Hudson Pickup Trucks?

[ateball]

Wondering if any of you have actually had actual contact in-person with a Hudson P.U. truck?

In their day, were they considered an equal to Ford/GM/Dodge/Studebaker P.U.'s?

Did they have anything novel, that set them apart from the other makes?

1947 Hudson Commodore Super Six Pickup Truck


Restored 1946 Hudson P.U.

[reverend]

A guy down the street from me had one back in the 50's. We used to take the hood off it and use it as a sled. That made the fastest sled in town! He was always getting mad at us. I also got two hoods off these trucks and welded them together to make a boat.
For a truck, they seemed pretty dependable and strong.

[ateball]

Reverend:

Thanks for those memories.  Can't say that I remember seeing a Hudson Pickup on the street, but when I was a wee little guy back in the 50's no doubt some passed by me on the street while I played or was outside.

[StillOutThere]

I started a restoration of a '46 Hudson pickup that was mostly disassembled when purchased.  As it went along I realized that I, at 6' 2" tall, was going to be very uncomfortable in the 90o upright seating position and riding on that incredible stack of rear leaf springs that will carry any load one could ever possibly put into that large bed area.  So I sold it to another enthusiast with a stronger back who completed the restoration.

One misconception about these trucks.  ALL of them from the factory had the 212" splash oiler 6 cyl. engine.  There was no option of the Hudson 8 cylinder.   The truck was "adequate" with the six but really much more capable if given more power.   Many Hudson dealers ended up swapping in 8 cyl. engines from used or wrecked vehicles and later big sixes from the '48 and up stepdown Hudson cars, eventually including the Hornet 308" six.  All of these engine swaps were virtual bolt-ins so a great number of trucks have them.   But only the 212" six is original.   

Hudson built pickup trucks and other light commercial vehicles continuously from 1934 forward.   I also restored a 1934 Terraplane pickup. 

[ateball]

I started a restoration of a '46 Hudson pickup that was mostly disassembled when purchased.  As it went along I realized that I, at 6' 2" tall, was going to be very uncomfortable in the 90o upright seating position and riding on that incredible stack of rear leaf springs that will carry any load one could ever possibly put into that large bed area.  So I sold it to another enthusiast with a stronger back who completed the restoration.

One misconception about these trucks.  ALL of them from the factory had the 212" splash oiler 6 cyl. engine.  There was no option of the Hudson 8 cylinder.   The truck was "adequate" with the six but really much more capable if given more power.   Many Hudson dealers ended up swapping in 8 cyl. engines from used or wrecked vehicles and later big sixes from the '48 and up stepdown Hudson cars, eventually including the Hornet 308" six.  All of these engine swaps were virtual bolt-ins so a great number of trucks have them.   But only the 212" six is original.   

Hudson built pickup trucks and other light commercial vehicles continuously from 1934 forward.   I also restored a 1934 Terraplane pickup. 

Thank you for the wealth of information!  Sounds like those Hudson P.U.'s were built like tanks; just needed a more "oomph" in the engine bay.

Wonder why they weren't more popular if they were so stout a p.u.?

[46HudsonPU]

Wondering if any of you have actually had actual contact in-person with a Hudson P.U. truck?

In their day, were they considered an equal to Ford/GM/Dodge/Studebaker P.U.'s?

Did they have anything novel, that set them apart from the other makes?

1947 Hudson Commodore Super Six Pickup Truck


Restored 1946 Hudson P.U.

The restored example you show in your post is actually my truck - so I am quite familiar with them.      I actually have 3 Hudson pickups, but the 'Blue Goose' (as I call him) is the only one that currently moves under its own power.   

My tan '46 Hudson - being disassembled with the intent to be a 'retro-rod'...

My '39 Hudson 112 Model 90 1/2 ton pickup.  Very rare, probably less than a dozen known to exist, in any condition...

My '46 Hudson pickup (Blue Goose) -

I think of these trucks as the Ranchero or El Camino of their day.  They were way ahead of their time, having front independent suspension 20 or so years before any of the 'Big Three' put it on their trucks.

You can see more picture of my trucks (and a LOT of others) here -
http://classiccar.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=photos&task=myphotos&userid=46498&Itemid=78

And here is my little website "White Triangle Trucking" - http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeryru7/

[ateball]

What a small world!  I post pics of the Hudson p.u., and the owner is on the same forum!

When you mentioned El Camino or Ranchero of it's day, I can see what you are saying.  The front end styling is more "car like", that "truck looking".

Also the comment about the independent front end is interesting. 

Hudson was the first with their "step down" design to the body on their cars.......like the Hornet.  This must have lowered their center of gravity considerably, and is why they ruled the NASCAR tracks for years.

Back in the early 60's here in the South Bay area of California(San Jose), we had an unincorporated town/area right on the end of the South part of S.F. bay called "Alviso".  It was a sleepy little ocean/bay town with marshes, slews, and was used for the most part as an area of evaporative ponds for producing table salt from ocean watere.

Anyway, there was  small dirt racing track in Alviso back then that featured some very exciting racing on Friday/Saturday nights.  My dad, along with an old WW2 buddy of his took me to that track, and Hudson Hornets were the main racing cars there.  I still remember the firey flames from the exhausts on those Hornets.  Seems like the straight 6 exhausts exited straight out of the side of the engine as the flames from those engines came out on the upper side of the engine bay/hood area.

Those Hudson were loud and fast as I vividly remember.  A real "hoot" to watch.  Sadly, the old Alviso track disappeared, and so did our San Jose Speedway.  Folks who bought homes built near the SJ speedway complained to the city of the race track noise on weekends.  They won, racing fans lost, even though the track was there before the houses were built that had the complainers living in them.

Now if I want to see some exciting dirt track auto racing I have to drive about an hour either South to Watsonville, Ca's to the Santa Cruz County fairgrounds track,  or an hour North of San Jose near Tracy, California to the Altamont Speeedway.
********

[StillOutThere]

SNIP:
Wonder why they weren't more popular if they were so stout a p.u.?

Hudson's problem was typically one of marketing and management combined.  They had begun as a really excellent engineering firm but those engineering advancements tapered off over the years, the last significant one being the stepdown unibody design and really nothing to tout after that.  Management was an older group of men aging over the years and not promoting younger men with ideas from within or from outside.  And marketing was similar with Hudson's overall advertising after the late '30s being marginally effective.  The stepdown brought millions into the showrooms but in that year of 1948 there was no longer a truck in the showroom for sale.
Also, the Hudson, underpowered with its six cylinder was about 10% higher priced than the Ford with its V8 and fully adequate power.