54 Hornet Hollywood on Craigslist

[Deleted User]

Worth for someone to check out. Looks like a good starting price to me...



http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/ctd/1379834471.html

RL Chilton

Looks like a lot better deal than the "project" 20K sedan in another recent post, that's for sure.

[Deleted User]

That is a nice looking car but the 54 just does not do it for me. 51-53 is where I am looking. It really is too bad, the car is just an hour away from me. I wonder if seeing it in-person would change my heart.

[Deleted User]

That seems like one heck of a deal. What am I missing. Seems like a lot of car for little money.

RL Chilton

mjsandbe wrote:

That is a nice looking car but the 54 just does not do it for me. 51-53 is where I am looking. It really is too bad, the car is just an hour away from me. I wonder if seeing it in-person would change my heart.

An hour away? Go look at it tomorrow! You might have a change of heart, '54's are really quite nice, especially HLWYD'S and 'verts. This one does seem like a lot of car for the money.



mjsandbe-



Send me an e-mail, I might have a lead for you as well on a '52 Hornet Sedan, if that's where your heart is.

[Deleted User]

I think my wife and I are going to try and go look at it tomorrow. I found what I think is the place in the yellow pages. I will also try and call them tomorrow but it is Sunday and they seem to be a business. I know to look at the exterior of the frame from the rear wheels back, any other trouble spots you suggest I look for other than the standard rockers, wheel wells, trunk, etc.



I think this is the place. Anyone ever heard of them?



Specialty Auto Wholesalers

6520 Edenvale Blvd # 106B

Eden Prairie, MN 55346-2564

[Deleted User]

Take a look at your membership roster... I believe there is at least one member there. If so that member might be a source of information about the car and dealer.



54 Hudsons while built using basicly the same components as the 48-53 cars they do have several unique aspects. The rear fenders and rocker panels are welded on. The Hood is a bit deeper in the front. Rust issues with these cars are usually found in the front corners of the hood... open the hood look carefully at the back side and bottom lip of the hood. The wheel wells and back of these areas are especially vulnerable to rust as the rear fenders are welded on and the weep holes and drain holes found in previous Hudsons are not there.... take a light and mirror and if you have gloves feel the inside of the wheel wells fender bottom edges. Rocker panels are also welded on and these become weak in the bottoms from contained debris and moisture... repairs are not difficult if done correctly... again make a close examination of the back of the rocker panels on the inside frame surfaces.



Car does look good and if I were closer, I would be looking at it too.

[Deleted User]

RL Chilton wrote:

An hour away? Go look at it tomorrow! You might have a change of heart, '54's are really quite nice, especially HLWYD'S and 'verts. This one does seem like a lot of car for the money.



mjsandbe-



Send me an e-mail, I might have a lead for you as well on a '52 Hornet Sedan, if that's where your heart is.

I sent you an e-mail, let me know if you don't get it.

[Deleted User]

This looks exactly like the '54 HHH that was on a trailer in the swap meet section of the HET National Meet in Auburn Hills. Same car or twin sister?

[Deleted User]

Swampy Meadows wrote:

This looks exactly like the '54 HHH that was on a trailer in the swap meet section of the HET National Meet in Auburn Hills. Same car or twin sister?

I just spoke to the seller on the phone and he said it was at the recent MI Hudson meet so it could be the same. What did the car look like in person?

[Deleted User]

mjsandbe:



It looked really sweet. Newer leather interior. Solid all around. I didn't hear it run of course, but I liked it enuf that I wrote the sellers name and number down so that in case I happened to come across $14,500 (his asking price at the time) I could grab it.

Ol racer

FYI

Keep this in mind, If the car checks out okaY as it appears in the description, its a nice price



I learned from experience that its far cheaper, quicker, and easier buying a completed car, rather than doing a complete restoration .....

nick s

I was suprised by the price and even more so that it didn't sell at Pontiac. I wasn't under it, here it run or drive it, but what you could see walking up to it, I thought was a bargain. At that price you could by a few problems and still feel ok. Getting tough to find a sedan that nice at that price.

[Deleted User]

I am not an experienced car guy but when I looked at it I decided not to have the seller meet me to open it up and turn it on. I saw painted expandable foam in a few places around the car but what disturbed me the most was quite a bit of black painted foam covering the rear frame, exactly where I had seen them totally rotted out before. The fact that he calls the paint new when it is not new and not a good paint job also made me wonder. It was not necessary the potential issues that worried me the most but the work done to hide them, and badly done at that. The car may be a great buy, but I saw enough to make me hesitate.



