Vintage Snapshots: Hudsons and Their People In Their Best Era

By
– Posted on August 4, 2025

Text by Patrick Bell.

As the 1948 sales brochure stated; “This time it’s Hudson”.  I’ve never had any experience with one, as they were all about gone in my part of the world by the time I became aware.  They had a storied reputation over the years, but were one of the independents that could not keep up with the big three in the postwar boom.  Today, we have several from the “Step Down” generation, so let’s take a look.

Our first image today was an “All New” ’54 Hornet Convertible Brougham, with the “All New” description straight from the sales brochure.  It was a style refresh in the last year of the step down model introduced for ’48, and the last year for a Hudson convertible, unless you count the Hudson badged Metropolitan of ’55-’56.  It was dressed up with an aftermarket two-tone paint treatment where the yellow appears added, twin mirror/spotlights, a hefty grill guard, as well as an early issue Maine license plate issued in ’56.  There was a ‘wing’ style decal in the right lower corner of the windshield and an ‘American Legion’ tag above the license plate.  That could mean the gentleman was a veteran, possibly of the Korean war.

This obviously was a Hudson household, with a keeled over ’48 or ’49 model on the left, and at least 2 more ’48-’53 models on the right.  For another view of the featured car check out this previous post at CC HERE.

Here was a group of four (including the photographer) out for a Sunday drive, or perhaps traveling to a special event in a ’48 or ’49 Commodore Club Coupe with dirty whitewalls.  The Commodore was the top of the line of the two series and the Super was the other line.  Both series were equipped with a choice of a 262 cubic inch “L-head In-Line” six cylinder with 121 horsepower, or a slightly smaller 254 cubic inch “L-head In-Line” eight with 128 horsepower.

Everybody was having a good time on the day this image was taken.  The youngster was sitting on a ’48 or’49 Super 4 door sedan with a license plate that is difficult to read.  But the colors and unusual font point to a ’48 North Carolina issue.  The neighborhood looks fairly typical with houses likely built in the thirties, but unusual as the street was not paved.  The car in the background looks like a ’41 Pontiac.

A couple made a roadside stop for a photo opportunity on a sunny but windy day.  They were riding in a ’48 or ’49 Commodore Club Coupe with a Washington state license plate used from ’54-’57.  It was registered in Spokane County, where the seat is a city with the same name.  Optional extras included a visor, back glass shade, two tone paint, full wheel covers, whitewall tires, and a bumper mounted trailer hitch.

The Sackman children (I presume) were posing in front of the family’s close to new ’51 Commodore Custom 4 door sedan with an Ohio license plate. The youngest one was checking out the neat grille medallion that lit up at night.  It also had a visor, driver’s side mirror/spotlight, and a passenger side mirror.  And it looked like a warm summer day.

This image is part of a collection of photos taken by a gentleman north of the border.  His son labeled it “Some of my dad’s friends”, and it was in the late ’50’s in Calgary, Alberta.  The car was a ’52 or ’53 Hornet 4 door sedan with some damage on the lower part of the rear door and quarter panel. The location looks like a park, perhaps they had a celebration of some sort that day.

A ’50 Custom Commodore 4 door sedan was posing with a scenic backdrop on a twisty road in the hills of somewhere.  It had a license plate where the location information is unreadable, along with some aftermarket equipment; a windshield tint band, half moon headlight covers, driving lights, and at least one curb feeler.  The cowl vent was open but none of the windows on this side were, so perhaps a nice moderate temperature for a day drive.

Two salesman looking types were hamming it up while stopped along the road.  The lead car was a ’48 or ’49 Commodore Club Coupe with a ’49 or ’50 Nash Airflyte following, both of them underdogs in the market.  The Commodore had the antenna (above the windshield) in the down position, a “Shearer Motor Club” tag on the bumper, and was dirty from road splash.  Plus it’s vent windows and cowl vent were wide open, so a warm summer day.

A hot shaggy dog was not cooperating with the photographer while the two ladies were wishing he would hurry up.  They were leaning on a new looking ’48 or ’49 Super 4 door sedan with a visor.  The housing development looked fairly new as well, with young trees and shrubbery.

And for the final shot of the day a young couple posing with a nice, clean ’48 or ’49 Commodore 4 door sedan with possibly a South Carolina license plate, plus a set of fog lamps.  Everything was green so a sunny early summer day.

Thanks for joining us and have a great day!

 

More Vintage Photos Here