Tina,

Do you have any idea where the car was in past years, such as an old inspection sticker?

People may recognize the car if you provide some details, such as:

Color
Body style
Model (for i938: model 83 is Custom six, 84 is DeLuxe eight, 85 is Custom eight, 87 is Country Club eight, 89 is "112" six.)
Any unusual ornament or feature people who have seen the car may recognize. For example, in tracing the history of a 1951 Hudson, pictures were posted. One former owner recognized the heads of two bolts he used to attach an original Hudson radio to the dashboard (he didn't have the original bracket to support it from underneath the dashboard). Another former owner recognized the somewhat unusual set of gauges he had installed beneath the dashboard! It was possible to speak with all the owners back to the early 1980's. The first of these owners said that he bought the car without any knowledge of the car's history.

Per

[quote="Christina Harding" post=18677]I have a 1938 Hudson and I am trying to find out the original owner of the car, or any history, I have looked on line and have been unable to enter my VIN # to get the history of the vehicle, can anyone help in directing me on how to do this?
Tina
Hi Tina,

If you have the VIN number you can try a search on here; if it's recorded then there will be details there.

Use the "Member" selection on the top of the screen and from there select "Find a club vehicle". That screen will allow you to enter the VIN and try a search.

Good luck!

Tina, when you say "VIN" number do you mean the car's original serial number (which might be 5,6, or 7 digits long) as sound on a small metal plate on the front post of the front passenger-side door?

Or do you mean a number that might have been retroactively assigned to this car by the motor vehicle department? That would be an arbitrary number that is many, many digits long (like your modern car's VIN) and will have no relationship to the original Hudson number.

Tina, not to be a naysayer bur realistically the chances of finding the original owner and tracing the cars history are right up there with finding Amelia Earhardt. I can't think of any state that has kept their registration records - tho some have digitized some of their records but who knows how far back they go.
As someone suggested you should search the club registry links - a shot in the dark, but who knows, it may have found it's way into the club at some time or other.. But, the HET club is only 60 years old and even the club records might not go back that far. All you can do is look for it.
Good Luck.
Hudsonly,
Alex B

I notice that Christina has not replied. She originally posted her message under Suggestions & Comments. It was moved to Hudson, but no message was left in Suggestions and Comments to let her know. Since this is her first post, she may not be looking around, and just be wondering why her message disappeared. Could someone put a suitable message there for her or send her a message?

PM has been sent

I have attached a photo not sure if you can open it, I took this recently since its in storage and I don't have much access to take good photos, I pulled the file and I see there is a # may be a Vin 8714844, I did a search on this website to see if it was registered earlier and I don't see that it was, I bought this car in Denver CO in 2004 from William Lauer, it was in a (museum) that my husband and I took a tour in and bought 2 cars from them and drove them home to CA, that was an experience. I see William was also in your club from the paperwork I also say a John C Benson from Los Angeles had a 1000 mile inspection done at one time, I am wondering where the car might have been before me, and William. I appreciate your responses or any info you might have for me.
Tina

Wow, Tina! In addition to being beautifully preserved, your car is quite rare: The model 87, "Country Club Eight", long-wheelbase sedan, a limousine-like car (without the "jump seats" or divider glass) with all the bells and whistles. Very few "senior" Hudsons were produced in model year 1938, and even fewer of your long-wheelbase model were made that year. (Hudson, in case you didn't know, produced the "Terraplane" and "Hudson 112" cars as well as the regular "Hudson" in 1938, and this year was perhaps one of the two or three lowest production years for the Hudson nameplate.)

In our on-line registry, your car is listed as being owned by a couple in New Zealand! So, obviously, something is wrong with our database!

In an older digitized roster of 5,000 Hudson cars, I discovered your car once again, this time owned by the Mr. Lauer you mentioned, of Tustin, Calif. (I can supply you with a street address and phone number if you wish, but this listing may be very old). I have access to no other rosters.

In your pursuit of former owners you might also want to check with the person who maintains the 1938 roster, who is Steve Walsh, at HETSteve@FiresideHome.com (please delete the HET portion, before mailing!). Of course, if none of your car's previous owners bothered to register it with Steve, he won't have them listed.

I assume you're a member of the H-E-T; I hope you get that beautiful car out to car shows and meets -- not only at your local H-E-T Chapter, but mixed-make ones as well. The general public needs to see these cars, and the older ones (and especially Hudsons) seem to spend their time residing in garages and not out where people can see them!

Jon, Thanks so much for the information, I think William (Bill) Lauer has passed but you have given me some valuable information I can work with, Thanks Again. P.S. any idea what its worth?

Tina

Jon, me thinks you are reading the registry incorrectly. Remember the vehicle is listed first, then the owner. We actually did not have the vehicle listed and I did not make the association to Tina until this AM. I can make an association to Bill Lauer, last known address appears to be in AZ, but all he has is a 1957 Hudson listed. Many of our ownership connections were lost in the old database (it could not contain previous owners, only current ones.)

Aaron

Christine, unfortunately I cannot offer any sort of valuation on the car, and I think it will be difficult for even a professional appraiser to do so with any accuracy. So few of these cars are ever sold, that it is impossible to arrive at any sort of price pattern. With a more common vehicle of the era -- say a Cord, or a Ford -- you need only consult auction results to find out what folks are paying, then average the sales price to find a median. However, it could be years since the last '38 Country Club changed hands. (You yourself may have been the latest buyer. And you may have either paid way too much, or gotten yours at a "steal".)

I took a quick look at the NADA antique price valuation on the internet, and they say $14,750 (for "average retail") and $22,200 for "high retail", but these types of quotes leave so much to be desired. It all depends on who happens to be shopping when you are selling.

Aaron, the online registry listing on the car has changed since this morning when I last posted.
At that time, under the Hostetler listing there were two listings for '38 sedans (one of them having Christine's serial number), followed by the name of the New Zealand couple. Naturally I assumed both cars belonged to the NZ folks.

Now, I find that Christine's name has appeared under the listing for her car (and above the New Zealand car) so obviously when I was doing my search this morning, you had just entered Christine's car in the database, but hadn't added her name yet at the end of the listing!