Here are pictures I took: http://picasaweb.google.com/mjsandbe/1954HudsonHornetHollywood?authkey=Gv1sRgCLvOoJDlqKus1QE&feat=directlink



So, I am still in the market for a 1952 or 1953 Hudson Hornet Let me know if you see anything that is ready to roll for my family and me

RL Chilton

Michael-



Sent you an e-mail.

RL Chilton

Michael-



It looks like it's been spruced up. Quickie paint job, still needs some re-chroming done and many pieces have quite a few pits.



The black foam you mentioned: I guess the pictures don't show it real well, I couldn't tell if it was black foam, or the petroleum-based undercoating. That stuff can be real nasty and cruddy looking, but did it's job extremely well.

[Deleted User]

RL Chilton wrote:

Michael-



It looks like it's been spruced up. Quickie paint job, still needs some re-chroming done and many pieces have quite a few pits.



The black foam you mentioned: I guess the pictures don't show it real well, I couldn't tell if it was black foam, or the petroleum-based undercoating. That stuff can be real nasty and cruddy looking, but did it's job extremely well.

I mentioned that I am not an expert but I am pretty sure it is the expandable yellow foam and not a rubber undercoat. When I felt it it was springy and I could see the paint flaking off of it leaving the yellow foam exposed. I would have been less suspicious if whole frame had been covered in the painted foam but only the trouble spots behind the rear wheels were not letting me see the actual condition.



I have to say I thought the interior looked pretty nice, the glass was all good, the lines were straight, I did not see any rust in any of the body panels, the chrome looked decent, and the parts of the frame I could see crawling under the car that were not covered in foam looked pretty good.



If nothing else, it reinforced that the 54 is not for me, it just does not call to me like the earlier Hornets.

[Deleted User]

Yup in some of the pics you can see it come through. Thats a new one to me cover up frame rot with expandable foam. Crazy. Thats why its 14K and all the trim is pitted.

RL Chilton

Hang in there, buddy. When the right one comes along, she'll talk to you! (even long distance;))

[Deleted User]

Michael:

You did your homework... took a look and found the real status of the car. Your pictures tell it all. Great job of reviewing the car. The car is definatelly rusted out in the areas one would expect in a northern tier Stepdown. Thanks for sharing your pictures ... good luck on your continuing hunt.

Unknown

YIKES! :eek: The seller probably has undercoating on his house.

SuperDave

The red 54 Hollywood that was in the flea market at The National was offered by Tom Fink of the Orange Blossom Chapter. I think he still has it at his house somewhere near lake Wales Fl. He is in the roster..make him an offer. He has a 51 Hornet Conv. to play with now. The price was 14K, I think it's worth it. I have to say that the one listed on Craigs list looks to be a bit nicer. Either one is a good deal if you figure what it takes to make a "barn find" into a driver. JMHO

nick s

SuperDave wrote:

The red 54 Hollywood that was in the flea market at The National was offered by Tom Fink of the Orange Blossom Chapter. I think he still has it at his house somewhere near lake Wales Fl. He is in the roster..make him an offer. He has a 51 Hornet Conv. to play with now. The price was 14K, I think it's worth it. I have to say that the one listed on Craigs list looks to be a bit nicer. Either one is a good deal if you figure what it takes to make a "barn find" into a driver. JMHO

that makes sense, after seeing Michael's pictures, I ddin't think it was the same car, alot of simularities but not the same.

I don't think these pictures show anything that should necessarily discourage a purchase. They do warrant a better survey of the structure. It looked to me that there was structural repair, the channels to the outside of the front stub appears to be replaced with tube steel. the rear floors look to be reinforced. The structural quality of the repairs would be the important consideration not the fact that they needed to be done. Keep in mind that at 14000 you are not going to get a show car so details such as the gasket fit and overspay aren't that big. The big mass of foam is not over the frame, its over the bottom of the quarter panel where it extends below the frame. I suspect it was used to build the contour and layed over in fiberglass to repair rot on the quarter panel.
A 54 Hollywood is about as far as you can get from a 51-53 sedan with stepdowns so i understand passing on this but if you notice my avatar I really don't understand the adversion to the 54 Hollywood:rolleyes:.

