As a Newbie I'd be interested in any comments or opinions on the Red 1942 Hudson Pickup with the later Twin-H Engine Conversion and Commodore garnish which is in the Cars for Sale section of Hemmings online. There's a fair amount that isn't original outside and inside...but it seems well appointed and in good shape.Price is high, but what about the car itself? I've been looking for a 42 pickup for awhile, and a 51-53 Twin H Hornet Four Door ... to no avail. Thanks in advance.
It's always more helpful to post a link:
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/hudson/unspecified/1689681.html
Expensive? Couldn't build it for that. No, not all original, but done very tastefully. I'd be interested to know what kind and ratio of rear end.
Rob, I don't know where you've been looking for these cars, but are you a member of the H-E-T? The White Triangle News is a good source for these things. Also, if you have any local Hudson meets going on, it's always good to attend, talk to the locals and make your wishes known. Sometimes these cars are known to be for sale by local folks long before they hit Hemmings or anywhere nationally. There are always estate sales going on, and also owners of collections are often paring back their inventory, and willing to listen to an offer. Ebay and Craigslist are always good sources. And sometimes something fluky happens, like a stranger driving his Hudson to a Hudson meet with a "for sale" sign on the windshield. A '42 pickup will be scarce. A '51-53 Hornet with Twin H will be somewhat less so.
As Russ says you couldn''t build one like that. The other factor is you'd have to find a '42 to start with. Write-up says only 43 (??) pickups produced in '42 - reasonable figure as there were only 67 commercial vehicles shipped out in the 1942 lineup. Since we know of at least one Commodore station wagon that leavels 66. A good bet would be some of these were taxi cabs. So, 43 for the pickups is reasonable. Which makes it very desireable to have.
The 308 twin-h conversion is quite acceptable. Hudson pickups were usually produced with the 212 engine. While rugged and dependable they were a tad underpowered for what they were used for. So a lot of them were converted over to the later 262 and 308 engines. So that really doesn't drop the value of said vehicle. One story I ran across was some stock car racers running 308's in their stock cars towed the car to the track with a Hudson 308 powered Hudson truck. The engines were set up in the truck in such a way they could quickly be taken out of the truck and dropped into the race car if the need so arose.
Hudsonly,
Alex B
Jon, yes I'm a member of WTN and have the March/April edition in hand. I'm keeping an eye out for the right Hornet!
I'm going to follow up on it. I think I saw this same pickup at auction in Auburn about three years ago. Wish it was more original with factory color and interior, but nevertheless it is well appointed.
Expensive , not original but very , very nice indeed!
I went ahead and purchased this '42 pickup. Seller was willing to substantially negotiate because the seller is Canadian, and the exchange rate versus the US dollar is such that he still netted an exchange gain over the couple of years he owned it. Vehicle just arrived and I'm very pleased with its condition and appointments (considering I relied on photos and phone calls only). The previous owner was Glen Kellogg in Michigan, longtime multiple Hudson owner and expert. Thanks to this site for providing the means to track Glen down, and I look forward to truckin' around in this fine Hudson!
Awesome! Congratulations. Please post pics when you get a chance.
Good news Rob ; as Russ said pictures are always good!
Congratulations on your purchase, Rob. 1942 is a fairly rare year for any make (Chevy and Ford included). For Hudson cars it's an ultra-rare year, but for pickup trucks it's ultra-rare.
May I suggest you contact Uncle Josh and give him the truck info so that he can add yours to the truck registry he maintains? He can also give you the contact info for fellow '42 truck owners.
Dropping a Hornet engine into a 6-cylinder Hudson pickup is almost standard practice nowadays and -- though I can't guarantee it -- I have a feeling it's a fully reversible "mod", should you want to go original.
Just how rare is this '42 - considering that only 67 commercial cars were shipped from the factory - this includes pickup truck and may include Hudsons set up for taxi cabs, etc - they are extremely rare. Since no production figures have been uncovered we don't know exactly how many pickups were made in 1942 but it's got to be quite low. Given that you couldn't buy a new car (or truck) during the 1942-1945 period they probably were well used. So to find one in decent shape would make it even rarer.
Hudsonly,
Alex B
Will post pics soon. I'm sorting a few minor items out; actually it's more to do with familiarizing myself with the car.
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