Ok , I found some photos to show what I meant . Theone that show the full dash is of the original wheel and horn button. Only on a few cars .
And the gauge set is the most common 48-49 fuel and temp gauge you will see. I could not find a Hudson example of the horizontal needle I mentioned but the third photo demonstrates it. The one Alex mentions is the one that starts with the 1950 cars. Th Speedometer and clock were round on 48-50 cars .
Roger

I found an example of both types side by side for you ,
Roger

I found an example of both types side by side for you ,
Roger

Thank you Roger! When I get home in june I will be able to figure out which type i have in my 1949. I do have some pictures of the dash, but both of those gauges have fogged over where it is impossible to see where their needles are.

Thanx for the pics Roger - I was under the (apparently mistaken) belief that the horizontal gauges were rectangular. I could swear I've seen that configuration - perhaps on later Hudsons (1950 up)

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

No Alex you are correct - we are just talking about two different things . The 1950 had the fuel and temp gauge not round but square / rectangle shape.
Roger

There was also a difference in the driveshaft. Some of the earliest models had no "H" frame that held the center support,just a small cup looking support. Also,many '48's didn't have the provisions for the felt wiper transmissions,protecting the wiper cables under the hood,just slots. I have also found a few that had a much shorter mud flap. On one of those,I also saw the wire loom in the trunk went over the top of the underside where the trunk hinges bolt,was a sedan. I believe convertibles had this as a standard location. All '48's and some early '49's,only had the battery box bolted into the frame. I expect they started welding them to insure good grounding, since the ground from the engine to chassis is located on the box itself. My Hudson friend Wendell Stump had an early '48 C6 sd.,and it didn't have the full rear step plate-[2 screws under the rear seat cushion]- and didn't have the support reinforcement plates or the white looking chalk,sealing the plates down. The dash on a '48 is much darker than a '49. "49's have a distinctive blond color and the '48 had a much darker base. Other things I have wondered about both '48's and9's,is that alot of times you see the safety latch on the hood has fiction tape on them,wound many times. I suspect they must have rattled and the fix was wrap it in tape?

Dr. Doug wrote "alot of times you see the safety latch on the hood has fiction tape on them,wound many times. I suspect they must have rattled and the fix was wrap it in tape? "

Really high tech back in those days - today we'd wrap in in duck tape and it would never rattle. 😛

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Thanks for posting the pics Roger. I was having and still have some computer problems.After I posted on the Classic site, my computer stopped working again....So I couldn't post on this site. The one on the right was taken from a September 491 146762, 1949 Super Six four door, sold new in Oklahoma.When I got the car to restore back in 1972 (?) It had about 65K miles and was parked back in mid 50's due to a burned exhaust valve in #6. Otherwise didn't have any signs of being "worked on". The one on the left is clearly Commodore for 48-49. One rather odd thing is... The guage positions are swapped! So someone could easily get thier wires crossed! LOL

David as far as the guages go they would be functional in any 48-49 so could have been switched at any time since new . Making it difficult at this time to tell what was where for sure .
Another thing came to mind reading Doug's comments on the dash finish. I was told the top flat area where the speaker is on 49's had less shine to it. Seems the 48 models got complaints of glare off the dash from the high gloss finish,
Roger