RL Chilton

Nick-



I don't think Michael has an aversion to HLWYDS, per se. One, he's a young man with a young family and really wants a sedan. Two, for some people, that long roofline and small (appearing) trunk on the pre-54 stepdowns is too good a thing not to have. The back half of a '54 HLWYD is just not the same as a pre-54 with the longer roof line. Not better or worse mind you, just different. My wife is the same way. She in (almost) no way understands my passion for stepdown convertibles. For her, that look of the long roof line, small deck lid and rounded rear-end far super cedes any need for a drop top, or a '54 for that matter. What can I say? Different strokes.



I personally like them all, but I've got chronic Hudsonitis, too. LOL!

nick s

Russell,
the point was not to question why not to like the Hollywood moreso commenting that if you've picked a 51-53 sedan based on the body lines; then a 54 Hollywood would be a tough sell. A 48-50 sedan or brougham sure, a 51-53 coupe or a short wheelbase car maybe but the 54 Hollywood is a completely different profile. The two are as different as you'll get in stepdown lines. Besides he'll be soon deciding what he wants next; it's just part of the sickness. I have a 50 sedan waiting in the wings, it would've been stripped or sold long ago if i couldn't appreciate the lines but you've seen what nosed it out of the trough. The stepdowns were undoubtably styled around the sedan, but that was by far the bulk of the sales, so it makes sense.

As for the young family, I can understand that too. Trying to get them into carseats in the back of the Hollywood, my kids probably still have lumps from hitting their heads on the gutters. Now they want me to move the seat forward to give them some more room while I'm considering moving the mounts rearward to give me more. I can't let them in the back of a sedan where they'd have enough floorspace to set up a table.

[Deleted User]

nick s wrote:

Russell,

the point was not to question why not to like the Hollywood moreso commenting that if you've picked a 51-53 sedan based on the body lines; then a 54 Hollywood would be a tough sell. A 48-50 sedan or brougham sure, a 51-53 coupe or a short wheelbase car maybe but the 54 Hollywood is a completely different profile. The two are as different as you'll get in stepdown lines. Besides he'll be soon deciding what he wants next; it's just part of the sickness. I have a 50 sedan waiting in the wings, it would've been stripped or sold long ago if i couldn't appreciate the lines but you've seen what nosed it out of the trough. The stepdowns were undoubtably styled around the sedan, but that was by far the bulk of the sales, so it makes sense.



As for the young family, I can understand that too. Trying to get them into carseats in the back of the Hollywood, my kids probably still have lumps from hitting their heads on the gutters. Now they want me to move the seat forward to give them some more room while I'm considering moving the mounts rearward to give me more. I can't let them in the back of a sedan where they'd have enough floorspace to set up a table.

Nicole, my wife, has made me promise that I will quit shopping for cars once I get a Hornet :eek:

RL Chilton

Nick-



I gotcha!



"Besides he'll be soon deciding what he wants next; it's just part of the sickness."



LOL! Ain't that the truth!



Michael-



You let us know how that works out, o.k.?

nick s

mjsandbe wrote:

Nicole, my wife, has made me promise that I will quit shopping for cars once I get a Hornet :eek:

that's ok, after the first one you won't need to shop. they will find you.

[Deleted User]

mjsandbe wrote:

Nicole, my wife, has made me promise that I will quit shopping for cars once I get a Hornet :eek:

Michael: My wife and I have been married nearly 40 years.



When we met she was as interested in my GTO convertible as she was in me! After marriage and as time went on she began to realize I was a CAR Guy.... another term she would use today... Car Sickness... not just for the Hudson marque either. So when ever I slip up and say something about cars she immediately says... WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER CAR. So I agree, but go about my business of looking, longing and some times lugging another car home... Today I can hide my new acquisitions in my sons 40X60 shop which is several miles away. There is no cure... ask anyone who posts here!:D:D:D

[Deleted User]

If you go look at the car take a magnet with you. Place the magnet on various parts of the car, i.e. lower part of door, rear quarter panels, rocker panels, etc. If the magnet slides off or does not seem to stick real solid, there is probably bondo in there. Got stung once by not being aware of this little trick.



Doug

RL Chilton

dougc_portland wrote:

If you go look at the car take a magnet with you. Place the magnet on various parts of the car, i.e. lower part of door, rear quarter panels, rocker panels, etc. If the magnet slides off or does not seem to stick real solid, there is probably bondo in there. Got stung once by not being aware of this little trick.



Doug

As an extra, a small refrigerator magnet works best. If the magnet you use is too strong, it will still stick even through 1/8" of plastic filler, but the small refrigerator-type of magnets will not.