wouldn’t throw it out of my garage…
Unfortunately, it does it only when it feels like it. And it doesn’t last long.
There’s probably a technical name for it, but i nominate ‘cool’!
I use the park brake all the time, as it’s actually braking the wheels. Putting a transmission into Park and hoping it’ll hold isn’t always safe. I was in a Mitsubishi L400 van in a stationary row of vehicles in a supermarket carpark some years ago, and was T-boned by a driverless Mitsubishi Lancer which came down the slope to my right. The Lancer hit just behind my driver’s door (right side being in right-hand-drive NZ), and hit hard enough to twist the B pillar so that the door didn’t latch once I’d opened it. The Lancer had been left in Park at the top of the slope without the park brake on. My L400 was 3 months old, so the insurance company decided to replace the entire right-hand side. No new sides were available, so they had to order one from Mitsubishi. It took 3 months to arrive and be fitted, which was horribly inconvenient and cost the Lancer’s owner plenty. So will I ever leave my car in Park without the park brake on? Not on your life!
These Hudsons were before my time, but I always liked them. When I was little, and there were a few still roaming the streets in the sixties, my Dad would point them out to me and explain the “upside down bathtub” reference.
As for the parking brake issue – I always use it, be it automatic or stick. I even go one step further. When I stop in an automatic (be it on a hill or level ground, it doesn’t matter), I pull the emergency/parking brake, and THEN put the car in park. I don’t want the weight of the car resting on the transmission. If I’m in a stick shift car, I put the car in neutral when I stop; set the parking break, shut the engine off, and then put the car in 1st or Reverse (always opposite of the downhill direction if applicable). This may be overkill, but better safe than sorry. Oh, and I even turn the wheel towards the curb (if on a hill) when parking “Curbside” as an extra measure. These all may be outdated practices, but it’s what I learned when I learned to drive.
This pissed off my stepson once (he has a stick) when I parked his car. He came into the house screaming, “Why did you leave the car in gear?!?!?!?”. Apparently, he failed to notice and failed to put it in neutral before he started it, and it learched when he hit the starter. I asked him, “Why did you try to start it while it was in gear?” I suppose he was never taught that in lieu of an automatic transmission’s park setting, you’re supposed to use first or reverse as “park”.
+1 First parking brake, THEN transmission to P.
If vice versa, sooner or later the load on the trans makes it almost impossible to get out of P. Can’t be good for trans and/or linkage. Too much force required.
When parking on a hill in a manual trans vehicle always put it in the gear that represents the direction that gravity would make the car roll. That way rolling will turn the engine in its normal direction creating maximum compression and thus resistance to rolling away.
No need to put the parking brake on before you put it in park, just don’t release the service brakes until you’ve set the parking brake. That will prevent the load on the parking pawl too.
While not many places will issue a ticket it is still the law in many areas that you do turn the wheels when parking on the street if there is any grade. To the curb if down hill and away from the curb if pointing up hill. I have seen places where they have posed signs stating to turn the wheels and citing the city code. Presumably one would get a ticket if an officer drove by, noticed it, and didn’t have anything better to do.
“Apparently, he failed to notice and failed to put it in neutral before he started it, and it learched when he hit the starter.” Which of course is why mfgs started adding the clutch switch in the starter circuit.
This sedan is in my neighborhood. They are trying to restore it
I always use the handbrake. For me it goes back to the days of manual cars, when pulling on the handbrake was just what everyone did. I’ve carried that over with all of my cars, whether manual or automatic. Though I have noticed when I pick my current (auto) ride up from the mechanic, it’s always in park with the brake off.
Beautiful car and I really love the dual-tone paint job. BTW is the trunk slightly ajar or is the trunklid really that ill-fitting?
I use the parking brake on my auto Focus wagon at least once a month or whenever parked on a slight incline. Still works great. Reg. use keeps it from seizing up; learned that the hard way years ago.
Hydra-Matics used the reverse gear to lock the rear wheels when parking, woe betide if the engine stalled while you were backing up ! .
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I love this car and I’m _not_ a rag top kinda guy .
Nice ’62 Chevy II on the hoist too.
Growing up in rust country I learned in the 1960’s to remove old park brake cables and clean well, coil them up and soak in 2″ of new anti-freeze, they’ll never seize up again .
-Nate
I always use the parking brake. Always have, stick or auto. When I park, I keep my foot on the brake, put the car in park, then set the parking brake–especially when I’m parking on an incline.
I park my automatic every time::
>> Park gear.
>> Parking brake, pedal depressed.
I park my manual every time:
>> 1st gear
>> Parking brake, pedal depressed.
If you are parking your manual trans vehicle and gravity would make you go backwards you should put it in reverse for maximum resistance of the engine to turn.
Magic happens. That distortion is a great way of showing off that great shape.
Thanks for showing this car. The non-factory two-tone paint and the fancy wheels serve the car well. What a nice boat!
I’ll take the Nova convertible on the hoist. Great find, both of ’em.
And good to see that are some garages that still work on older cars.
Mae West will never be out of date!
When I looked at the Hornet, one thing that jumped out was those reverse lamps stuck on the boot. I had never seen any on my friend’s several Hornets and Commodores, which he owned for a while before graviating toward Tatras.
Could they be aftermarket equipment or dealer installed options in some states where they are compulsory?
Your friend must have a things for curvaceous cars (and Mae West?). Can’t say I blame him…
Oh, yes! Let’s see what else he had…
Yeah, Nash Ambassador, Citroën DS, and pehaps a few odd orphans whose names have forever eluded me.
Nash Ambassador was a no-go after soaking the stuck engine with litres of Coca-Cola in hope of dissolving the rust. Its body was so ugly that the neighbours secretly conspired together to ‘send it off’ to the pasture. That’s his tin-foil thinking.
Desirée was an unrequited love for him and a hypochrondiac that required hours and hours of complicated operation procedures to set her right. Not to mention the sheer frustration, which led him to spew expletives that would pale Captain Haddock…
+1 My thoughts when looking at that, were that the height and placement would be exactly where someone standing behind the car,slightly bending over would end up resting their hands. Hence after market,or owner installed. No car is designed like that. But one often see owners placing stuff wherever its most convenient , least acrobatic motion to install, while ending up looking very indiscreet.
Great car.
I have always set my parking brake, flat surface or hill. I believe it prevents putting tension on the trans somehow.
And remember the Fords that would slip out of park ?
My folk’s 66 Mercury wound up rolling down the hill and smashing itself. We had always thought it was neighborhood hoodlums, but after reading about their tendency to let go while in “park”, I have always set the parking brake on every car I’ve owned.
Living in rust country, I use my parking brake on occasion just to keep it operational. It is part of our annual inspection so the easiest way to keep it working is to use it. I don’t use it in winter because of freeze ups.
Last fall I replaced the rusted parking brake cables on a customers recently purchased 53 Kaiser Manhatten. The shift quadrant appeared the same as this Hudson. After I did a little research I learned you’re supposed to shift to reverse once parked and shut the engine off . This in turn locks up the transmission output shaft (i.e. Park). I tried it a few times on a incline and it worked. Don’t ask me how . Still it is absolutely essential to have a functional parking brake if you wanted to exit the car while it’s idling . A little strange to get used to. To start off you must then move the shifter from reverse to the opposite side neutral while holding the brake pedal or parking brake to start the engine.
There *is* a parking pawl in the transmission that can engage when the selector is in the “R” position. It is kept from engaging when the front transmission pump is making pressure i.e. engine is running. When you shut the engine off, transmission pressure falls to zero and the pawl drops into place.
I always use the parking brake. And with manual trans I usually put it in gear, as well, though in our level garage I just leave it in neutral. That habit was instilled in me after I turned the key in my mom’s car parked in our carport when I was about 12 years old, and it lurched into the woodpile about a foot in front of the car. After that, she stopped leaving the keys in the car 🙂
I still have a snapshot of my parents’ friends’ Hudson Hornet, parked curbside in front of their house sometime in the early ’60’s. If I can find and scan it, I’ll post it at the Cohort site.
Happiest dash board ever
I took my driver’s licence driving test with one of these Hudson’s back in 1961 (sedan, not a ragtop). It was a borrowed car from a friend’s father. Then I got my $35 1951 Chev to tool around in. Damn those Hudson’s were cool cars!
I recently switched to an automatic car but the truckie in me sets the parking brake, I laugh every time some muppet calls it an emergency brake try that in a Citroen go on I dare you. the parking brake acts on the front wheels.
I’ll just park this one here. This is the usual paint division on two toned stepdowns. But not the usual colours.